A short bus ride from Huacachina took us in to Nazca where we arrived around midday. Nazca is most famous for the Nazca lines which are a collection of lines and shapes in the ground around the town. The shapes where made by removing the sun scorched rocks from the surface to reveal shapes which are best seen from the sky. Nobody is quite sure why the lines and shapes where made and the significance of them. We had been debating as to whether or not we should fork out the money for a flight and on the day decided against it. Instead we took a taxi out to an observation deck where we were able to see three of the shapes. I was a little underwhelmed by them and was glad we didn't pay money for the flight although I am in no doubt the view from the sky would have been far more spectacular. Whilst our taxi was waiting for us a minibus carrying a tour group managed to reverse in to his passenger door which caused a small amount of damage and our driver to be completely bemused. He remained in good spirits though and took us out to a group of rocks which we could climb to get a better idea of the lines. After our time looking at the lines we returned to the city centre where we wandered around the main plaza and some of the side streets. On one of the side streets we were treated to a whole school parade with the children of each class dressed in a different traditional outfit marching and dancing down the street with parent lining either side taking pictures. With nothing else for us to do in Nazca we decided we would take an overnight bus out that evening all the way to Cuzco across the mountains. I managed to make myself a little nervous before the journey by reading in the Lonely Planet about the 'notoriously unsafe' Peruvian buses. This coupled with the fact it was over night and through the mountains was enough to keep me awake for most of the journey to Cuzco.

John