5 hour bus ride from Lima to Ica, then a short taxi ride to Huacachina. This place is amazing. My hostel is gorgeous with 4 levels, hammocks, and a tiki bar in the common area, and the sister hostel 1 block down has a sweet restaurant/bar where everyone just chills on pillows on the floor and they play Bob Marley all night. The main attraction is sandboarding which is just like snowboarding except in the desert. A big dune buggy drives you up the hill, then you surf down. Big time fun so I hear. I´m going at 4PM today.

I hung out with some girls from Holland and their guide from Peru, all who spoke english better than me and we took tons of pictures of the lagoon. We even climbed up a sand mountain to take pics of the whole city at night. Then we went to a local bar that looked like someones backyard BBQ and I met 2 women from Spain. We played Jenga and they told me that if I lost I would have to dance on the bar. I lost 2 times but I think they set me up. I called them out and didn´t dance, but it was alot of fun. Went to bed early last night and slept like a baby. I was the first one up this morning at 7:30 in the whole hostel.

The weather in the desert is hot during the day and absolutely freezing at night. I had 2 extra thick blankets and was fine, but I don´t know how the other people managed. I guess travelers are used to extreme weather.

Next I want to go further south to Arequipa which is a 15 hour bus ride! I´m a little nervous about the next 7 days because I know that it´s going to get progressively colder each day. But after the amazing bus ride yesterday and meeting so many cool people, I can definitely see why this gets addicting. There is sooo much to experience and every day there´s just more and more to do. Also, travelers are really nice and always inclusive. So first thing when I arrived yesterday I met 5 people right off. Oh and the beds here are really comfortable and the pillow is thick and the blankets are soooo warm. This is the kind of place I could come to once a year for vacation and an adrenaline rush.