Unfortunately after I last left you (leave you hanging did I??), I've been suffering one of the body's cruelest combinations. Stinker of a cold and, suffice to say, stinker of a stomach problem. Full stop top end, definitely not so full stop the other end, au contraire mes cheries. How does the prospect of a 14 hour bus journey appeal to you with this great combo? I cannot tell you how tempted I was to stay in Cusco till I was unblocked and blocked. But the show must go on and almost three weeks in Cusco is more than enough. Well actually, it's not. I was tempted to stay in Cusco full stop, cold and stomach bother aside. Lovely place. Lots of signs advertising for bar staff. Tempting, very tempting! But time to get moving, so armed with optimism and toilet paper I boarded the nightbus to Nasca. Must admit I was a tad worried when the bus hostess announced that the onboard toilet was only for 'Number Ones' but 14 hours and one film later (Surprisingly it was 'Million Dollar Baby' and not another dire The Rock oeuvre, great film, tough I prefer my Clint in English..) I make it to Nasca without major disgrace to myself or my homeland. Phew!
After 10 days of travelling in different directions I hook up with Madeleine again. As I walked up to the hostel roof she was having brekkie, all tanned and happy after hiking the Colca Canyon and a Bolivian adventure. It was great to catch up again. Oh, where DO we start?? Girls will be girls and we simply had so much to catch up on there were no time to go flying that day. By the evening we were nearly up to date, so we went for a beer and on to a lecture about the Nasca lines at a planetarium to prepare us for the flight the next day. Most excellent lecture. Though yours truly did ever so momentarily nod off. Hey, it was warm, dark and cosy in there and I am getting on a bit...
Early the next day we get up and have no brekkie in fear of throwing up when we're in the small aircraft over the lines. (So sorry, I've just realised this installment seems to be revolving around bowel movements!) It's cloudy and the visibility is bad. Great, so we got up early only to be hanging around the airfield for aaaaages.. We head to Chauchilla Cemetery instead. Hm, a small reminder of our own mortality and perhaps not the most delightful start we could have to the day we're off in a small aircraft..
Must say though that the cemetery was absolutely incredible. It has been looted over the past century, with the grave robbers leaving human bones and artifacts laying around exposed in the sun. Our guide was enthusiastic and knowledgeable, but his knowledge of grave robbing left me a wee bit suspicious. He seemed to know an awful lot about their techniques.. Had he come over from the Dark Side?
By the mid afternoon the clouds were on our side and it was time to fly over the Nasca lines. We were absolutely famished by this stage, but hadn't dared eat a bite. Better safe then sorry. Clutching plastic bags (better safe than embarrassed) we board the plane. Rather unfortunately an elderly Italian man had thrown up in plane before us. We saw him white as a ghost stumbling off the plane clutching his stomach and with the evidence plain to see down his shirt.. Oh, yikes, the smell was lingering in the plane.. I start to wonder if the smell is going to make us sick rather than the actual flying.
For some mysterious reason the pilot picks me to be his co-pilot (well, I call sitting in front next to the pilot co-piloting..) At first I am rather chuffed, then it dawns on me that perhaps it is because I am the heaviest person onboard (apart from the chubby pilot himself). Then again, I ain't gonna complain - I've got front a row seat!
Take off, still feeling fine, no uncontrolled bowel movements detected. It's been years since I last flew in a small aircraft and I'd forgotten how much fun it is. I look right, I look left, I look forward. I am having an excellent time. Hahaha - what wusses throw up doing this! The pilot starts gibbering at me, and points extatically to the right. There ahead I see the first drawing, the whale. I get slightly overexcited (me? never..) PLEASE PINCH ME! I AM FLYING (SORRY, CO-PILOTING) OVER THE NASCA LINES !!!! The pilot does a loop so we get to see the whale properly from all directions. Very kind of him. He does another loop. Yeay great! Then another bloody loop. I'm not feeling so great all of a sudden. My palms are a bit sweaty and I clutch the plastic bag. Oh, oh.. Another bloody loop.. I swallow. There's a funny taste in my mouth. This ain't fun all of a sudden. Then thankfully our excellent pilot decides we've seen enough of the whale and gets our spaceship back on to the straight and narrow. Phew, I loosen the grip on the plastic bag. That was probably just one loop away from disgraceful disaster.
We fly over the astronaut (hm, perhaps Erich von Daniken was on to something after all?) the monkey, the spider, the hummingbird and the incredible lines that race across the horizon as far as your eye can see. Why did they make them? Now I know amazing is a word I use way too often, but this was just amazing. Amazing.
After a mere 30 minute flight it's all over. It was worth the long wait, it was worth not having breakfast (OR COFFEE) for, it was worth the uncomfortable long bus journey down from Cusco. It's a memory that will stay with me for a long long time to come.
After the flight we celebrate with a BIG lunch and a pisco in the evening. After 7 weeks together, it's our last night. Madeleine is heading back to Lima before flying back home. I'm realising this time we're not going to hook up again in 10 days. It's a teary goodbye the next day. I get my kleenex pack out (my nose is so red and sore from using toilet paper, I've progressed to Kleenex) and I'm very sad, we've had such a great time. We've had some excellent chats and some wonderful laughs. She waves me goodbye from her bus terminal as I board my bus to Arequipa. As the song goes 'We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when..' Who knows, will it be a pint in London, another pisco sour in South America or perhaps a Hinano in Tahiti we'll be having together next? She's been wonderful travel company and I'll miss her heaps. But I am sure this is not the last time we're comparing smelly shoes, discussing - oh - everything and travelling together...
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