burning men and the desert vultures

I have had the most beautiful and amazing weekend. I write again from Rositas small internet corner shop cafe whilst I rest my weary but happy self down at the computer. On Saturday I made my way into the centre of Pisco and changed my bus ticket to stay in Pisco until next Tuesday as I was meant to be leaving in the afternoon. I then went and bought a rather smart pair of trousers after over a week of wearing the same green linen trousers to work in I felt a nice pair would be good. These trousers now lay on my bed covered in shoot dust and with two large holes. Lets just say after two pitchers of rum and coke, neat pisco and beer fire dancing for the first time is not advisable, neither is falling down a well. I shall get to this part of the story later! So after sorting this out I decided to move out of the dorm where I have been living to a hostel to enjoy some nights of sleep without the continuous buzz of mosquitos, the pins and needles from the hard matrass, the endlless dog fights outside my window and the snoring. After entering the room I lay down and fell asleep straight away was fantastic.

In the evening the burning began. For the last few nights groups of people had been working on art projects ready for last nights party, I helped build a woman from bamboo and spare clothes. All the art work was to be burnt to create a mini burning man festival which is the festival from which the organisation has grown from. The sculpture looked fantastic and burnt so well all through the night until we left at 4am to embers glowed hot.

In the afternoon before the madness began I attended the opening ceremony of the school on which the volunteers had worked for the last 8 months, it was beautiful murals all over the walls and brightly coloured tiny chairs. The school is in a nearby area called San andreus very close to the beach and therefore still at huge risk from Tsunami. The ceremony involved smashing Champagne, consuming Pisco sour and listening to the assembled families and children join in a less than enthusiastic renition of Peru's national anthem.

After the ceremony we moved onto a bar we have frequented here, one of the only ones that is deemed safe for us, and luckily has a large outside space perfect for fire spinning and burning of art works. The night began with a ride in the back of a truck holding on for dear life as we bumped along the pot holed road a great speed.

Whilst here I have been learning to spin (dance with pois), but had resisted the lighting of the pois. However I was convinced that my skill was sufficient to be able to dance and spin after lots of rum et al. Needless to say my efforts were less than graceful and resulted in flames dancing about my head and shooty marks all over my clothes from an inability to stop striking myself with the pois. The holes in my trousers came from jumping a fence, the bruises on my legs from falling down what we think must have been a well and the dust from laying out on the ground listening to the panpipes being played and watching the last flames. The Peruvians are not ones for safety and had simply covered the open well with a thin sheet of coregated plastic and a tire, this was in close proximitty to the bar and so I think I was not the only one to fall down the well in the space of the evening!

Today started later than usual because of the aforementioned and so bleary eyed I stepped in to the sunlight at 11am. Gary was ready for the off as we had promised each other a trip to Paracas national park. I had a light breakfast of choclate milk, two satsumas and a banana not knowing that this was the only food I would eat for a good few hours. We caught a crowded van to Paracas where we began our hike, a small assembly of small houses and shacks by the sea. We had no idea how far the walk would be but we so enjoyed it and it was worth every mile. Beyoond the small tow of paracas lay the beautiful desert, the road stretching as far as the eye could see into the vast sand dunes and strange luna like rock formations. We walked 10 kilometres to some beautiful cliffs, petrified sand dunes to a massive scale. after this first part of the walk we sat on the cliffs over looking the sea, the only people for miles around. Pelicans swooping over the waves, vultures circling over head creating a surreal but fantastic experience. After some time taking in the scene we headed back as the sun set and walked for several hours. Back in Paracas we sat by the sea and ate huge plates of sea food. It was a beautiful and magical day.

So there we are a rather long and rambling entry for you all to yawn over. I am now off to bathe my feet which are sandy and sour before I tumble into my bed and sleep.