So off we went to ica. What was in ica, we weren't too sure. Though we knew it was close to huacachina which is pretty much a lagoon town surrounded by sand dunes. Oh and ica is known for it's wineries. Sounds good enough for us. So sitting behind and across the aisle was a girl probably in her mid-20s. We talked for a short moment on the bus, but seeing as it was an overnight expedition, it ended as quickly as it had begun. The trip was decent enough. They tried to feed us again; though the meal was a questionable meat-infested disaster. We arrive in ica, which is like the size of a quarter that morning about 9. Getting off the English girl from earlier asks where we are headed. When we realize that we are all heading the same direction, we split a cab in order to save funds. Awesome! We part ways (initially) in huacachina. Sian (pronounced Sean) headed towards a hostel and Megs and I went to scout out a place where we though we could camp.
We have been wanting to camp and we read that there were a couple of hostels with attached campgrounds in huacAchina. Cool enough, thinking that I won't have lugged this tent around for nothing. We had read about one called the huacachinero. We had passed it on our way, so Megs and I backtracked down the road to find it. Upon arrival, it looked way too nice. Perhaps it's just the outside appearance or maybe they just have a campground round back?? Were trying to stay optimistic here. I went in and asked at the reservation desk. The lady pretty much laughed in my face and said no. Isnt there a Chinese proverb that goes something along the lines of "one who asks a stupid question is a fool for 5 minutes, one who does not is a fool forever" ? Maybe someone should teach her that. Anyway, a couple doors down there is a place that advertises camping. So we roll in just to check it out.
Upon arrival, the guy was struggling to open the front gate. An older passerby actually had to climb over the gate in order to break it open. This should have been the first sign that it was a bad idea. He leads us inside and kind of rushes us out back. I think the front door still had his panties in a twist. We walk up to where he says there is camping and it's in the middle of this shit hole. I mean not actually shit, but just junk EVERYWHERE. No other tents and hardly any flat land on which you could even pitch a tent. What the!?? So Meg drops her pack in hopes to find a quick bathroom. We've already talked about how we may want to reconsider where we are staying. About maybe 1 minute Later meg returns with a quick step, throws her pack on her back, looks at me and says that was gross. The floor was covered in mus and...well I couldn't even bring myself to use the it if that gives you any idea of how bad it is. So that was that. We walk back inside and I tell the guy were going to talk over breakfast and well let him know. 15 soles for the "campsite" for the night. He's not happy that we are leaving. And actually the anger that showed in his face just added to the reasons as to why we wouldn't be staying there.
Walking back down the road, We come to the agreement that we should just stay at a hostel b/c if nothing else the sand dunes would make it difficult to find a flat surface in general. Suddenly we see sian. She had popped her head out of the courtyard of a hostel and invited us to share a room with her. It was going to be more expensive than the campsite, but really...there was no way we were going back there. So there we were, in the middle of sand dunes about to share a room with a girl we had known for all of 20 minutes. Sounds pretty killer if you ask me :)
I think that is one thing I have learned to love on this expedition. So many others travelers roam solo or with just a partner, and for the most part, they love meeting others. Its a very open and inviting community. For example, last night, the frenchies from my dorm invited me in there broken English to dinner with them. They didn't know my name, barely spoke any English or Spanish, but figured they should invite me because ... Well ... Why wouldnt you? I love the bond that the nomad community has.
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