I first read about an Oasis in one of the Tintin stories. I do not remember exactly which one but might have been the one where there is a little kid called Prince Abdullah who created quite a ruckus.
Anyway, I digress. Having only read about an oasis, I thought I would never see one. Till the Peru trip was being planned. So in came Huacachina into our itinerary.
My first sight of the oasis was in the tiny flight to see the Nazca lines. The pilot announced we could see it in a few secs and suddenly there it was - an Oasis.
A sight to behold from the air - sand all around and suddenly in the middle there is a water body! We were actually staying in Huacachina and the Nazca lines was fascinating so forgot about it quite quickly.
Once we reached Huacachina, however, I realised it is more or less a touristy village. It is built around an oasis and has huge sand dunes (several hundred feet high, I am told). The actual population is only in the early hundreds but thousands of tourists come here. Mostly for the buggy rides along the dunes and the fact that you can sandboard. Looking at it from within the oasis, you can actually see how immense these dunes are.
Those tiny people walking up those dunes in the first picture are slightly scary. Till you actually walk up yourself or get into one of the sand buggies in the second picture above. It is quite amazing, the landscape, conjuring up one visual treat after another. Do plan to be there in the evening around sunset. The sun rays and the sand give you a spectacle like no other.
Once the sun goes down, however, you realise there is not much to do. There are a bunch of restaurants catering to a party crowd, so there is music, food and alcohol and enough places to let your hair down.
The place is not without a story though. Legend holds that the lagoon was created when a beautiful native princess removed her clothes to bathe, but after looking in a mirror she saw a male hunter approaching her from behind. Startled at the intrusion, she fled the area leaving behind her mirror which turned into a lake. Other versions hold that she fled, leaving the pool of water she had been bathing in to become the lagoon. The folds of her mantle, streaming behind her as she ran, became the surrounding sand dunes. The woman herself is rumoured to still live in the oasis as a mermaid. There is even an installation which tells this story.
Overall, go only if you are fascinated by sand dunes (longed to see one as a child) or want to indulge in sand boarding and buggy rides!
Getting there:
From Lima, getting to Ica is a bus ride away which is about 4-5 hours. We used the Cruz del Sur and found it quite comfortable. The only downside, all announcements are in Spanish but then again the only thing that is of importance in all the announcements is 'wear your seatbelt'!
From the Ica bus stand you can cab it to Huacachina. It is about 5 KMS from Ica town.
We stayed at a hostel called Bananas. The place is far better than the name. It has clean rooms (it is a hostel though you can get individual rooms with attached bathrooms), decent food and everything is walkable. Since it is a hostel, there are high chances that there will be parties late into the night so music around the time you sleep will always be there, if you are a light sleeper, best of luck! :D