trips with Vicky and Dale, part III

Having thoroughly enjoyed our first taste of desert and sand dunes, we plunged further into the rainless terrain, making our way south and east to the great plain of Nasca. This area is one of the driest places on the planet. The word "stark" only begins to convey the feeling of expansive emptyness that surrounds you here.

For some reason, thousands of years ago, the Nasca people decided to etch huge geoglyphs into the desert plain. Because the area is so dry and there is no windblown sand to erase them, these figures are still very visible (presuming you are in the right viewing spot). The oldest are thought to have been made around 200 BC, and estimates are that the tradition continued until about 700 AD. The Nasca lines, as they are usually called, include a variety of figures. Some display abstract depictions of plants or animals. Others are geometric shapes or patterns. Nearly all of them can only be seen from the air. And they can be very large, the size of multiple football fields in some cases.

On our last trip to Nasca, we only managed to see a few of the Nasca figures; those visible from a hillside near a village called Palpa, and the two you can see from a viewing tower erected along the Panamerican highway. By the way, the highway was actually built right on one of the figures, a lizard, partially obliterating it. This was before the figures were known or identified.

This time we booked spots on a small plane to see the Nasca lines. The planes take off from the Nasca airfield and fly above more than a dozen shapes and figures. The flight lasts about 30 minutes, generally in mid morning to avoid early morning haze and the risk of a more windy ride later in the day.

The travel agent who helped us book hotels and such tried to tell us that we only needed to spend one night in Nasca, claiming that other than viewing the lines, there was nothing to see. Luckily, we knew better, thanks to our first trip and multiple guidebooks, so we stayed longer.

The truth is that the area around the town of Nasca is full of sites from the Nasca, Paracas, and Inca cultures. For example:



Just outside of Nasca is the Cantalloc Aqueduct, a system of underground canals designed by the Nasca people to irrigate their fields and bring easier access to water. All along the canals are holes, with spiral access ramps, which are lined with stones and allow the water to flow smoothly. The aqueducts are still in use today, carefully maintained and cleaned by local experts. We visited the site in the late afternoon. The light was especially pretty, and it was clearly the time of day when the shepherds bring their goats and cows back in from the fields.

Thanks to the water supplied by the aqueducts, the valley by Nasca is very green and fertile.

This was our Cantalloc shadow puppet show

These shots were taken at a spot called Paradones, which was an Inca administrative center. It provided great views, interesting ruins, and the chance to goof off.

Here you see us boarding the small plane for our tour of the Nasca lines. At this point we were all excited and cheerful. No one had started barfing yet. That came later. Of the five of us, only Britt and Vicky managed to keep their breakfasts down. There was another woman with us, who also got sick. Vicky was all the more amazing, because not only did she not get sick, she managed to keep passing the plastic bags and tissues around to help the rest of us. Britt was in front with the pilot and managed to stay out of trouble by keeping his eyes firmly planted forward. The pilot was unfazed. He never flinched and just passed back bags and tissues.

Barfing aside, the ride was fascinating. You have to look carefully to see the figures. Many of the plants and animals are covered by subsequent lines - including the alien landing strips... Whale

Astronaut

Parrot

Hummingbird

Condor

Viewing platform on the Panamerican, from which you can see the tree and the hands figures

After recovering from the bumpy flight, we took off across the desert to visit a lesser known site called Cahuachi. Getting there was interesting in and of itself, because it is not well indicated and involves crossing numerous kilometers of dirt roads. Visitors are rare, though there is a team of archeologists from Italy working on the site with students from numerous countries. They had not started their digging season yet, so we were all alone with the one guard, who took us around. Cahuachi was a city and important ceremonial center, apparently, built around 2000 years ago by the Nasca people. It includes some 37 or so pyramids and structures covering a wide area. Only a tiny portion has been excavated. The current dig is expected to end in 2 years, so it's not clear how much more will be done there. The pottery, textiles, and other findings from the site are kept in a small museum in Nasca (located across from the slaughterhouse, in case you're looking for it).

Main pyramid, Cahuachi

The area is covered in hills, under which are non-excavated pyramids and structures.

We also visited the Chauchilla Cemetery. This is an eerie spot, which until recently was a flat plain just littered with bones and other human remains. The Nasca buried their dead here. They were placed in a fetal position, prepared for mummification, and wrapped in multiple layers of cloths, including outer layers of beautifully woven textiles. They were buried with ceramics and other offerings. Many of these have been looted over time, though there are examples of them in various museums. Some of the tombs have been reconstructed more or less, with spooky looking mummies and random bones. The ceramics and textiles have been removed. Even Britt, who usually likes visiting cemeteries, finds this place creepy. The landscape is interesting. The hills contain iron and other minerals, lending them various colors. There is also a huge, white sand dune, called Cerro Blanco, which is visible from here. It's said to be the biggest in the world. It's the height of a small mountain (2,000 meters).