When it comes to things that have no logical explanation the Nazca Lines are right up there with Stonehenge and people who buy celebrity magazines. A huge series of shallow designs made in the ground – only properly visible from the air – that cover nearly 500 square km with the largest figure being 270m high. Many theories abound as to why the symbols exist; a calender? an astrological chart? or just a bored Inka with a lot of spare time and a big lawnmower?
I have no idea what they were used for but I do know that anyone in town with a small plane and a Dummies Guide to Flying will offer to take you 3000m into the air to have a look for yourselves. So it was, that Ciara and I found ourselves in a ridiculously flimsy 5-seater plane being pitched to almost 90 degree angles so as to 'fully appreciate' these ancient marvels – which we did. I am not sure how much the pilot appreciated not getting the chicken soup I had eaten two hours previously over his nice white shirt, but he bloody well should have done as it was a monumental effort.
After 30 minutes of being bounced around like a sock in a tumble drier it was a welcome relief to be back on terra firma. I thought I might have got some good photos but later discovered that most of them were of the other three passengers terrified faces as the plane lurched from left to right and my camera swung hopelessly with it.
A long sit down and a good nights sleep was well on the cards, but unfortunately another overnight bus was all that I had to look forward to. Due to an error between me and the spelling (I had booked us on CIAL not CIVA – similar eh?) I had the prospect of eight hours with a company popularly regarded by Peruvian thrill-seekers as the most likely to employ a lunatic, drunk driver to steer a badly maintained bus over a cliffs edge or – if we were lucky – into an oil tanker.
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