¡The stones of Ica y no más!

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After leaving Cuzco to Nazca, we had a quick change of plans and decided to stay on our really nice bus and head further north towards Ica. The words of wisdom from our fellow travelers and our local companions on the bus all recommended we not stay in Nazca for the night, instead dredge forward to Ica and we are glad we did. After a 12 hour bus ride, we arrived to Ica, a very crowded, noisy and congested city. Here they have what they call ´mototaxis´; they look like a 3 wheeled motorcycle with a flimsy housing so you are sheltered. We weren’t brave enough to try those, even our cab driver thought they were scary. The main street through the town was ´under construction´, so we had to walk in the street. As we are walking down the street, men with sledge hammers were tearing up the concrete, so there chips debris flying every where…..needless to say, all we wanted to do was find the museum of the Ica Stones and get the hec out of Ica!

We did find the museum, if you can call it that. We asked several locals and most of them had no idea what we were referring to. The museum was right at the main square (aka Plaza de Armas). There was no sign or street number, the door was slightly cracked open and there was an elderly woman sitting at desk surrounded by thousands of rocks and boulders (more than 17,000 to be exact). This location is actually the office of Dr. Javier Cabrera´s, the discoverer of the stones; he died in 2001 at age 77. For 10 soles (about $3) we were able to walk in the office and look at the stones. It turns out the woman who was there was Dr. Cabrera´s secretary for over 40 years. She didn’t speak English, so the information I was able to decipher is limited. She highlighted for us the most controversial stones depicting a brain surgery, cesarean section, homosexuality and even the domestication of dinosaurs….hmmm. Many scholars question their authenticity, Chad included. I thought they were interesting and I especially liked the large photo over his desk of him and Shirley MacLaine!

After about 2 hours in Ica, we are headed to Huacachina, a backpacker’s haven amongst the sand dunes…should be fun!

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