Huacachina and Nasca

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Hola from Connie and Tom!

Well I arrived in Lima relatively stress free, but all that was about to change! I waited for an hour for my taxi to take me to the hostel and after having phoned them 3 times, quite angrily, they told me I'd have to get my own taxi. This didn't fill me with confidence about them picking up Tom at 11pm, so I kicked up a fuss and managed to get a discount on our room and made sure someone was there for Tom.


We didn't plan to stay in Lima for any time at all really because it's absolutely huge (approx population 9 million) so it would take a lot of time and money to see it properly. So on our first day in the morning we walked around the area we were staying in which wasn't particularly exciting; all there were were locutorios (shops full of pay phones) and street sellers selling crisps- very different to what most people had told me about Lima.

We took a bus to Ica at lunchtime which took about 4 hours. It was quite exciting for Tom since it was his first time seeing the desert. We didn't stay in Ica either; we got a taxi straight to Huacachina (which is about 5 minutes away) with a South African guy whose Spanish was almost as good as Tom's!
Huacahina is an oasis in the Ica desert, it's sulphurous lagoon is said to have healing properties and all of its 40 or so buildings cluster around the lagoon. Surrounding the oasis are huge sand dunes which we did venture out upon when we arrived.

We decided to stay in the only hostel right on the lagoon and it turned out to be a very good choice. It had a swimming pool, (although we're pretty sure they just filled it up with a hose every now and then, not so big on the chlorine front!) and was very friendly. So we had a really lazy couple of days, going out to eat, swimming and sunbathing and wandering around. On our second day we took advantage of the dune buggy tour our hostel offered, despite knowing that someone had died the previous week.....
Our driver turned out to be a top chap. The ride itself was really exciting, but both Tom and I decided that neither mums would have enjoyed it! We stopped a couple of times to take some pictures; the views were incredible. We also tried a bit of sandboarding (like snowboarding but on a sand dune) which was fun but not nearly as fun as sliding down on your tummy!

So after 2 nights there our next stop was Nasca to see the Nasca lines. We hadn't really planned exactly how we were going to take a flight to see them so again we took advantage of one of the tours offered by our hostel. Really early on Wednesday morning the dune buggy driver drove us down to the bus station and we took a 2 hour bus journey to Nasca where our guide was waiting for us. The flight was in a light propeller aircraft to allow for the best views from the air. This did mean however that the flight was a bumpy and queeze inducing one- Connie was green by the end. Neverthless the flight was thouroughly exhilerating and the lines mesmerizing. There are 2 kinds of lines from 2 different cultures and eras. The earlier zoomorphic figures were made by the Nasca culture in the 400 years B.C. Following the Wari invasion the lines take a drastic change to strictly geometric lines and shapes- almost entirely trianguler figures- that criss cross the whole area (roughly 500 km2) in what seem bemusingly random directions. It is estimated that the whole process took around 1000 years.

The reasons for both sets of lines are largely unknown, there really are only a set of informed (barely so) speculations. The most likely theory considered is that the animal figures (spider, monkey, whale, parrot, humming bird, condor, frog, tree, hand and an alien looking human figure) were made for the enjoyment of the Nasca people's gods; as they are impossible to appreciate from ground level and there is no high ground near enough. Other theories include astrological mapping and even alien messaging. We were later informed by our Peruvian museum guide that the later geometruic lines were a kind of massive petulant scribbling out by the conquering Wari peoples.
The lines themselves are simply created by the parting of the rocky top layer of the desert plain to expose the darker earth beneath. They've survived so long due to the surrounding mountains blocking wind and wet weather patterns and the heat radiating off the rocks keeping any wind that does get through at bay by creating a kind of micro-thermal climate.

Nasca, tha actual town, is an unremarkable stop off for visitors to the lines and other sites, so we decided (with the help of our incredibly helpful and friendly tour man) to abandon the iternerary and travel to Cusco that night.
This still left us with lots of time to kill and so we strolled up to the centre of town. Whilst resting in the Plaza on a bench we had the unfortunate pleasure of being acosted by a horrendously drunk old man. Connie, apparantly, was Victoria Beckham and this the man repeated, with minor interjections of begging, continuously until we gave him some chocolate and the policeman sent him on his way.
During all this we noticed a small boy on a bike delighting in our misfortune and once the drunk had gone he came over to reassure us that he was 'loco' and we were good to not give him any money. We talked to Juan for the best part of an hour about England and Peru; we both learned new things! He was curious as to whether or not we had 'emos' in England, which was amusing. This was a nice experience but after he left and the drunk returned we decided we'd had enough of Nasca.

Upon realisng we had about 6 hours until our bus left we decided to check out a Nasca museum, which boasted an ancient aqueduct which still supplies people with water and a collection of Nasca ceramics, mummies and decapitated heads.

Since its now Semana Santa, (the Holy Week of Easter) the bus prices were going up dramatically so we decided to leave while it was still reasonable, and to use one of the cheaper companies as recommmended by our tour guide man. We arrived half an hour early as instructed, but waited for nearly an hour and a half before the bus arrived, all the while slowly losing confidence in the crediblity of the company (not that we had much before- the terminal was effectvely a shed with a desk and some thin plywood separating the waiting room from what appeared to be literally a dump behind.) Though we were entertained by a hilarious martial arts B-Movie.

Stay tuned for the longest bus journey of our lives and adventures in Cusco!

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Comments

[Vicky/Mum]

Wow
Hello there you two! the photos are great and the hostel and pool makes me feel pretty envious. I'm so glad to know you're both well and enjoying yourselves, just hope you don't run out of money as so far it looks quite upmarket! I look forward to pictures and news from Cusco - the Easter celebrations will be fantastic. Do let us know when you leave Cusco and head for pastures new. All well here - nice Spring weather and life plods on as always (and Dad's actually fixed your shelves, Tom!) Much love - we think about you lots! Mum/Vicky xx

[The Ryan Murphy]

Envy
I've always wanted to go sandboarding. When I was younger, I invented the idea. Only to find that someone else had already thought of it. It was so depressing. I thought I was a genius.

[Sophie]

vos echo de menos
tengo mucha envidia y parece marvilloso y bonito. i dont even know whether that spanish is right. i love you two ! you are ace. (tom i was serious about the peruvian child you're getting me)

[Kayleigh]

Aliens. Definitely aliens.