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Published: February 2nd 2009
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View from bus
Scenic mountains Day 5 - Ica to Nazca
We chill out in the morning sunshine enjoying our time at the hotel as we may not get this level of comfort for a while!
At 11am we get a taxi to Ica where we wait for the bus. It is very hot so waiting an hour for the bus was hard work. It was a scenic 4 ½ hour transfer. The coach drove through large mountain ranges as well as desert and more greener areas.
At 3pm we arrive at the bus terminal in Nazca where we were met by a guy that was sorting out our flight over the lines. He explained that it would be best to do this first thing in the morning, we are glad as it gets overcast in the afternoon. A taxi is provided to take us to our hostel. The hostel is welcoming although a lot more basic than the hotel we have just left.
The hostel is £13 a room a night with free wi-fi and a small swimming pool. The rooms are clean but very basic with a concrete floor and the electric shower head looks a bit dangerous!
Nazca
is a small town in the desert famous for the Nazca lines, gigantic mysterious images (geoglyphs) on the ground that can be seen from the air. These lines were made by removing sun darkened rocks from the desert to create images such as a monkey, alien, condor and whale.
Nazca feels like a safe and friendly town and we enjoy wandering around the streets and finding a restaurant for our evening meal. Our meal was a more pleasant experience than yesterday. We ordered a 3 course meal which was all lovely and it came to a grand total of £9 for both of us (I do like a good bargain!!!).
Day 6 - Nazca Lines and Chauchilla Cematary
Early start today as we have a flight booked at 8am. The plane is very small Cessna and only has 4 seats including 1 for the pilot! We share our ride with a young lady from Japan who was very friendly and offered to take our picture while in the plane. I was already feeling rough today as I think my body is still getting used to the food and water over here so I took a
travel sickness pill before the flight! This was a good idea as even though the weather was still the pilot would bank the plane so we could see each image on the route. Apparently it is very easy to feel poorly on these flights and a few people on other flights suffered badly.
The first geoglyph we flew over was a whale and it left us slightly disappointed as it was smaller than we imagined, the pilot banked sharp left and then right over each so that passengers on both sides of the plane could get a good view. There are many of these figures (300) but our pilot just showed us the 12 main ones and some are very impressive leaving you wondering just how it was done. Our favourite was the monkey and alcatraz.
It was fantastic and we both really enjoyed the short flight but glad to be back in one piece
After returning back to Nazca we spend sometime absorbing the local area and cultures etc. As it is Saturday it is very busy and there are people everywhere. Fresh food is sold on every street corner and most shops down each
Nazca Lines
Shapes in the desert street. We sample the freshly squeezed orange juice and buy some fruit from one of the stalls.
We have to check out at 12.30pm but have to wait until 10pm for our overnight bus to Arequipa. We sit round the pool and chat to a couple from North California that have been in Peru doing voluntary work following the earthquake in Pisco last year. They are getting the same bus as us so we have some friendly faces to chat to today.
In the afternoon we get picked up by a guide in a taxi (a suzuki alto!!!) to take us to the cemetery at Chauchilla about 30m from Nazca. It was very interesting if you like seeing real mummies still in their tombs!. The local guide explained how these tombs were for important people from the pre inca and inca cultures.
These mummies were found after grave robbers stole all the treasures from the tombs in the Nazca desert. The ground is littered with bones and tombs that have been recreated to store the mummies found in recent times. When an important person from one of the cultures died they sacrificed children and buried the bodies
Nazca Lines
View from plane with treasures in the same tomb for their afterlife. Finally the tour took us to a traditional inca pottery manufacturer and a gold refinery where they make jewellery from gold found in the mountains.
Nazca is one of the driest places in the world, however it rained during our visit!
Laura
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Georgia
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Nice vids!
Wow awesome hundo! Love the videos couldn't really make out the monkey though :( will try harder. I like you peeping on the take off video it made me laugh! Scary mummie pictures! xxxx