Nazca lines

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Another early start for the 2+ hr drive to Nazca. We would be returning to Ica that afternoon, then passing through Nazca again on the overnight bus.. so a bit of backtracking was involved. Ica is the heart of an agricultural region, but once the irrigation is gone, the landscape is totally barren, the road runs dead straight for miles. It hasn't rained in centuries in this part of Peru, one of the reasons the Nazca lines haven't been worn away by erosion. We stopped at the Marie Reiche museum in Nazca, she was one of the first archaeologists to study the lines. There are several companies based at the Nazca airport that offer 45 minute overflights for about $45-$50 each, the morning is the best time to fly as the air is still and the sunlight is at an angle. The flights are really the only way to see the lines, there is an observation tower by the highway, but only two figures are visible from there. We ended up arriving rather late in the morning, so our flight was a little choppy! The view is incredible, it's amazing just how many geometric designs are visible, not just the commonly known Monkey, Hummingbird, Dog, etc, there are literally hundreds of lines, trapezoids, squiggles, etc. The Nazca lines have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. After the drive back to Ica, we headed to the Ica museum, where they have a large collection of mummies, several with bizzarely misshapen coneheads! Soon it was time to head to the bus station for the overnight bus; where we found out that the bus would be at least two hours late arriving. Sitting in a bus station in Ica late at night isn't the best way to spend ones time! The bus finally arrived, this was one of the luxury double decker buses with sleeper seats. I slept horribly, if at all during the 12-hour trip to Arequipa! In retrospect, it would have been better going back to Lima, then flying.

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