Nasca

Trip Start Jul 16, 2008
1
17
84
Trip End Ongoing


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Where I stayed
Hostel Brabant
(Nasca hotels)

Flag of Peru  ,
Thursday, September 18, 2008

We spent the morning walking around to different tour agencies to find out about the cost of a flight over the Nasca Lines and a trip to go sandboarding (which I wasnīt excited about but Jan really wanted to do!) Eventually decided we would take the local bus to the Mirador lookout point to see the lines before we decided about the flights. We got on a bus right as it was leaving and sat in the back. We almost missed the stop because the guy collecting the tickets didnīt get back to us until right as we were about to get to the Mirador. We told him where we were going and he yelled up for the driver to stop so we could get off. We were in the middle of nowhere. It looked like we were on the moon, with no plants and just grey rocks. There was a tower to climb up and look out and many tourists and tour buses but other than that, just rocks. There werenīt even women selling snacks! We climbed up the tower and saw two of the lines, a hand and a bird. They were pretty cool looking but I just donīt understand how they could have lasted all this time and not gotten covered by sand with the wind.

We talked to a few people who had gone up in airplanes and they said that they hadnīt really enjoyed it because they were so air sick that they couldnīt even look out. So, we decided to skip the flight. Instead we went on a tour of a burial sight. We saw all of these mummies that had been buried out in the dessert. The bones were so white that they seemed fake almost. Some of the mummies had hair on their heads still. It was pretty interesting and a little creepy. We met an Italian couple, Alesso and Martine, on the cemetery tour. They both wanted to go sandboarding as well so we all went back to our travel agent to see if we could get a discount with 4 people (works most places in Peru!)

We booked a tour that leaves from Nasca at 8:00 (there goes my good night of sleep...still have to get up pretty early...Iīm not used to this kind of hectic traveling after my two months in Cusco!) and goes to Huacachina, an oasis about 3 hours away, near Ica. We got a discount with the four of us and booked the whole tour, including a one night stay in Huacachina, the buses to the oasis, and 3 hours of sandboarding.

After we reserved our tour Jan and I walked around Nasca a bit, looking at some of the shops. Found an inexpensive menu for dinner then walked around looking for a bakery, one of Janīs favorite thing to do as he loves sweets (and food in general)...traveling witha 20 year old guy has helped me put on some of the weight I lost from the parasite!
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