Ica and Nazca

So the days of shadieness are almost over. The most shady part of all was Pepe, my tour guide. I wanted to go to Ica and go sandboarding so he arranged a package for me, because he already arranged Pisco and Nazca. But what I didnt realize is that Pepe comes with you? Its called ´personal assistance´. So we hop a bus to Ica, which immediatley breaks down. Its 840, i have to be in ica by 10, and it takes a hour to get there. So we get off the bus, take a mini cab back to the bus station to get a refund, take a bigger cab out to the highway and just grab the next bus that comes along. Arrive in ica at 953, take a cab to Huacachina, an oasis just outside of Ica, where we arrive at 10 on the dot, and the tour doesnt even get going until like, 1030. Awesome. So it was weird travelling with this guy because not only could we not really uinderstand eachother, he also had a big crush on me. It was getting uncomfortable, he would always sit and stand too close, be touching my face, calling me beautiful. He even asked if I wanted him to come to Nazca with me, I said NO. I couldnt wait to get rid of him.
But the sandboarding was awesome. It was a group of 12 and we went out on dune buggies. It was like being on a rollercoaster. They would go really fast and over jumps and down really steep hills. So basically we would go to the top of a hill, they would drop us off. We would sandboard down, and they would pick us up at the bottom, drive around a bit and then board down another hill. There were 6 hills in total. I was actually pretty good on that thing. I guess I should thank the person who taught me how to snowboard. Lots of the girls were just going down on their bums...lame.It was harder than snowboarding though because theres no edges and you cant turn, uyou basically just go straight down. It was sooo hot.
Then I went to a museum and a wine vineyard. The wine, though was one of the best wineries in Peru tasted el cheapo! I got a private tour in spanish,. but she talked slow for me and I actually picked up a lot more than I thought I would. Then Pepe wanted us to have lunch together, but I told him I wasnt hungry (which was a complete lie, i hadent eaten all day) and that I just wanted to go on to Nazca. I went to nazce in get this, a cadellac? There were 7 of us stuffed in there but lots of the people were travellers and spoke english.
They were all travelling on this 80 foot research yacht that was sailing around SA. They said anyone could get on and it costs $25 a day to live there. Sounded fun. Arrived in Nazca and actually it wasnt scary at all. Pisco was way worse. After trying to sort out our hostals (mine didnt have my reservation) and they had to find one. Finally, around 8 we went for dinner. We astually went to quite a nice place and they told lots of crazy stories about life on the boat. Then we parted ways, we wanted to get together for lunch the next day, but by the time I was done my tours they had already left.
My hostal room was really nice and it was private, but the windows faced the open street and I had such a bad sleep because of all the roosters, seriously roosters at 4 in the morning, and dogs barking..ahhh!

This morning I went and flew over the Nazca lines. It was in a small 6 seater airplane and I felt sick after about 10 minutes. Good call on not eating before! The lines were a lot smaller than I first thought they would be so it took a while to actually see one. The lines are shaped etched into the rock and can only be seen from the sky. There are some serious theories out there by serious archeologists that they were put there by aliens and not the Nazca tribes. Who knows? Then they took us to the cemetary of Chauchilla. There were lots of excavated tombs and I got to see lots of mummies. The mummies here are really cool and really well preserved. They were buried in the fetal position and wrapped into bundles. So now the hair and the skin is still there and there are these creepy little mummies all curled up! Then we went to a pottery workshop and a gold workshop to see their process. Then the tour was over, that was at 2, my bus to the next city doesn t leave until 945, so i have a lot of time to kill. I went and atelunch and then and saw the aquaducts, which were really neat. I was expewcting, you know, roman aquaducts. But the process here was so different. Then I went and read in the square for a bit. I was approached by a guy and we talked for a while. He read a bit of my book out loud, he doesnt have very good english. Then he asked me out for dinner. I said no, my boyfriend was back at the hostal waiting for me, but somehow he just didnt seem to understand ´boyfriend´. How convenient.
Anyways, Im leaving for Arequipa tonight. I takes 9 hours to get there, so its an overnight bus, thats why it leaves so late. I guess Ill go watch a soccer game. Thats all they do here, every tv I pass is playing a soccer game and there eyes are glued to it. The only channel you get down here in english is fox news so, I am very up to date on foreign affairs. Did you know that President Bush made a surprise visit to Iran yesturday to show support to the new government, cuz I do. I know your saying, your in Peru and your watching tv? But late at night in my hostal the noise makes me feel more comfortable. Anyways, Ill try to post again soon.