Arrived in Peru

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We arrived by the little train in Tachna, a 1930's type railway station that has been turned into a museum. It has old trains, equipment, photos and stamps of trains. At the railway station we had our passports stamped again. We had been told the bus stop was just down the road from the train, don't catch a taxi, just walk. Well it is ages away. The bus station is a most unusual place. Full of indigenous people who had been to Tachna to buy good for their stalls or shops. They unpacked all their shopping and put it in big bags. The most unusual thing I saw was a man who unpacked all his light bulbs and put them into a bag and folded all the light bulb boxes and tied them with string. How the bulbs did not break on his next bus trip I do not know.

A Policeman advised Paul to not talk to anyone and not to buy anything. Our bus left at 6pm and we had all day to fill in - not talking to anyone or buying anything is hard to do. We put our bags into the bus security place and went for a walk up town. Paul got approached by a shoeshine boy who insisted his boots needed polishing and while I was having a laugh at Paul and one legged man came and said mine needed doing too. Jandals from now on. A Policeman stood watch over us the whole time to make sure we were all right. We were the only white people in town.

The bus to Nazca was an education. We had to go though security Paul had a metal detector passed over him and hand luggage searched. When on the bus the bus man came in with a video and took film of us and our seat numbers. Never experienced that before. Our seats were very comfortable and we thought this is going to be bliss but before the bus even took off a man started snoring, loud as. It continued all night. Once on the journey we had a policeman come in and look at our passports and once we had to stop somewhere, some bags taken off and checked.

When we arrived in Nazca we were met by a lady from the hostel. They try to meet everyone coming to avoid the taxi mafia. We stayed at Hostel Walk on Inn and have been treated like a King and Queen.

We attended a lecture at the Nazca lines Hotel and they have a planetarium there and the man tells you the history of the lines and the work of Maria Reich who dedicated her life to plotting and exploring the lines and shapes. We had a look at the moon and Saturn though a telescope. The next morning we had a flight over the lines. Some of the lines go for miles and what an incredible feat to make them. The plane stood on one wing and went round and round and then the pilot turned it over so it was going round the other way. I do not like looking out a plane window and seeing the ground but it was certainly a really interesting trip. The airport had 36 planes 3,5,and 7 seaters for taking us tourists over the lines.

The hostel helped organise our tours with Marco. He took us to the cemetery Chauchilla a place of ransacked graves from 2000 years ago. Some of the graves have been fenced off for people to look at how the culture managed their dead. The heat and salt help to preserve the mummies. They only have 20 ml of rain a year on a good year. This is the driest desert in the world. The cemetery that is used now has crosses that are colour coded. White crosses for babies, Green for girls, blue for boys and black for adults.
Then Marco took us to a pottery studio and a gold extraction place. Marco really knew his history and the next day he took us to see aqueducts over 1000 years old still being used to provide water to Nazca. Amazing technology. We also saw some Nazca lines from just above them and an old Inca ruins.

We are getting ready to catch the bus to Araquipa tonight.

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Photos

Houses made of brick.
The wire support is left awaiting the next floor, usually it is only in the corners.

View from our bedroom window.
Lots of roosters in every back yard. Note the black bowl. This heats the water for the family wash.

Comments

[Olgs]

I am just loving your journal entries.Please keep it going.Safe travels to you both.