Well I spent my 25th birthday on a 4 hour bus from Lima to Pisco. The bus stank, but was a real eye opener. The pollution was disgusting and limited you to only being able to see about 150metres in front of you. The only thing the pollution didn´t cover up was the poverty we saw which was unbelievable. The biggest challenge we had on the bus was knowing where to get off! Luckly we managed to get off at the correct spot and then got completly ripped off on a taxi ride into town. As 3 ´Gringo Chickas` with very limited understanding of Spanish we are continually being ripped off. Luckly we are only being ripped off about 3 Soles each time which is approx Aus $1.
That afternoon we took a tour with Pepi around Reserva Nacional de Paracas which was awesome. So unlike any other national park I have been in, you can pretty much park where ever you like and people can sell what ever they like. It was completly barren, we didn´t see a single tree, but miles of desert filled with salt and iron deposits. The park had a beautiful coast line (despite the gray sand on the beaches) and a cool blow hole. We had a seafood feast in the Park and then headed back into town via the gas works and the fish canning factory, needless to say it stank, but lucky Pepi put on his latest Discoteck music which was the best of the 80´s which distrated us nicely.
The next day we went on a boat tour of Isle la Ballestas which were quite ugly bird poo islands however thay had awesome wild life including seals and penguins. That afternoon we took an amazing bus ride to Nazca through mountain ranges comprising of sand hills and rocks. Once again not a single tree in sight. We were meet by Luis at the bus station who was from our hostel, who asked if we had plans for the night?
