Pisco...not actually where pisco is made.

One of many styles of a typical Peruvian woman's hat 

Mototaxi traffic jam!

Once making our way past Lima we were officially on our south coast tour of Peru and on our way to new places. Our first stop was Pisco, which is named after the national liquor that is supposedly produced in the area. However, this is not actually where Pisco is produced. Even if it were, we didn't have much energy for sightseeing after getting to Pisco on the bus from Lima, being dropped on the side of the road, hailing a taxi into town, and finding our hostel.

View of our window, Tambo Colorado hostel, and the town of Pisco

We stayed at a hostel called Tambo Colorado, within walking distance of the main plaza, a grocery store, and running distance from the beach. They had a computer we used to download pictures from our full cameras, a kitchen we used to make black bean burgers and crepes (getting pretty adventurous!), and a comfy, spacious room to attempt yoga. For the next couple of days we took advantage of what the hostel had to offer and tried to relax as much as possible before heading further south.

Outdoor patio and kitchen at the hostel

As our new trusty tour operator (compliments of the hostel) assured us, there isn't actually much to see around Pisco. There is an island off the coast of Paracas (a town near Pisco), called Isla Ballestra, that has similar species to the Galapagos such as sea lions and pelicans. But we figured visiting the poor man's Galapagos in Ecuador was enough island hopping for us. There was an earthquake in 2007 that left a lot of the town in shambles, and on our run to the beach we could still see some of the building crumbles lining the beach front.




Since arriving in Peru we have seen election signs painted and posted everywhere and anywhere. We have seen several caravans of trucks supporting one candidate or another. We were even delayed for a few hours on a bus once because of a Toledo caravan going through a single lane road of a small town. Well, we happened to arrive in Pisco during the presidential elections, and because of this there was a dry  law in effect. No bar or tienda could sell or serve alcohol from Friday until Monday, when the elections were over. So ironically the most popular thing to do in Pisco (buy Pisco and drink it), we couldn't do. So instead we just enjoyed a few days of relaxation before heading south to Ica.