I learned about the Nazca lines when I was in my teens, I read a book about evidence of spacemen landing on earth and apparently the Nazca lines were evidence of their runway. They also drew images of creatures on the desert floor for unknown reasons, many of the creatures live thousands of miles away in the Amazon or out in the Pacific Ocean, not here. The lines date back to civilisations up to 200 BC.
The drawings and lines were only discovered when planes started to fly over Peru in the 1920s, the images are not visible from the ground as they are so big. The images have been perfectly preserved because there is no rain or wind in this region, so no erosion. The landscape is flat and desolate and it is difficult to imagine humans living here it is so alien. There are various theories about their purpose and origins, but it still very much a mystery.
After our big night out, we gathered at 545am with all our gear together, grabbed a drink and some fruit and headed for the rendezvous for the coach to see the Nazca lines. Dawn and Reg were waiting for us, with big smiles on their faces and happy to share what great night’s sleep they had enjoyed, and asked us how our night had gone. We just grunted in response.
I think our eyes told the story, but it was time to head to one of our big events of the holiday, the Nazca lines as part of the PeruHop itinerary.
The journey from hell
I was expecting a transfer to a local airport to fly down to see the Nazca lines, but how wrong I was. It turned out that the minibus was a FOUR hour drive to Nazca, where we picked up the plane. The journey was painful, a cramped minibus bouncing along the 2 lane highways of southern Peru with our heads rocking from side to side as we tried to grab some sleep.
After 3 hours we stopped in the middle of nowhere by a large tower and told we needed to climb the steps. To be honest it was a relief from being in the bus so we climbed the tower, and to our amazement we could see one of the desert drawings right below us. It turned out that the road was built before planes started flying, so the road was built straight through the image as they couldn’t see it from ground level.
If the bus ride was difficult, worse was to come. We arrived at the landing strip in the middle of nowhere. There were quite a few people waiting for flights, there was a conveyor belt of small planes taking off to take passengers over the lines. We then discovered we had to pay a take off tax in cash before we could fly, and of course, we had spent all our cash the night before. One of the local entrepreneurs solved the problem with some fiddle, a lot of commission and cash appeared.
This put us at the back of the queue so we were stuck in a hot hangar, with our hangovers, for 90 minutes before we could get on a plane. We saw Dawn and Reg come back from their tour and got an update on what to expect, and they did look a little traumatised to be honest and we never saw them again.
The flight over the lines
Eventually it was our turn, we crammed ourselves into the plane, strapped ourselves in and put on our headsets. This was no jumbo jet, just 6 passengers and a world of history to discover, and before we new it we were bouncing down the runway and airborne.
Our hangovers had marginally improved by this stage but they soon came back with a vengeance. To be fair, the pilot and guide were very helpful people and wanted us to have an excellent view. So as we approached the first of the images the pilot dipped the wings and put the plane on it’s side so we could all get a better view of the image on our left. As you can imagine, this did not have a good effect on the stability of our stomachs or heads as the plane tipped and righted itself again.
To be even more helpful, the guide announced that they would do another pass from the opposite direction for the benefit of the passengers on the right of the plane, so they too could get a great view. So the plane did a U turn, which involved being tipped on our sides again, going around and levelling up. Then we headed back to see the image on the right of the aircraft. How nobody was sick during this manoeuvre I will never know, with or without hangovers.
And so the routine was set for the next hour in the plane. The incredibly helpful guide and a willing pilot that was only too happy to go around again and again. The drawings themselves weren’t that easy to spot, as they were obviously the same colour as the desert floor, so it required a level of concentration that I didn’t really have, but luckily sharp eyed Wooksie was very helpful as normal. It was like being having a stunt pilot taking us on a tour, the only thing we didn’t do was a loop de loop.
These drawing are really one of the great wonders of the world, their size and intricacy are astonishing when you see them. The origins and purpose are a mystery and the thing that amazed me was that they were drawing of animals from thousands of miles away,
It wasn’t just the drawings, there are also the lines, which absolutely look like a landing strip, they run for miles into the distance and are totally straight and diagonal.
There is also evidence of man-made canals and a water course, which is even more inexplicable as there is no water and isn’t much sign of it ever being there now but the climate has changed. I have seen many of the wonders of the world but this one is really up there as the most intriguing.
The enthusiasm of the pilot became a bit wearing after a while, the endless fly pasts of the drawings, U turns and airplane wing dipping to improve the view was taking it’s toll on everyone onboard.
Eventually we landed and the passengers staggered out of the plane, some unable to stand properly, others threw up. Wooksie and I staggered off, thanked the pilot and guide for their enthusiasm and looked for something stable to sit on.
Journey back to Lima
Before we knew it, we were back on the bus and soon back in the town of Nazca to await our connection back to Lima. It was then that we discovered the full extent of the Peru Hop network, and how effective it was. Most people were waiting for a coach to Arequipa, one of the cities we had left off the schedule. From there people were travelling on to Puna by coach.
We had a much needed burger and chips for a meal before boarding the coach, finding a comfy seat and falling asleep.
As we neared Lima, Wooksie started to complain about having stomach pains and was concerned that she might have a stomach bug. After a rough night at the hotel we headed for the airport for our flight to Juliaca for a transfer to see Lake Titicaca and Puna and our high altitude preparation that was about to unravel spectacularly.