OUR STORY ON CoolWorks.com:http://www.coolworks.com/blogs/2008/05/desert-what-surprise.asp
For backpackers travelling without popular travel guides (e.g. "Lonely
Planet") or people like us, who usually do not know more than the
currency rate of the country we are crossing the border of, the South
of Peru and North of Chile can be quite a surprise.
After
hitch-hiking a plane out of the Peruvian jungle (from Iquitos to Lima,
the capital of Peru), we ended up staying with our friend Carla in the
Comas district of Lima. A step out of the house and we had a great view
onto two sandy hills without any vegetation. The only change in
landscape was due to people's houses living on the hills. Carla's house
was maintained mainly by her mom and brother who had to clean the dust
each second day. If they would not wet the sandy street in front of
their house each day, the desert would be in their house soon. We were
astonished to see a completely shiny bathroom get covered in dust
within only three days. At that time we thought it is only because of
the hills which accidently happened to be in Comas. We did not realize
that there the desert actually begun.
Continue reading on:
http://www.coolworks.com/blogs/2008/05/desert-what-surprise.asp 
