We arrive in Nazca at 6am or so I think, we're ahead of schedule but its bright outside and we want off the bus! This place for us was just a stopover of a town for us, solely to see the lines as we had heard its a pure kip with nothing else to do. We're the only gringos who get off the bus and its quiet in town at that hour. I'm usually a person who likes to do some research about prices and whatnot about activities I want to partake in but we had no tips, no names to ask for, just this one lone ranger in the bus station with his laminated pricelist for the Nazca Lines. Its early in the morning, we want to get in and get out and his price seems to be inline with what we've already heard so we decide to go with him. We're brought to the airport by a dude named Caesar, same as the salad and ushered into the tiny, yet very loud airport/shed where the 'airline' desks are situated. We fly with Aeroparacas in a small 4+2 seater plane for our 25min flight over the lines.

The Nazca Lines are world reknowned as it remains still one of the worlds greatest archeological mysteries. It consists of 800 straight lines, 300 geometric figures, 70 spectacular animals and plant drawings who are all concentrated in a relatively small area, its only when during a flight that these can be seen. The lines were made by the simple process of removing the dark sun-baked stones from the surface of the desert and piling them up on either side of the lines, thus exposing the lighter, gypsum-laided soil below. Many theorists, historians and thinkers alike have their own preconception of what the lines actually mean, and they range from calendars to a running track, from alien landing sites to representations of shamans dreams brough on by hallucinogenic drugs, mostly notably ayahuasca.

Our flight was two things, short and the quickest tonne I've ever spent. I'm glad though that we got the four seater as opposed to a larger plane as with an extra seat beside you, just like a bus seat, the person sitting in the aisle would probably only get to see 50% of what the person at the window see's and thats if your lucky! The pilot flew left and right, going back on his flight pattern so that everyone could see what was being pointed out by the inflight guide. Its best to go as early in the morning as possible, as the sun is still low on the horizon, the same as we did, but it was still difficult to see some of the lines. It wasnt until you were right above them that you could figure them out. Of the lines that we saw, I can remember the lizard, the hummingbird, the spider, the owl and the astronaut but to name a few. My photos were crap. The sun was too strong, I was too far away and taking snaps through a plastic window will never get you good results. We landed safe and sound and I was glad that I did it, as I'm the type of person that I'd never forgive myself if I was so close to doing something and not doing it for it being solely based on price. But, is it worth it? And do you have half a clue about the Nazca culture? No and probably not to those questions respectively. It wont blow your mind I felt, its something to look at for half an hour and you'll be left without a wad in your pocket that you once had. My best bet would be to go out of town, walk up the viewing tower and have a look instead. It'll be far cheaper than the flight and it'l give you an idea what your looking at and the interest if you want to fork out for a flight after that. Peter paid for it, so you dont have to!

We got caesar salad to collect us after the flight and to bring us back to the bus station but this was of course without its hick ups as we're nearng the station cheapo Caesar who has scrimped on the extra chicken ran out of petrol, so we had to get out and push him all the way to the pumps. It was still during the morning, so we wasted no time after that pitstop in getting back on yet another bus to another town two and half hours away called Ica with a company called Soyuz. I liked the name of the bus company, I was thinking we were going to be blasted off into space like russian cosmonauts on our way to Ica as the name suggested but more importantly it was to bring us to this little gem of a place five minutes away from there, an Oasis in the middle of the desert called Huachachina.