Day 3: Sandboarding

Tuesday November 5, 2014

Sandboarding. Exactly what it reads. Boarding on sand. Today was pretty epic. Theresa and I got to sandboard for our very first (and probably only ever) time! 

The tour guide picked us up and we headed an hour south of Lima to the desert. Apparently (according to a previous tour guide) it never rains in Lima. In fact, he said the last time it ever rained was in 2008 or 1997 I dunno, something that. Don't quote me on that. Yeah, so there is this desert full of sand. Sand after sand after sand, atleast in one direction. The other side of the street there's an ocean. Pretty wonderful. 

So as were driving, Theresa insisted we stop for breakfast. So the tour guide did. He knew of this place right off the road. A  "hole in the wall" but in reality there was no walls. It was like a stand out in the open. We got some doughy like bread to eat and Theresa got her "jugo." But a lot of people happen to be there, so it was definitely an interesting place for a pitstop. 

So now as we get to the sand, I'm glad he's driving a 4x4 truck instead of a dune buggy. It would've been cool to drive in a dune buggy, but only for 10 seconds. The amount of sand that goes flying?? I'm sure my eyes and mouth are happy we were inside an enclosed vehicle. There is a whole crazy technic to driving on this sand. The lumps, the humps and the bumps. It's BUMPY!!! It was like a crazy roller coaster that at some points I wanted to jump out. Haha. Definitely buckle your seatbelts and enjoy the ride. 

We got to the first hill. He called it the baby hill. Theresa called it a double black diamond. It was decently steep but the sand was very granular. After he got us our boots and board and handed us a chunk of wax, we were ready to rumble! Or shall I say, tumble. You had to apply the wax in every run, or if you stop in the middle of the run, apply wax again. The sand just strips it right off the board. Anyway, because the sand was so granular it was pretty difficult, in my opinion, and I snowboard! I'm screaming down the mountain, "this is Nooooooothing like snowboarding!!!!!!!!" As I look over at Theresa and she's tumbling and constantly applying wax herself. He drives down the hill to get us and it's on to the next hill.

He drives us to another chunk of sand mountain dunes and tells us to strap in and go. This time it's way better. Why? Becuase the sand is way more compact and you can actually carve! I'm thinking, yay, it finally feels more a little bit more like snowboarding. Minus the constant applying wax thing. 

The last hill he drove us to was a monsterous long hill. A picture will never capture that kinda depth and steepness. You just have to take my word for it. The tour guide kept saying he had a surprise for us. He finally pulled out a little envelope on the last hill and says here! And hands us an American flag! Hahaha! So awesome. We're like the first females on the .. Uhm.. I guess desert. I told him I would try to bring that flag to Machu Picchu and do the same thing and hold it up with Theresa there. Oh the little things. 

On the ride back, I was definitely impressed at the tour guides patience and driving skills. Traffic in Lima is crazy. Cars weaving in and out, constant flow of cars squeezing in between trucks, mopeds in between all that. He got us back safe and sound. 

If anyone is ever going to Lima, Peru one day and wants to check out sandboarding, call him up! He's one of two tour companies that do this! Facebook search "sandride sandboarding Lima" 

Anyway, afterwards we ate at another hole in the wall place. (Whiteboard with scribbles and a poppin' place) 10 sols for an appetizer and entree again. ($3.66 usd) The waitress asked us in Spanish something and we did the usual "si si, dos por favor" hahaha. For the entree I recognized the word Saltado as a type of Bolivian dish, so I asked for pollo Saltado. It actually came out as I envisioned it. Oh yes. Theresa on the other hand, ended up with the same dish, but over noodles. Like fettechine noodles. Odd combo but I suppose it tastes alright. 

Took a little break after this late lunch but only to eat again for dinner! Why is that I always feel like I'm eating? (Ahem, Theresa! ) all good, it's like 3 bucks haha. We decided for dinner to eat at a "Peruvian fast food" joint. It was called bembo. It was like a Spanish McDonald's or something. After standing there for 10

Minutes staring at the menu, we decided to order. Maybe it was because the whole kitchen staff seemed to conveniently be laughing at the same time were standing there going uhhh hmmm uhhhh. I pointed to the picture on the wall and made it simple. Si si gracias. I really didn't want to make it difficult. So it was chorizo on a burger. Haha interesting indeed. 

Pooped today. Tired. And it's 11:45pm and we have to wake up at 5:30 am to head to the airport for our flight to Cuzco!! Excited but then not. I've been cold here in Lima and Cuzco is supposed to be even colder. I might not be prepared for this. 

Tomorrow: Cuzco