Huacachina & Ica

After a hectic start to our time in Peru we headed to the desert oasis of Huacachina for some chill out time and sandboarding.

We spent the majority of our time at our hostel (Huacachinero) lazing around the pool, reading our books and conversing with the amazing parrots that roamed the site. We were lucky to meet two nice Dutch and Canadian couples, so it was cool to share some travel stories and tips over a few beers.

The highlight of Huacachina came on the second afternoon where we headed out on a dune-buggy and sandboarding trip. This was a brilliant trip which well exceeded our expectations. As we reached the dunes we suddenly realised what a vast area they covered, and the views were incredible.

The dune buggy ride which followed was an adrenaline fueled experience as we swerved, jumped and fell down the sheer drops of the dunes. We stopped at various steep slopes, took to our sandboards and zoomed down them at break neck speed. We returned back to the hotel with sand everywhere, but it was definitely one of the best activities on the trip to date.

The next morning we got up early and headed into Ica to watch the famous religious procession that takes place in the city in late October every year. It was a crazy experience. The streets were packed with particularly poor people who were unbelievably devoted to their religion. The colorful street paintings, flickering candles and decorative float made it a real visual spectacle.

We chilled out for the rest of the day in preparation for our long overnight bus to Arequipa.

Lima & San Bartolo

After a day of delays in L.A. (the motor on the plane had broken) we finally arrived in Lima still recovering from Las Vegas and a few hours behind Han and Becky who had been expecting us to already be there. Our first Peruvian experience was to take a taxi from the airport to the hostel - it was absolute madness, swerving in and out of the other taxis and putting on the fake police sirens to clear the traffic - we arrived in one piece, just.

We had booked into B&B Tradiciones - a brilliant family run hostel with Angelo at the helm - the most helpful owner of a hostel we had ever met! We got a good nights sleep and woke in the morning to greet Han and Becky. After a history lesson from Angelo we set out to explore Miraflores (a nicer suburb of Lima) including Parque Amor, the lighthouse, the cliffside, and lunch at a brilliant fish restaurant called Punto Azul.

The next day we were picked up by Antonio for our three day surf trip in San Bartolo. The whole three days were absolutely fantastic. We were located on one of the best surfing beaches in the south of Peru, we had our own private apartment overlooking the surf breaks, we went to Antonios house and were cooked three excellent meals a day by his wife, and best of all we got to surf some huge waves.

Due to the consistency of the swell the Peruvians only bother to look for high and low tide. High tide was best so we tended to go out around 08.30am and 16.00pm. At times the waves were the biggest but best we had ever tried to surf and it was a great experience, and a huge learning curve - you don't want to nosedive down the face of some of those waves too often!

The waves were like nothing we had experienced in England, Han notoriously took an 'illegal' left (once getting stranded on the rocks and ending up with sea urchins in her feet!), and Jen took on the role of Kamakazee Kid (paddling into ridiculously huge waves only to suffer sucessive wipeouts and beatings). Lucky Han and Jen weren't together for too long or there may have been some serious injuries!

By the end of day three the long paddle-outs (above) and big wipe-outs were taking their toll (nothing to do with the Pisco Sours and 'local' beer in the evenings), but we were sad to leave and return to Miraflores to say our goodbyes to Han and Bex.

Our last day back in Miraflores was really great, as we met up with a Peruvian family who we had met on the plane from LA. Monica and her daughter Camilla picked us up from the hostel and showed us around downtown Lima, including the cathedral, art gallery and main square. We then headed back to their apartment for a few beers, before being shown around the family run hostel they own in the bohemian suburb of Barranco. To finish a brilliant day we were taken to the private beach complex the family belonged to, where we walked along the shore and looked back on the bright lights of the city. We were then joined by Manolo who had been at work, and the guys then took us for a lovely Chinese meal.

We have had a great start to Peru and would like to thank Angelo and family, Antonio and family, and Monica and family for looking after us so well and providing us with a great impression of their country.

Las Vegas & Grand Canyon

We spent our last few days in North America exploring Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, which was the perfect end to the first phase of our trip.

After a long bus ride from LA our first evening in Vegas was very chilled out. We stayed at the huge Circus Circus hotel so we spent most of the evening exploring the site. We had to be up very early for our tour to the Grand Canyon the next day so we decided to leave the gambling and the big casinos for our final day in Vegas.

After a very early start and a six hour bus journey (stopping at the impressive Hoover Dam), we finally made it to the Grand Canyon. We were both really excited and full of anticipation as we approached one of the seven natural wonders of the world. However, nothing could have prepared us for the mindblowing view. We had about three hours to walk along the South Rim and take in the many different vewpoints, so we made the most of this and walked as far as we could in the given time. We were positioned at the widest part of the Canyon, and being able to see 18 miles across was quite breathtaking. The depth, width, length and colours of the canyon were quite spectacular - words can´t even begin to describe it.

As we have found at many times on our trip, rather than being able to tick places off the list, we now know that we would love to come back and take a rafting trip along the Colorado River deep in the canyon.

Our last day in America was very long and pretty crazy. As we spent the day exploring the casinos on the strip we soon adopted the phrase that, 'nothing is going to suprise us' as we witnessed whole shopping malls, aquariums and lion enclosures, all within the grand casinos!

After a long day exploring the strip we grabbed some food and headed out for a night in the casinos. The strip was buzzing as we made our way past the famous Belagio, and we stopped to take in one the excellent fountain shows. Having toured the casinos during the day we decided on the Mirage for our evening entertainment. After watching for a little while Joe sat down for a game of poker and I explored the addictive slot machines. 5 hours later we finally left the casino having had our first real gambling experience. Joe came out of his poker with some chips remaining but I had lost mine to the super addictive slot machines!

Our flight out of Vegas was at 09.30am so at 05.00am in the morning there was really no point in going to bed! We got back to Circus Circus and decided to put our few remaining chips on a couple of games of blackjack - if only just to pass the time and get a couple of free Coronas!

As we headed to the airport weary from our 'all-nighter' we realised that Vegas truly is the city that never sleeps.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles was a bit of a shock after the ultra chilled last week in Carpinteria, Santa Barbara and Irivine, but regardless we had a good time.

We were only in LA for a couple of days but managed to fit in a large amount of the main attractions. We stayed on Hollywood Boulevard and visited the Hollywood area with its star spangled streets including the Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Sign. We also visited the upper crust Rodeo Drive and Beverley Hills, the big and busy Downtown area, and finally Venice Beach.

We were not overly drawn to LA as a city, as it was just too hot, sprawling and busy for us. Despite its drawbacks we did enjoy wandering the streets and most of all we enjoyed watching the surfers and the sunset at Venice Beach.

Next stop Vegas...

Irvine, Orange County, CA

We spent three great days in Irvine, Orange County with Brad and Kyra who Dan had met last summer on his cycling trip across the States.

Brad and Kyra were intent on giving us a true American experience and they certainly suceeded. We spent a lot of time eating out! We experienced some huge portions sizes at the steak house, fish tacos at the beach and some excellent frozen yoghurt at the mall. We also experienced the biggest piece of chocolate cake we have ever seen served on one plate, it was ridiculous!

Aside from eating we also took in some local activities and events. On our first night the guys took us to a traditional local fair where we braved it on a few of the ultra fast spinning rides. At this point the large portions sizes were not being appreciated and Jen had to swap the fast rides for the ghost train, as she seemed to turn a little green!

We also got a nice taste of the Californian beach culture during a day spent at Huntington Beach. Keen to practice our moves before our surf trip in Peru we hired some boards and braved the pumping surf. We seemed to spend most of our time underwater as we got pummeled by the waves, but it was really good fun and nice to be in the sea again. Mesmerised by the talented local surfers we spent a large part of the afternoon on the pier wathcing how those waves should be surfed!

On our final day in Irvine we did some hiking at Top of the World Park, where we walked on trails overlooking the sea. It was really nice but the heat soon took its toll, and we decided on a lazy afternoon by the pool. On our last night we went to a sports bar to watch the big Monday night football game. It was great to soak up the atmosphere and experience the Americans giving out high-fives and cheers as a touchdown or home-run was scored.

We had a great time in Irvine and would like to say a big thanks to Brad and Kyra. Your hospitality was so kind and we really enjoyed getting to know you both. We hope to see you in England sometime in the future - we look forward to Groo updates (his work has changed our lives)!

Carpinteria & Santa Barbara

After a busy few days in San Francisco, we were pleased to be back in our little tent and to be on the beach for the first time of the trip, as we pitched up at the coastal town of Carpinteria. The state beach was a great spot to kick back, relax, and experience the Californian lifestyle. First things first, we set out for supplies and trialled the local microbrewery!

We spent five nights here, a typical day went like this...

8am - jog along the sands (in truth this only happened once) / leisurely stroll
9am - breakfast - bagel, banana and peanut butter
10am - head to the beach to read and play cards
12pm - walk into town to pick up picnic supplies for lunch
12.30pm - eat lunch, then regret choosing the spicy jalapeno roll once again!
1pm - sleep on beach / shade for the rest of the day
5pm - coffee in town (we became locals)
6pm - watch the sunset over the ocean
7.30pm - start the camp fire, open the beers and put the food on the bbq!
10.30pm - fall into the tent, ready to do it all again the next day

We didn't deviate too far from the above and left Carpinteria sandy and smelly but relaxed.

On Friday we decided to break free from our bubble and head into the classy Santa Barbara. The morning was a bit of a struggle as Jen was nursing an almighty hangover and Joe tried to fight back his frustration at her 'Kevin-ness'. The huge burger and fries in the retro beach cafe brought us back on to an even keel, and we enjoyed the rest of the day strolling up and down the lively State Street. Unfortunately we were staying in the worst hostel so far and the snoring Scotsman in our room did not help matters. We were pleased to get out of the hostel early and jump on the first train to Irvine, Orange County.

San Francisco

After the 25-hour train ride and a further bus from Emeryville, we reached San Francisco around 10:30am and booked into our hostel. We had decided to spend three nights here, so our first afternoon was pretty relaxed. We decided to go and have a look around the downtown and financial area, as it wasn't too far from the hostel. We walked back through Chinatown, which was disappointing compared to the more vibrant districts in New York and Toronto. We were back at the hostel by early evening and we were pretty exhausted, but even through tired eyes we could see that San Francisco was a city we were going to enjoy.

After a long lie in (sleeping on a train is not ideal), we thought we would make the most of the glorious sunshine and walk through Golden Gate Park. The park was really nice, with a lovely botanical garden and many scenic trails. As we neared the coast we began to understand the phenomenon of the San Francisco coastal mist. We went from clear blue skies to a dense cold fog within minutes. It was too cold to relax on the beach so we watched the surfers for a while and then headed for some lunch at a cosy diner. Tired from all of the walking we headed back to the hostel for a relaxing evening with a few beers and another brilliant free dinner!

On our final day in San Francisco we decided to hire bikes and do the typical tourist route over the Golden Gate Bridge. Jen was feeling very trusting, so we went for a tandem! Once we had got into the rhythm of our machine we headed along the coastal path from Fisherman's Wharf, across the bridge and into the trendy Sausilito. Both journeys across the bridge afforded us some great views, especially on the return leg when the fog had cleared. In the afternoon we cycled to Baker Beach where we rested our weary legs. After dropping the bike off and visiting the sea lions on Pier 39, we were absolutely shattered and decided to get an early night as we had to be up at 4am for the bus to Santa Barbara!