NAZCA LINES 2002

On how we ended up in the middle of the Nazca desert

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Everything started more than 10 years ago, when as part of a reading lesson with children, we happened to get several texts about those unexplicable wonders which belong to past cultures. And one of those were those marvellous gigantic drawings found in the Nazca desert in Peru. From that moment on those designs remained in my memory.For our 2002-holidays, Marina and me were thinking about a trip to Europe. However, after 9/11 everthing changed. Her mother got afraid and felt bad about us flying to the old continent. And so it was that the idea of going to Perù came to my mind. Through another friend I got some information, tips and an itinerary of a trip through the neighbouring country of Bolivia and Perù. While Marina was determined to include, obviously, a visit to the Machu Pichu ruins (of which I will write in a later post) , I insisted on visiting the Nazca Lines. The Lines being so imposing, I had imagined the Nazca town would be a place of importance, I mean, of considerable size. You wouldn't believe my shock when I stepped off the bus at the terminal and found out it was a mere little town in the middle of desert. That is, a minute town surrounded by nothing but desert. Quite picturesque, though , many people would say. I would say an hour was more than enough to do the usual tour around the place.
We arrived there in the morning, got some decent accomodation, got a comforting shower, had some lunch and then, found out about our precious aim: the Nazca Lines. A very friendly man told us that two of the drawings could be appreciated from a lookout built next to the road to Ica and that a bus would take us there for just one sol. By the moment we made up our minds to go there it was around three. Luckily (we thought) there was a coach with a man shouting "To Ica", "To Ica", and three seats left. Therefore, we paid for our tickets and took two of the seats. We waited, and waited, and waited, while the man went on shouting his next destination. After several minutes, we started wondering when that coach was gonna leave for the promised destination, and so we asked about it. But all we got for an answer was that we were to leave at any minute now. After several more minutes we got angry, asked for our money back and jumped off what we considered an unreliable bus, and looked for a taxi, instead. And we were even luckier than before (we thought) for we found an empty one. Again, the taxi driver was shouting "To Ica" at the top of this voice. "Are you leaving now?", we asked. "Yes, one more passenger and we leave", was the unexpected answer and the driver left in search of that blessed traveller. Needless to say, we couldn't make head or tails of what was happening. Once more, after several minutes looking after the vehicle, we decided to leave in search for a second coach. And this time our prayers were heard, and a coach with only two seats left appeared, we took those places and the so longed journey began. Uf!
In a few moments we were not only out of town, but also into a vast desert, with nothing on one side of the road and nothing on the other but sand and the horizon in the far distance. It was then we realized why the drivers had been so worried about getting a full bus before departing. As we could see then, there was nothing between Nazca and Ica but the so called Nazca desert. Oh my! Two city girls in the middle of nowhere expecting to get the same service one can get in 9 de julio and Corrientes! And don't think that lookout was anywhere nearby!It took us a long while to get off the bus, but eventually, we hopped off the bus and there it was: a rustic construction with a few taxis parked nearby and some tourists going up and down the rough precarious tower. And the Lines? We still couldn't see a thing!
Yet, once we got to the top, there they were, two of them! The frog and the tree!Impossible to describe my feelings at the moment! Simply amazing! And to think that we were going to see the sunset there!
However, the illusion got broken when we came down the tower to see all the taxis leaving the place and it dawned on us that we were about to be left alone in the middle of the desert! What could we do? Try to stop a lorry and ask for a lift? It didn't seem to be the best of ideas! Luckily, just then we asked a taxi driver who was about to leave whether he could take us back to town together with the family he was already transporting. There were no objections provided we went in the boot. "Yes, of course, even if we have to go on the roof", we answered.
And this is how we could see the sunset next to the Nazca Lines and survive to the experience! More about the rest of the Lines in my next post.