I was looking again for the Scientific Museum, but couldn't find it, so I went to find an ATM. I tried two with my UFCU debit card that rejected the transaction (I assume for fraud suspicion reasons, since I didn't notify them), until I finally got some money from another ATM. The relief I felt from this was indescribable. I ended up buying from fruit and my bus ticket for tomorrow from Nazca to Cusco overnight.
I didn't know what else to do in the city, so I hailed a taxi and tried to go to a bodega and picked the first one on Trip Advisor. The first one I called couldn't or otherwise didn't want to take me there or something, so he called a friend and we agreed on a price. Halfway there, though, he pulled over and started saying a bunch of words at me even though we had already had the "I only speak a tiny bit of Spanish" talk that I have with all my drivers. I think I was able to catch the gist of it - that he was speaking to his taxi driver colleagues and changed his mind about going to Tacama for 10 soles. Instead, since he would be going so far, he wanted 20. The other option was that he could take me to another vineyard, El Catador, for the 10 soles. They could show me much of the same stuff and it would be (1) closer for him and (2) easier for him to find the next client. I think that's what he said, but I really can't be sure, obviously, since I don't speak Spanish and can't remember the sounds he was making. It was the most stressful thing I've experienced this trip. I can't remember feeling so helpless and useless and wanting to go home more, even on my first trip to Nicaragua. I finally got across that it was fine to go to El Catador instead, and he asked me who had recommended Tacama to me, and something that came across to me as berating me for traveling alone. I have heard that it's not good for women traveling alone to admit it, so I just said some friends had told me it was a good place to visit and that they were somewhere else today. The driver seemed to accept that and we arrived at El Catador fine and dandy.
Now as I recall this, it doesn't seem that stressful. I don't know why, but the fact remains that I was terrified in the moment and really about to break down. It was so hard to not speak Spanish and not be able to walk everywhere the way I could in Lima, and here was this rando telling me I shouldn't be traveling alone when he's in charge of the car I'm sitting in. It was really, really bad, and not helped by the fact that the rest of the day had been frustrating.
Luckily, when I arrived at the bodega, someone approached me and asked if I wanted a tour. He spoke really good English, and I was so, so thankful for that. I was DONE with Spanish at least for the time being, and it was good being able to just learn a little bit about pisco and the way it's made in Ica. Apparently, they take tons of special grapes that have some of the highest glucose content of any species and put them in huge pits to smush with their feet. The juice drains out and the skin is used for fertilizer. The juice is then added to large clay jugs that remind me of classic Incan pottery for two weeks, where the fermentation occurs. The jugs are then heated very hot until the alcohol evaporates into underwater tubes connected to them, and the distillation is collected. The alcohol is then taken from upwards of 90% alcohol to about 40%. It is then further processed to make the different kinds of pisco.
At the end of the tour the lady who had taken the tour over gave me some piscos to try. Honestly, they weren't that bad. some of them were very sweet (like grape juice with vodka, maybe?), and there was one that was 48% alcohol (tasted terrible and burned my throat, but I drank some just to be polite), and there was a peaches and cream flavor that wasn't that bad. I tried to have very little because I know how much of a lightweight I am.
I eventually made it back to Huacachina after that, and paid for a dune buggy and sand boarding tour for the afternoon/early evening. This is when my day went from "ugh" to "YES," and it's what I mean by the epitome of travel. Things changed so quickly, and I experienced very low lows and high highs very quickly.
While waiting for the tour, I met a nice Norwegian girl who was also traveling alone. By the time we were split into groups for the tour, I was sad that we weren't in the same group. However, it turned out pretty well. My group was made of a guy from the UK, another Norwegian guy, two guys from New Mexico and Texas, and a nice couple from London. We went on the very bumpy desert dune buggy ride, being tossed around in our seats before finding a place to try out the sand boarding. It was really fun, and we started going to steeper and steeper cliffs. The best way to do it is to have someone hold the board while you lay on it, stomach down. Keep your legs and elbows in and balance your weight. With this, I was able to go the furthest and pick up quite a bit of speed down several hills, which was awesome! I had a ton of fun, and along the way was able to start some conversations with the people in my group. Turns out they were pretty awesome, and it was such a relief to be able to talk to people who could understand me, and to whom I could express myself even a little bit. We were able to watch the sunset before heading back as well. The view was spectacular. Even though the whole thing was pricey - about what I paid to sleep three nights in the hostel - I would say it's worth it for the experience and being able to meet people interested in similar things.
Afterwards, we were given complimentary pisco sours, and the five of us (London couple, who looked less adventurous, left) sat down to just talk a little bit. I was fun to hear the stories they shared - one guy spent a birthday in a Colombian jail and was serenaded by the surrounding inmates at midnight, another got on a ferry between the islands in Ecuador that had a hole in the bottom leading to the eventual sinking of the boat and everything in it. He had to buy everything again, get a new passport, all of the above. Another was laying on a beach with his iPad, which was destroyed by the tide when he fell asleep. Seriously, ultimate travel mishaps, but I loved hearing them! It was so great to connect with people for a little bit, and I didn't know how much I needed that until I got it. The UK guy left to catch a bus to Arequipa and the two other Americans went to a bar, but I stayed behind and chatted with the Norwegian a little bit about his adventures in Ecuador, which seemed really cool. He was 27 and had quit his job selling sports gear to travel and had been at it for over 2 months. I loved that he did that, that he took such a bold step and did what he wanted to do.
It's been a complicated day. To say it was good might be putting too much weight on the latter half of it, but to say it wasn't wouldn't be accurate either. I'm thankful for this day because it's been a roller coaster that ended on a good note, though. Here's to more good days ahead.
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