Peru - Lima & Nazca

I thought my flight to Peru was pretty bad, but this is probably because I am used to the luxorious Singapore airlines and KLM is crap in comparison. They managed to show 3 films, all of which I had seen before, so I spent the time learning Spanish. This was a good thing, because when people told me not to expect everyone to speak English, what they meant to say is that hardly anyone speaks more than a couple of words. The most interesting thing for me about the flight is that we did an unexpected (to me) stopover in a place I'd never heard of, its very cool stepping off a plane and having no idea what country I was in. I was so tempted to stay there, just to see what would happen. Anyway, my limited Spanish got me to the hostel ok, and I was dying to meet some fellow travellers to help me plan my trip, I didn't have much of a plan at that stage and wanted some recommendations. The whole place was deserted, which was disappointing but at least I got a great nights sleep in the dorm to myself. At breakfast the next day I met a nice couple, but who were useless at telling me anywhere to go, and some bible-bashing Californians who were here being missionaries. I've got nothing against the church, but the only thing that should be read at the breakfast table is the back of a packet of cornflakes (or in my case, the Rough Guide), not a bible. I caught a bus into Lima Centro - the bus system here is amazing, there are hundreds of mini-buses razzing around the place at high speed, with a man who leans out of the door and practically scoops you up off the street. It seems very chaotic and crazy, the traffic is even worse than Bangkok, someone should tell them that on a 3 lane highway you shouldn't have 5 cars abreast. The good thing about the buses though is that there are so many of them, and if you want to go to a particular place you just turn around and there one is, to wherever you want to go. I spent a lovely few hours wandering around the main sights of the old town, and people watching. I got a lot of attention from men (none from women). Most of them say 'hello' or 'buenos dias' or 'hola'. The shy ones just stare. I even got wolf-whistled at twice, once by a policeman! I don't mind it though, they seem genuinely friendly and as long as they don't touch me I don't care. What is more scary is the fact that every single house or shop or or hotel has massive, military-style security gates and often a security guard. Also, in my taxi ride from the airport the taxi driver insisted that I lock the doors. There must be a lot of crime here. I bought a bus ticket to Nazca (all in Spanish, I'm so proud even though I did have to use my phrasebook), and declared it a good day.

The bus journey to Nazca was spectacular, as we drove through the middle of an awesome desert. I didn't even know Peru had a desert, so it was a nice surprise. The landscape was so barren and desolate, with very few signs of life, but also magnificent. We drove through the mountains as well, so beautiful.

I arrived in Nazca and met two nice guys, Simon & Simon, and went out to dinner with them. Nazca is a funny place, in the middle of the desert so no green anywhere and its really dusty. It has a nice atmosphere though, as the locals are friendly and there are a few tourists around. The river was pretty horrible though, it was devoid of water but instead had piles of rubbish.

The main thing to do in Nazca is to see the Nazca lines; huge geometric shapes and pictures of animals carved into the desert floor a long time ago. No one knows exactly who drew them or why. The best way to see the lines is to take a flight over them, as you can only really see them from the air, thats why no one discovered them for ages. The flight was pretty special, I was the only English person on board, with 11 Italians who kept crying 'Bellissimo!' all the time. For me, seeing the desert from the air was just as good as seeing the pictures. It looks more like volcanic ash than sand, as it is a darkish grey colour. There are loads of wavy patterns that are obviously natural, and intersected with these are huge straight lines and triangles, and the odd picture of a bird or animal. There´s even a picture of an astronaught, although how the people knew what astronaughts looked like back then, I don´t know.

I have lots of questions about the lines - maybe some of them would be answered if I had understood the Spanish video they made me watch, or could talk to my guide. Its really frustrating sometimes not being able to speak the language, other times I like it because it is a challenge. Talking of challenges, I managed to order an omlette for lunch just before my flight, I didn´t know what it was on the menu and if I eat too many eggs I feel sick. I was so so close to throwing up on the plane, I would have done if the pilot hadn´t given me something funny to smell.

From Nazca I caught an overnight bus to Arequipa.