Down by the Bay

A three hour car journey and we felt as if we had left Peru to alight on some other tranquil, foreign, shore. We stayed at the new Double Tree Hilton Hotel in Paracas.
The funny thing is we never knew it was the inauguration with rumours of the President attending/celebrity chef and plenty of TV coverage. We turned up early evening when all that was over looking like the Griswalds on parade. How many bags does one really need for a 2 night stay? The poor guy with the luggage trolley had to take the corners and ramps like a Nascar pro to stop all wheelie bags/boogie boards/laptops/handbags/backpacks/ice chest(drinks and snacks a must)/snorkeling gear and DVD collection from toppling over. I am not saying we needed all those things we just took them in case!
Anyway a good time was had by all. The hotel is built in a U shape and the view from reception is a calming one with a colourful strata that starts with the tiled terrace, turquoise pool and segues into chalky, crushed, sea shells followed by sand ,blue sea and ochre undulating mountains.
We were lucky enough to have a corner room with pool and sea views. In the early morning the water is like a mill pond the only ripple a pelican diving or if you're lucky dolphins playing. By afternoon the wind is up and the kite surfers are out. At night the sunset is a photographers delight and the stars entrance. We wiled away time sipping drinks on the veranda.
Sadly lacking was warm or even cold water. We could still flush the loo but they had to work all through the night to repair whatever the problem was. When we dared to mention the inconvenience of this we had to listen to their sob story of the troubles we've had and how long we worked blah blah blah. Your troubles? You want to know trouble, try sharing a room with teenagers who need to wash/dry/straighten/shine and style their hair daily and cannot do so.
After much raising of eyebrows and shuffling of papers (why???) a small reparation was made. Despite this hiccup we will be going back.