South America Trip Day 6: Tambo Colorado and trip to Paracas

Around 7:00 AM we got picked up by peru hop. Peru hop is a bus that can take you throughout the entire country with a pretty sweet deal.

First stop for breakfast of 40 minutes in Mirasur. This was a weird stop. It looked like a circus.. they had horses “dancing” (was just hopping around), a small swiming pool, some kids slides, an alpaca and some horses, some dune buggies and an overdressed place for food and drinks. We ordered prior in the bus for them to order, and you can get scrambled eggs, avocado sandwich or a pulled pork. Last one was the best, overall not worth the money (we paid 31 soles for two, including drinks). Really a weird touristic spot, recommend you take your own food.

After that we went on a long drive towards Tambo Colorado, a well preserved Inca complex dating back to 1440 a.d.! We spent an half hour here, getting to know about the history of the sight. It is located in the middle of mountains and a river bedding, making it a strategical location. The locals from that time (Andeas tribe) were ruled by Incas and it served as an adminstration sight for them. The inside is a small labyrinth, built like that to make sure intruders could not storm the place. There is also a small museum with some findings and paintings how the sight looked like back in the day. The buildings are made of stone and clay, because in the area there is only one inch of rain per YEAR. So yeah, quite dry. That is why they used clay, which absorbs the heat for the winter and stays cooler during the summer. Some of the stones still show its original red color.

After that 1,5 hours bus ride to our final destination of the day: Paracas!

The afternoon we had no plans, so we just strolled passed the beach. We First went to a restaurant, know that here in Paracas food dishes are a bit more expensive than other places in Peru: between 24 and 45), were I had the local fish curry with an amazing red sauce with white fish and shrimp accompanied with rice and fries while Sam got the famous local raw sea food dishand: Ceviche. This dish can be prepped raw or slowly cooked, having everything from octopus to fish to shrimp in it with a sour sauce, interesting cuisine!
After that we went to the beach to enjoy the sun and at night went to a local bar for some drinks with the rest of the Peru hop people. 

Tomorrow we have our sightseeing trip through Paracas and we are going to the Ballestas Islands!