WanderingWhy…

Touring archeological sites is one of the high points of travel for us. We come from a very young country and don’t have access to some of the mindblowingly old sites there are to see in other places in the world. The Nazca lines are a very unique site to tour since the only way to really see them is by airplane. Rather than turn this post into a research paper about what the Nazca lines are, you can learn a little more about them here. and here if you’re interested.

The lines were on our checklist of sites to see here in Peru until WD learned you had to view them from a rough ride in a dinky airplane. Fortunately, we met some fellow backpackers when leaving the hostel in Lima to catch the bus. Jo and Lauren were from South Africa, and a lot of fun to hang out with so we paled around with them for a few days. They also wanted to tour the Nazca lines and I think they helped give WD the little push she needed to do the flight.

We booked a tour with our cab driver of all people. Normally I would never do anything so stupid as to give money to someone and have them tell me to go to the next town 2 hours away where “someone will be waiting for us.” But, “Jose” was a stand-up guy and it worked out very well. He even hired a bigger cab to take us to town and crammed into the hatch with our luggage:

So, off we went to Nazca. Everyone we spoke to who had done this tour said not to eat anything before getting on the plane because it’s a rough ride. I tend to get motion sick fairly easy so hearing this, I took a dramamine to prepare and skipped eating anything heavy. On the bus ride there I wasn’t feeling well and figured I was dehydrated from spending the last few days in the desert (the beers at dinner didn’t help matters).

I drank all my water and figured when the bus arrived I could grab some gatorade and be good to go. Unfortunately, the “someone who was waiting for us” was more efficient than anyone I have met in Latin America and wisked us off the bus and straight into the plane. This was good since it didn’t give WD any time to chicken out, but bad for me and my stomach.

The plane held five plus the pilot. The pilot had the window open while we were bumping down the runway. The window had a small handle and looked like the rectangular shaped single pane style you would find in a school or old office building. I’ve never been in a small plane before and I’m used to being sealed into a huge chamber by a heavy door before we “prepare to disembark.” I figured this was going to be interesting.

I thought the pilot was going to leave the window open but when we lined up at the top of the runway he closed it and off we went. WD giggled and said “Look! they give you bags” pointing to the airsickness bags as we bumped down the runway. Did she really have to point that out?

It took about 5 minutes before I wished the pilot could open the window. The light sweat started and my stomach start to roll with the turbulence of the plane. The pilot pointed out the first figure and I tried to occupy my mind with what we were there to see and forget about my nausea.

The flight is only about 35 minutes, but it seemed like a lifetime. The pilot would point to a figure on the left side and bank into a death spiral, then repeat in the opposite direction so people on the right side of the plane could see. Not seeing the horizon and spinning one way and then the other was taking everything out of me not to get sick. Thankfully the figures and the landscape are remarkable and kept me from losing it completely. Although do I admit I was looking at the map and trying to measure how far we had to go “Okay, we’re at the monkey now so we’re almost halfway to landing.”

We landed and I jumped back on solid ground. Off we went to lunch where I pounded two poweraide’s and slowly came back to life. As we sat talking, it turned out I was the only one who felt sick. Even Dawn was fine… I guess it was punishment for picking on her for hesitating doing the flight in the first place. Sick or not, it was well worth it.

There is not much else to do in Nazca and, since we were all waiting for a night bus out, we had a day to kill. Jet-setting vagrants that we are, we ended up bumming around the lobby of a fancy hotel lounging in the comfy chairs and sofas, viewing our photos, surfing the free wi-fi, and using the poolside showers–all for the price of a cup of coffee and a soda. A nice deal.