Nasca and the coastal desert

ihana.com - big trip - diary - peru - may 2003

Misty mountains hide...

...fertile green valleys

Sand right down to the road

Saturday 24 - Sunday 25 May

Saturday morning we got up early, left Arequipa and headed down to the coast and the main route north to Lima. The road winds its way through the desert which covers the whole western seaboard of Peru. Its winter in this part of the world at the moment and although its not cold, a sea mist hangs in the air, the sun not powerful enough to burn it off. We barrelled along the tarmac all day, the steady diesel drone at 85kph broken only by roaring around the frequent switchbacks in low gear. Its a great track for a motorbike.

Nasca market

Nasca lines, a birdy one

Nasca cemetary

We arrived in Nasca after dark and came across the same hotel we had stayed in three years ago. Then we paid $25 for a nice room and T had dehli-belly all night, leaving a memorable mess all across the bathroom walls! Our budget is a lot less these days and we got a $3 room in the back but still perfectly serviceable. Nasca isn't noted for its pumping nightlife but there are a couple of small discos and plenty of friendly locals.

The reason for our stop in Nasca, apart from it being equi-distant in the two day drive between Arequipa and Lima, are the Nasca lines. These lines were etched into the desert hundreds of years ago, the reason for which is still unclear. We took a flight over them last visit and needing to get to Lima just stopped at a lookout tower by the road. A guy offered to be our 'guide' (to the top of the tower?) for 20 soles, thanks mate but we saw you coming. There are all sorts of designs such as a monkey, hummingbird and a whale as well as various perfectly straight lines indicating sun positions. Vehicle tracks abound too, but these are a bit more recent.

Future trip vehicle?

Smooth twisty tarmac

Top food cooked streetside

Mountains

The rest of the day was spent on the road, with a quick stop for lunch at one of the many fish restaurants along the way. 500kms later we rolled into Lima, only a couple of days late to meet T's parents who are over for a two week visit.

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