Beyond The Red Psycho Llama Hostel And Lima

Red Psycho Llama Hostel

The Sun broke around 6am. As is my habit, since I wake with any bit of light, whether I want to or not, I got up. I took advantage of the soft morning light to photograph the Red Psycho Llama Hostel. I clanged around enough to wake Jenny around 8ish to pack up and have breakfast.  Today we begin our travel South. It’s our first day we are without the guidance and comfort of the Pinillos family. Things are going less smoothly for us. This feels more like the traveling I’m used to. Maybe we’ve been doing it wrong. 

Red Psycho Llama Hostel

Red Psycho Llama Hostel

Despite all of Vicky’s and the hostels efforts to help us arrange our transportation, the recommend bus line was sold out by the time we arrived. Not just the planned 1:30 bus, but also the entire day. So we scrambled around to the other bus services to try and find something. At 13:50 we found Ormenol Bus Lines. A scheduled 14:00 departure to San Celemente, (left late 14:20) and a 10 minutes taxi ride to Pisco. We were meant to be going to a nice hotel in Paracas but that was when we where going to leave on time, now we’ll get what we can find as the sun is getting tired in the sky. We didn’t want to be stuck looking for a room after dark. 

Red Psycho Llama Hostel

Passed through the town of Chin Cha, home of the groovy Afro Peruvian beat and the place to see the ass shaking fire dance called “The Alcatraz.” (Dancing men chasing dancing women, attempting to light a handkerchief pinned to their bum.  They must move quick, shaking their ass to prevent the flame from igniting their handkerchief tail.) It was a chaotic as any town I’ve ever been. There is a round-abouts in the center, coincidentally where our bus stopped.  Tuk-tuks jockeying for inches, clogging the streets the air was acid with the two stroke exhaust. I was relieved it wasn’t our destination, as unless there is a festival going on it doesn’t seem like a place you want be. Who knows though, what can you tell from a bus stop.

Red Psycho Llama Ho

We arrived in Pisco as the sun was setting. We found a nice hotel:

La Hosteria Del Monasterio

Address

Bolognesi 326

Pisco, Peru

reservaspisco@hotmail.com

The Manager, Michell Jarrin Perez, was a gracious host who insured we had a pleasant stay. It’s a simple hotel with a tranquil sheltered courtyard. It’s clean, well managed and has either been repaired or escaped the last earthquake. The separation from the outside world was welcome as there is a political rally being held in the plaza. We went out for diner; spoke as well as we could with some locals. There seems to be an undercurrent of resentment, or maybe disappointment, towards the Government who has done little, I’m told, to support Pisco after the 2007 earthquake. A quiet evening is welcome as it gives me a chance to catch up on my blog. We arrange a tour of Islas Ballestas for early tomorrow. I learned later that a new National Airport is being built in Pisco. That should change their fate dramatically. That would turn them into a hub for the more popular destinations on the Gringo trial between Arequipa and Lima.  It should also encourage the developing wine region.

Red Psycho Llama Hostel

Red Psycho Llama Hostel

Red Psycho Llama Hostel