Nazca Lines - 27 Oct 2005

This morning I woke up at 06.00 and got a COLD shower. The shower heating hear works on
solar energy so in the early morning you can forget the hot water. At 07.15 a taxi picked me up
and brought me to the small airport of Nazca. Yesterday evening I bought a flight for 40 USD
to fly over the Nazca lines. At 08.00 the pilot, me next to the pilot and an american couple in
the back stepped into a small Cessna airplane. It was 20 years ago I sat in such a Cessna but
it felt like I was on my flightsimulator. We took off and after about 3 minuts we saw already
the first lines and figures. We had the map with the route the plane was flying and at every
figure the pilot made really very sharp movements to the right and the left flying in circles
over every figure so we could make excellent pictures of the figures. They advised us before
not to take breakfast and indeed after 25 minuts of flight I felt like I was on a ferry in a rough
sea. After 35 minuts we saw all the different lines and figures so we could fly back to the
airport following the panamerican highway and we made a smooth landing.

These Nazca lines are really a must see if you are here. It's a mistery why these figures
were made in the desert between 1000 before and 500 after Christ. You see birds,
monkeys and even a kind of astronaut and long wide lines as it were airstrips for
space-ships. The crazy thing is that you can only get a good image from them if you
fly over them and at that time they had no airplanes (at least not human beings)

After the flight and when the crazy rollercoaster feeling was gone I took a huge
breakfast in the centre for 8 Sol (2,50 euro), orange juice and coffee, eggs and bacon,
sandwiches and jam. I did not tell you something about the food yet but you can get
everything here except for Hoegaarden. Bread, ham, cheese, pizza,s , french fries,
cakes, a bakery here for excample looks just like a belgian bakery.

In the afternoon I went for a bus ticket to Cuzco, a 18 hours ride into the Andes
mountains. Its a popular route as I left the search for the ticket to a travel agency
and all the busses from 2 companies were already full. At last they found a free seat
on a bus from Expreso Wazi for 80 Sol (25,00 euro). The bus leaves here in Nazca
at 21.00 hr this evening. I hope it will be a smooth ride. I dont like driving in the
mountains at night so much.

Meanwhile I spend the rest of the day walking a bit in Nazca and having diner
Tomorow another update from Cuzco, hopefully without a headache as it lies
on 3200 meters above sea level.

Cheers