Nazca

ABOUT NAZCA:
Nazca is home to the famous and mysterious Nazca Lines, enormous geometric designs and petroglyphs inscribed on the ground of the desert on the arid high plateau between Nazca and Palpa - some of the figures are over 200m across in size. Many of the lines form stylised depictions of animals, such as monkeys, spiders and hummingbirds, as well as trees and other designs.

Archaeologists believe the Nazca Lines were created between 500 BCE and 500 CE by the Nazca culture - although scholars are unsure as to their exact purpose, they almost certainly have religious significance to the Nazca. The designs are simply shallow lines made in the ground by removing the reddish pebbles and uncovering the grey ground beneath.

The Nazca Lines were discovered in 1927 by Peruvian archaeologist Toribio Mejia Xesspe, and later famously studied by the German archaeologist Maria Reiche. You can view the lines from a

viewing tower or take a flight in a small plane to see them from above. Close to the town are the sites of the ancient Nazca city of Cahuachi and the Chauchilla Cemetery, where you can look at the tombs of people of the ancient Nazca civilisation. It is something of an eerie sight to see the skulls, bones and even hair of the dead, preserved in a remarkable state thanks to the dry desert air.

We left at 7:30 for an optional speedboat trip to Islas Balleestas. It was freezing and windy! We saw penguins, sea lions, and lots of birds!

We left on an 11:30 bus for Nazca and arrived at the bus station at 4:10. I finally got to do my Insanity again after an unintentional week off and a quick call to mum before heading out to a group dinner.

Went to bed fairly early, but my roommate has always been quite a loud snorer but is now getting slightly sick, this took the snoring to a new level, even while lying on his side. I didn’t really get any sleep and when the alarm went off at 6:30 to do my exercise, I rolled over and by the time I got up and dressed, I realised I wouldn’t have time to finish it. So I just had a shower, packed, and ready to leave for bugging at 8am. I joined everyone for breakfast at 7:30, rolls with jam and a fried egg. It turns out our pick up didn’t arrive until 8:45, so I would’ve had plenty of time, but I wasn’t to know.

Bugging was extremely fun, flying down the gravel roads and even better when we made it to the sand dunes! We had a quick break and did some sand boarding on the dunes, this time was much better than Hucachina! The sand was much smoother as we had the place to ourselves!

We returned to the town and went out for lunch, we have an 11 hour minimum bus drive to Arequiepa this afternoon until after midnight, with no dinner, so I ordered the mixed grill, which I was happy to see when it came out was very large and will definitely last me until breakfast tomorrow.

While on the bus, I listened to some Spanish classes and used the time to catch up on this diary, writing from Salento until now. We arrived into Arequiepa bus station at 1:50 am and our hostel at 2:30 am.