Coming from Paracas, it only takes around 1-hour 30-minutes to reach the main Ica Bus Terminal. We paid 20 PEN1 for transportation in a small minibus. Once at the bus terminal, we looked for bus tickets to Cusco for the next day. We then got on a moto-taxi to take us to our Airbnb2 which only cost 2 PEN for a 10-minute ride. We then headed to the Plaza de Armas to look for Huacachina tours. It’s possible to take a taxi to Huacachina and just roam around there, but we were offered a tour of Huacachina and a pisco tasting tour for 25 PEN. The Huacachina part was only transportation though, but still convenient nonetheless.
Huacachina
Our transportation to Huacachina departed from the Plaza de Armas. We enquired about leaving our backpacks at the office and they said it would be better if we took them. This was because the second part of the tour to the distillery would end at the bus terminal which was convenient for us. The drive from the plaza to Huacachina only takes about 15-20 minutes. As you leave the city, the terrain quickly changes to endless dunes. We were dropped off at their tour agency (Innasumi) in Huacachina. You can rent a sandboard for 10 PEN each. The people at the agency give you directions to where you can do sandboarding. Huacachina is a very small place so you won’t get lost. We were given about 2-hours 30-minutes to roam around to get back in time for the tour bus to pick us up.
The sandboarding activity can be exhausting because of the heat and also having to climb the dunes. The sand is also very hot and impossible to walk barefoot; so make sure you take appropriate footwear. Also, we found that we only really needed to rent 1 board since we never used it at the same time. In total, we spent around 1-hour 45-minutes sandboarding and then went to return the boards to walk around Huacachina. There are boat rentals at the Oasis and a couple of restaurants and stalls. In the morning, there wasn’t much open or many people around. We completed the loop of the Oasis in about 30 minutes. Unless you plan on doing other activities like renting a buggy, you don’t need more time there.
Bodega Pampas
The tour bus picked us up at around 12.30 PM to head to a wine and pisco bodega. It took around 30 minutes to reach Bodega Pampas which is a family-owned distillery. We were given a tour of the place and an information session on the process of how wine and pisco are made there. Following that, we’re taken to a seating area for the tasting session. The host teaches you a fun drinking rhyme before every drink. At the end of the session, there’s some time to buy the bottles for relatively cheap. I bought two pisco ones since they were very good.
Ica Sites
Next, the tour continued to two tourist spots in Ica. The first one was the Brujas de Cachiche Park around 30 minutes from the bodega. This park has a statue dedicated to the witches in the area. Witches were notorious in Cachiche and some people still believe in their witchcraft. The guide talks about some stories of famous witches from Cachiche. It’s a quick stop here for about 10-15 minutes to walk around and shop in the stalls. The tour then continues to the Palmera de 7 Cabezas just 3-5 minutes away. This site is a palm tree with 7 heads and the guide gives some information on it. It’s also a quick stop here for 10-15 minutes to take pictures. This is the final stop and then the tour bus heads to the main bus terminal.
We reached the bus terminal at around 4 PM. Since our bus to Cusco was scheduled to leave at 7 PM, we left our bags with the bus agency and went for a walk around the Plaza de Armas. The plaza is only a 10-minute walk away. We wandered through some markets, stopped for some food, and were back at the terminal by 6 PM.
