From the Nazca Lines to the White City

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After a week in Cuzco it was time to make a decision, and with no word from our travel guru's in Bolivia we decided to head over to Nazca and then down to Arequipa (the white city), before begining our mamouth jorney back to Santiago.

The bus to Nazca was reasonably comfortable except that we were thrown from side to side as the bus snaked its way (sometimes off road) through the Ande's. We arrived in Nazca at 5.30am where we were bundled into a taxi and taken to the airport.

The flight was in a small five seater plane, and took us over the world famous 'Nazca Lines'. As the name may suggest they are not infact all lines, but most are strange child like drawings, so large they can only be seen from the air. There are over a dozen drawings in total including a Whale, a monkey, a condor and even a space man. They apparently date back over five hundred years, but their origin is still uncertain (although the usual alien theories have been banded about).

After the flight we found a hotel room for the day as our bus to Arequipa wasn't due to leave until 10.30 that night, and spent the day relaxing by the pool and chatting to our friends Mel and Sue who we were due to leave behind later in the day.

Our journey to Arequipa was much more comfortable on the 'Royal Class' bus which had big comfy leather seats and even an area at the front of the bus where you could sit around a 1970's style table and socialise. When we reached our destination at 7.30am and we were feeling pretty good for a change after a decent nights sleep. We booked ourselves into a really lovely hotel and ended up in a room with big double doors which opened onto the imaculate garden.

The town itself is laid out in a typical South American style with the Plaza de Armas being the central point and the majority of the grand buildings placed on the main streets off the plaza. It is filled with the standard craft shops and tour agents and we found it hard to find anything unusual about the place until we visited the Convent. The Santa Catalina Convent is huge and takes up a whole street block. For around 400 years the convent has been home to a group of nuns who up to around 35 years ago lived completely enclosed behind the huge walls with no personal contact with the outside world. The complex is now open to the public, although the current living quarters of the convent are kept private. It is such a beautiful and serene place, a great escape from the heat and mayhem of the streets outside. You get to walk freely around the narrow streets, through tiny doorways and around the many rooms and courtyards or guides are available if you want more info. Its the kind of place with a photo opportunity around every corner and we found ourselves missing the new camera more than ever! After a relaxing afternoon we stepped back out of the gates and into the real world again of manic traffic and street touts.

Our time in Arequipa was short but relaxing. We were determined not to over do it as we had the daunting prospect of the next few days, traveling to Santiago. Just to break it down the trip will consist of the following,

5 hours to Tacna by bus
3 hours crossing the border back to Chille
Over night in Arica
28 hours Arica to Santiago by bus
4 hours sleep!
5 hour flight to Rio

Its times like this that you wish you had the money to fly!

B & R

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