Day 33: Paracas, Peru

Chinese Version / 中文版本

After a serious consideration, I decided not to go to the Galapagos Islands. Because of the lack of money and I was told that there was an island in west of Peru called "Isla Bellestas", also known as "the Galapagos for poor people", which cost way cheaper than the real Galapagos. Therefore, I chose to go to this place instead. This island is an eco-park, there are different varieties of birds, penguins, seals, etc. 

Meanwhile, Hilary told me she was either not going to the Galapagos in the email. And she would not come to Paracas either, so I guess we would never meet up later!

Many birds on the sea stack

The raging wave on the Pacific Ocean

Paracas is the closet place to go to Isla Bellestas. The bus ride from Arequipa to here is 12 hours long, but the seat of Cruz del Sur was too cozy that I just wanted to continue sleeping on the bus. 

The hostel I chose is Paracas' Backpackers House, which also provides tours for tourists. I did not have the mood to compare prices around, hence I joined the tour to Paracas National Reserve today and the tour to Isla Bellestas tomorrow morning via this hostel.

The landscape was so beautiful

As I still have free time in the morning, I decided to do my laundry by myself. However, Paracas is located in the desert region and there is long term shortage of potable water. If I did not have a pile of dirty clothes in my backpack, I would not misuse the valuable water either. Just forgive me, please?

Before going to the national reserve, I had breakfast in a restaurant by the sea side. I thought I saw someone like Hilary just passing by and I thought I might be wrong. Then I really met her in a convenient store. She just joined a tour to Isla Bellestas and would stay in Paracas for a while. She did not know she would be here either. Peru is really small!

Red Beach

Paracas' National Reserve is located in the west of Peru, in the desert region next to the Pacific ocean. The guide first took us to visit the ecology museum, which contains so much information of the eco-system, as well as the geology and plate tectonic of Paracas. It immediately reminded me the happiest time while I was still studying oceanography back in college. 

Nevertheless, time was tight and I could not stay there for any longer. Following to the second stop, we were driven to see the continuous coastline on the sea cliff.  I never thought I still got emotionally touched by this picture, despite I had already been to a lot of sea sides before. I was once again amazed by our almighty mother nature. 

Then, the third stop was the Red Beach. When we were taking photos, the guide passionately told us, "I really love this place. You see the red beach, the yellow desert, the green water and the blue sky. Every time I come here I still find it so beautiful!" I could see he genuinely said that from the bottom of his heart. I really admire his professionalism of work and happiness of life, which can not easily to be found nowadays.

Red beach, yellow desert, green water and blue sky

I thought this only could be found on the highlands

The last stop of this tour was to have lunch. We were taken to a restaurant by the sea side, and I sat together with a Japanese girl and an Italian guy. They seemed to be very intimate with each other, but they never said they were boyfriend/girlfriend. The Japanese told me she was currently traveling around the world, the guy said he just joined her to travel South America. Their relationship was very bewildering, yet I didn't have the courage to ask for more details. 

Since we were in a seafood restaurant, but I was still not recovered from the gastroenteritis I had in Chile, I did not dare to try any seafood. Finally I ordered a dish of Seafood Rice (Arroz con Mariscos) and shared with the Japanese girl. It was super super super delicious. It tasted a little bit like Paella, but the texture was softer, 10 points out of 10 please! (I only ate the rice though)

The seafood restaurant, very yummy!

What a gigantic bird on the beach

In the evening, I sat by the beach alone and continued reading The Great Gatsby. After sunset, I returned to my room and met my new roommate. He comes from Austria and just finished hiking the El Misti volcano in Arequipa. I then asked if the camping was fun and he said he did not camp, he just randomly found a place and slept in the sleeping bag instead. I was like OMG! Isn't it too dangerous???

After dark, I planned to eat Seafood Rice again. Then I met the Japanese girl and the Italian guy in a restaurant again, so we had dinner together. The Japanese girl ordered a dish of fried crabs, I was so enviou!!! How come the stomach ache didn't come sooner or later, but on the day I could eat my favorite seafood?

The afterglow of the sunset