Located five hours south of Lima, Huacachina is a village built around a small oasis surrounded by sand dunes. To get there, take a taxi from Ica (8-15 soles, depending on your negotiation skills). These ancient mountains of sand are beautiful and surreal.
The legend is that the lagoon was created when a beautiful princess removed her clothes to bathe. She looked into a mirror and she saw a male hunter approaching her from behind. Startled, she fled, leaving her mirror behind which turned into a lake. The folds of her mantle, streaming behind her as she ran, became the surrounding sand dunes. And the woman herself is rumored to still live in the oasis as a mermaid.
In Huacachina itself, there isn’t much to do except sandboarding and dunebuggy, but it’s a great spot to visit other destinations such as Ica, Paracas or Nazca. And it’s also a perfect spot to just chill and relax. To be clear, you can walk around the oasis in about 30 minutes, so when I say there’s not much to do, there really isn’t. But the place is peaceful (at least when I went but I would be careful about the hostel you choose to avoid party hostels, I recommend Banana’s Adventure) and beautiful. And can you often say you spent some time in a desert oasis?! If you have the strength to walk up the dune, the sunset is really worth the effort.
According to local legends the water and mud of the area is supposed to have curative powers. I’ve seen locals in the water but, to be honest, I really didn’t want to go in there…
Just meets World 
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