I had no idea that the most exciting part of the next 24 hours or so would be the bus ride from Puno to Arequipa. While our 2 story bus weaved through the Andes we suddenly found ourselves in the midst of an ice storm. Soon after, all the windows fogged up and for the next 20 minutes we sat, basically in the dark, as the bus slid around corners. Eventually I made it Arequipa and found another bus for Nazca.
The only tourist draw Nazca has is the Nazca lines. Nine giant images carved into the desert ground. The images are so big that they can only really be appreciated from great heights. It wasn’t until 1940 when Paul Kosok, who was in the area studying ancient irrigation systems, flew over the lines and realized they weren’t for irrigation at all. Though the purpose for the lines is not completely known, it put Nazca on the map.
I arrived in Nazca at 4.15 am. The bus I was on was continuing to Lima and I was the only person getting off at Nazca. No sooner had I bent down to pick up my bag when a car jetted around the corner and screeched to a halt next to me. A man got out and started rambling off facts about his hostel. I had already booked a room at a hostel but I wasn’t sure if they would have anyone to let me in at that ungodly hour. I realize this wasn’t the best idea but I allowed the guy to take me to my hostel anyways. The whole ride over he was trying to get me to commit to doing the air tour of the lines with his company.
Turns out no one was awake to let me in the hostel and after the guy continued on about how every hostel in the city was full but he could offer me a sofa and place to store my bags until my hostel opened I finally gave in. He charged me 10 soles ($4) to crash on his “sofa” which was really just like a wicker love seat. I don’t think I ever fell asleep and by the time the sun was up I grabbed my bag and left.
I had made plans to meet up with a 19-year-old girl from Holland that was on my Machu Picchu trek but she wouldn’t arrive until early evening. Neither of us had the budget to afford a flight over the lines so I decided I would wait until she was there to go to the observation tower, which gives a decent view of two of the symbols. This gave me a whole day to kill in Nazca, something that sounds easier than it actually is. Nazca has very little to offer. If it weren’t for all the gravity and oxygen you might even think you managed to land on the moon. Dirt and rocks cover the otherwise flat landscape. I walked around the town, ate some lunch, and poked around a few shops and that still left me with about 6 hours to go. Movies and naps are my go to time killers.
Long story short, we went to the observation tower the next day and were thoroughly disappointed. Maybe if you do the proper tour in a plane the lines may be more impressive but from the lookout tower the lines looked… fake. I had seen hundreds of pictures of Machu Picchu before I visited and was still blown away. When it comes to the Nazca lines, pictures were enough.
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