Pucusana

Spring recovered enough within a few days to make our escape from lima. We got dropped off at the edge of the freeway, where most buses are caught, and were cramming into our first crappy little bus in no time. There wasn’t enough room to sit down, so I half stood half sat on my bag for the first hour facing the back of the bus till some room finally opened up. It was a major wakeup call from our cushy house stay in suburban lima. Before we knew it suburbia gave way to sketchy looking shanty’s , rubble dirt roads, and barren desert hills. Me and spring were looking at each other like holy shit…what did we just sign up for?
As we headed south, the barren landscape continued endlessly with towns reminiscent of indias rajasthan with funky little rickshaws, narrow bumpy roads, stray dogs, and billboard painted brick buildings. We passed through some extremely bleak areas along the way with tiny makeshift shakes strewn out in huge plots across the desert…no roads, no stores, just shacks and dirty sand.
Just as we thought all hope was lost, we arrived in Pucusana. After a super sketchy run up a steep dirt road in our first rickshaw ride to what appeared to me know where, we arrived at our very first Peruvian guesthouse. The owner greeted us warmly, we got ourselves a room, and were instantly blown away at the panoramic views from the veranda overlooking the town, the harbor, an island, and a truly stunning coastline.
It was heaven to be out of lima in a charming little coastal village, and it finally felt like our trip had begun. For the next couple days we had a blast exploring the beaches, trying out the local cuisine, swimming in the ocean, practicing our Spanish, and wrapping our heads around the fact that we are finally on vacation!