Nazca - visit to the lines and constant tremors

Jo overlooking the Nazca lines
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Wednesday 15^th August – Cusco – Nazca

After a moderate sleep in until 9.30 am we had a quick shower and started packing our bags. We have got into an unfortunate habit of pulling everything out of our packs, even if we only stop for 1 night! So after taking nearly an hour to re-pack we went and joined the others for breakfast at our favourite restaurant where we have a great position on the balcony to soak up the morning sun. Leigh (our chief negotiator) went off and arranged 5 x 1 hour long full body massages for 20 soles (3.5 pounds) at 2pm. We finished up breakfast and decided to head to a museum. It was originally an Inca temple that had been demolished by the Spanish who had built a church on top of it. This was unfortunately quite a usual site throughout Peru. It wasn't as exciting as we had hoped, so the girls and Damian decided to shop while the boys went to the Internet. We all met again at 2pm for our pre-arranged massage. The massage itself was both pleasure and pain in 1 hour. Because of all the tramping we had done, our muscles were so tight but the little Peruvian women really worked them hard. It was nice also as after being at altitude for almost a month our skin got covered in oil, which was really needed as you dry out so quickly. After the massage we were all feeling rather lethargic. Leigh and Jo popped off to an awesome cafe to use the wireless and taste some of their yummy burgers and shakes. We all then met again to catch the bus to Nazca. We were all so excited as we had splashed out on tickets for the equivalent of first class seats down the bottom of the bus were only 8 people sit in total. We hoped on still feeling excited but after 1 hour of going down windy roads everyone started to turn green. The bus continued to do so for the whole journey i.e. from 6pm until we arrived at 7.30am the next morning. Out of all of us Leigh got the most sleep and seemed to actually enjoy the ride.

The shoddy platform to view the lines
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Thursday 16^th August – Nazca

After the bad nights bus ride we were all feeling a bit jaded but this quickly turned to concerned when we were told there was an earthquake in Ica/Pisco the night before. This was were we were heading for 4 days and was lucky we didn't get on a bus the day before as we would have been there during it. Due to the tiredness we were rather slow to sort our day out. Eventually we found a little cafe for breakfast and planned out the day ahead. We decided to stay the night in Nazca, due to the earthquakes and Ants and Helen decided to push on that evening. With all the travel and hotels booked we decided to give the flight over the Nazca lines a miss and opted for the much cheaper option of going to the observation tower.

No electricity so candlelit dinner and a massive one at that
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To get to the tower (the cheap way i.e. not on tourist buses which we avoid) you have to catch a public bus headed for Ica. We again bargained with a company and the 5 of us headed off. Well, we must say that the bus ride was more exciting than the lines! The Pan-American highway is pretty straight and the bus travelled at breakneck speed, and after 20mins dropped us off in the middle of nowhere at a rusty shoddy obervation tower. All we will say is that we were up and down the tower in about 2 minutes flat for two reasons! First being it was really not the most stable of structures and secondly you could just make out 2 animals...what a flop! Just as well we had only paid 6 soles (£1) each for the entire round trip, a great deal less than the flight which wouldn't have shown much due to the haze and the fact the lines aren't really that clear. So we were all glad to still have the $55US in our pockets.

Torn up roads from the earthquake
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With Nazca not offering too much more and the toll of the bus taking over, we decided to have a few drinks and pass the afternoon with more Beanie, which lead us to working up an appetite and heading off for dinner and more beanie! It was a surreal feeling at dinner, the entire town had no electricity (although it was promised to be back on by midday), yet everyone was still out and about getting done what they could, no one seemed to be moaning or complaining. It was actually quite romantic as the only form of lighting was candles, which were in all the restaurants so gave it quite a peaceful feeling amongst the chaos. As for the meal well it was the biggest portions you will ever see and all cooked over a massive charcoal grill and costing next to nothing! But we did have the unfortunate experience of enduring a rather large earthquake, all though not to big it did put everyone back on edge. We called this the “last supper” as it was the last night we would all eat together. We finished off and said our good byes to Ants and Helen - we had the best 2 weeks with them and could not thank Helen enough for all the help she had given us with her Spanish!

Dog resting at a petrol station
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They departed off to the station and the two of us decided to go to a seminar on the Nazca Lines. Unfortunately we missed the English tour, so joined it in Spanish! It was amazing, even though we could not understand all that was being said, the pictures provided us with a much better insight to the mystery. Afterwards the lecturer got out his flash telescope and gave us a lesson in Astronomy. He found out that we actually prefer English and conducted the lesson in both English and Spanish. Afterwards with there being no electricity we headed home.

A model of the Nazca lines
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Friday 17^th August – Nazca – Lima

After a quick breakfast at our hostel we headed down to the bus station to confirm our Cruz del Sur reservation. Unfortunately although we had left our names the day before they were already fully booked, so we wandered down the street to another bus company who had more luxurious buses for an extra quid leaving at 1.30pm. After making the reservations we went out for an early lunch to the restaurant we had eaten at the night before accompanied with some more cards. The dishes were again massive, but very delicious food. With minutes to spare we jumped in a little cab who quickly shuttled us to our bus which we boarded. We were very excited because the DVD's played were in English.

Watching video with Ants and Helen of a tarantula walking on water by their boat
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After watching a couple we got to the town of Ica were we witnessed the first part of the devastations from the earthquakes. There were a number of roofs caved in, brick fences scattered, lots of people that now looked homeless, it was all very sad. A bit more driving and we got to the Pisco area which was the worst hit. There we saw beautiful buildings and churches that were demolished and one particular European building that was very much on a lean with everyone still walking under it (no idea on health and safety - it looked like it would topple any minute). There was again more and more homeless people and it didn't really look like much aid was around. After driving further we came to a stand still for about an hour. Not knowing what was going on we finally got a view of why there were delays. The ground had literally been ripped up so the bus had to take it really slow as it was pretty dangerous. The bridge was closed off so we then had to cross a relatively deep river which the bus could only just handle. After more delays and people trying to flag down the bus (I think paying the bit extra meant we were not overloaded with people sitting in the isles which was nice for a change but a bit of an oxymoron as we felt bad because so many people trying to flee the area), we eventually got moving.

Now onto our fifth DVD it was starting to take a lot longer than the anticipated 6 hours. At 12pm (around 11 hours later), we arrived at the bus station. We then hoped into a dodgy taxi as they are so much cheaper (although don't know their way around the city) and directed him to our hostel. We were so glad to arrive at our hostel and be greeted by light switches that worked and toilets that flushed and even hot water showers. We felt like we were living like Kings. It was a day fulled with seeing much destruction and poverty which wasn't the nicest but an experience as it again makes you really appreciate what we have got!