We
woke early with some cocks singing and people making a noise but managed to get
in another hour before deciding to get the day going. We packed up before
making our way to get some breakfast (egg rolls and fresh fruit juice).
Probably one of the better and more random places we have found.

After
breakfast we made our way to the hostel to get picked up for a trip to Isla
Ballitas where we had to wait for a while until the island port was opened due
to mist. Along the way we saw the candelabra in the sand which is from Incan
times and has been preserved by the salt in the air.

After
stopping here we sped across into the mist until there was a shape emerging.
The island was in sight. Here we saw sea lions, birds, a vulture and a few
penguins (2 even looked like they were holding hands). I actually found the
islands themselves more interesting with interesting rock formations and eve
massive holes in and through the island and even a few rocks piled on top of
each other to form a wall. After about an hour we headed back to Paracas where
we grabbed some lunch before another afternoon by the pool.

We
jumped on the Peru Hop to go see the slave tunnels. The tunnels are under what
is now a hotel which used to be a house owned by a very wealthy family. They
created Chambers under each room to hide valuable items in case pirates robbed
them. After a while they joined the chambers and even created a 30km tunnel to
the ocean so they could smuggle slaves to the house without paying taxes.

The
tunnels were damaged in the earthquake in 1975 but have been restored since
then as with much of the house.

After we left the hotel and tunnels we made our
way to change busses and grab something to eat before heading to Lima. At the
stop we got some empanadas and wine and got on the bus. The movie kept pausing
so we cut it and the wine before catching some sleep and finally saying
farewell to Peru hop.



In
the hostel we put our bags down and had some WiFi before enjoying a drink on
the terrace and overlooking a crowd of people that look like they had been
herded into a parking lot. They did seem to be enjoying themselves though.