After an amazing several days eating as much as we could in Lima, it was time to hit the road and begin our journey south. I was happy we went to the bus station early as it was a bit chaotic. Even though we already had tickets we had to wait in line to get printed ones from the desk. That process took ages and many people showed up right before their busses were boarding and tried to cut the line. Eventually we made it, though, and the bus ride was 5.5 hours. The bus dropped us off in Ica, and we opted to walk the 1 hour 15 minutes to Huacachina where we’d be staying. To split up the walk we got lunch at a pizza spot halfway.

Walking that long with all of our belongings, a lot of the time in sand, in the heat, was exhausting. Once we made it to our hostel we got to check in to our room that had a small layer of fine sand over everything. Desert living! The hostel was cute, with an open courtyard, a pool, and a rooftop bar where I got to enjoy two free welcome drinks while we watched the sunset. That evening we walked around the oasis lake; it was a short walk but beautiful. There were palm trees all around, as well as many hostels and restaurants. Sand dunes surrounded the village.

The next morning was our only full day in Huacachina so we tried to make the most of it. In the late morning we walked up the biggest sand dune nearby, past the water tower, to get a view of the oasis from above. I always forget how hard it is walking up sand until we do it. The views were super nice, but felt short lived as the wind picked up and blew sand hard into our faces and bodies. Any exposed skin felt like it was being impaled by tiny knives. I had sunscreen on, which was hilarious because the sand perfectly stuck to me everywhere. It was a neat way to see the places where I could’ve been better at applying.

We made our way down from the dunes much faster than we went up due to the sand becoming an unbearable temperature. The decision to wear sandals rather than closed toe shoes was questionable. Once back, we went straight for the pool, a great way to rinse off buckets of sand. It was super refreshing, a nice touch when staying in the desert. There was only one other couple there. It seemed like most people only came to do one activity then boarded their busses again, or stayed one night maximum.

Finally, it was time for the activity everyone goes to Huacachina for, the buggy ride. After meeting up with our tour group, we walked together up the sand dune to the buggy parking area. The buggy sat 12 people and the seat belts went both across our laps and over both shoulders. I should’ve known from that that the buggy ride was going to be crazier than I anticipated. The tour was 2 hours of insane driving over sand dunes, picture stops and sand boarding. I was relieved I wasn’t the only one screaming during the buggy ride. The driver drove straight up massive dunes then did sharp turns along the sides, drove over the edge of dunes so steep we became airborne, and did some fake outs. My least favorite fake out was when he pretended we were going to go backwards down the steepest dune, where we actually would just be sand boarding.

Nick participated in the sand boarding, where were lay down ones instead of standing. The dunes were way too steep for me, so I stayed in the buggy with one other woman. There were also people doing dune skiing, but that looked less fun as it was super slow. We drove the buggy down to pick everyone up before heading to the next dune. At the last dune, the place we parked to pick people up had a tiny dune that kids were using. Our guide kindly got out a board for me and encouraged me to try there. That was much more fun. I had no problems being the only one to use the kiddy hill. One of our favorite picture stops we got to witness a lot of men pose on top of the buggy shirtless for their dating profiles. They really went for it.

The tour ended with us parking on top of a sand dune to watch the sunset. The views were gorgeous and the guide took our photos. He did a great job; we could tell it wasn’t his first rodeo. He was getting people to get into all sorts of positions. He even made me climb up on top of the buggy for a few photos, too. In any direction we could see buggies parked alone on top of different sand dunes so they could have a nice private sunset viewing. Part way through the sunset a buggy drove up and parked right in front of us. What the heck? We couldn’t believe it, like there’s a whole desert to choose from.

The buggy did one last crazy drive where we went so airborne I accidentally kicked Nick in the foot and he banged his knee on the pole in front of him hard. The buggy parked on top of a dune overlooking the oasis where all the tour participants walked back to town from. The views were stunning with all the lights in town and last colors from the sunset. Dinner was just okay, much like all of our meals there. We figured that with it being super touristy it wouldn’t be anything notable. We had a great time in the desert!