Day 4: Nasca Lines

For the 4th day in a row, I was wide awake at 6am. Out on the plantation a chorus of wildlife filled the air. In the early morning peace, I got up to take in the beauty that surrounded our accommodation.

At 9:30, we were collected and taken to Nasca Airport, and after an excited wait, we boarded the small 6 passenger plane. From high we could see the enormous flat valley, and the enigmatic Nasca lines started to appear. These ancient markings, which by and large remain a mystery, traverse this enormous landscape - a combination of geometric lines and shapes cut through the landscape, periodically punctuated with shapes of birds, animals and other symbols of nature and their ancient culture. A truly fascinating thing to see and something I must investigate more when I get a chance!

We touched down after the dizzying and unsettling flight, and made our way into town for lunch.

A small family restaurant, that came recommended by our tour guide, I ordered the set menu. Papa y huncaina (potato with a milky, cheesy sauce) to start, and rice "de la jardiniere" and roast chicken. Huge portion, full of flavour. A drink was included and I also ordered a coke, which in total came to S/11 - €3 for massive two course meal and bottle of coke! You wouldn't get a coffee for that back home!

20min taxi back to mansion (S/7/€1.90 between 3!) and with nothing else planned for the rest of the day, we took advantage of the heat and chilled out by the pool.

That evening, dinner was provided for us in our accommodation. But this was no ordinary dinner, it was a "Pachamanca Ceremony". This is a traditional form of cooking used for special occasions, like festivals or family get togethers. It starts with an offering to Mother Earth, "Pachamama". A woman holds a few cocoa leaves in her fingers and blows on them in the direction of the mountain. These are then lain on the centre of a pile of earth, about a metre squared, around which we had all gathered. Then, a man pours Chicha (a traditional drink made from black maize) on the pile in a cruciform. Then each of them dig a small amount of dirt away from the pile. And this is when the fun starts. One of the locals then started to dig the pile of earth, clearing away to soil to reveal the steaming pit beneath filled with food wrapped in leaves. There were heaps of potatoes of different varieties, corn, chicken (that just fell of the bone!) beef, pork all seasoned beautifully and, my favourite, a kind of cheese that tasted sort of like halloumi. It was the tastiest meal! I promised myself I'd have a light dinner after my enormous lunch earlier, but I couldn't help myself! I'm going to be rolling home, I think...

A little while after dinner, we made our way into town to catch a night bus. The same luxurious bus from a few days previously. Uncharacteristically for me, I slept like a baby, while others barely slept at all! The only pity I felt was that we had to keep the curtains closed. I could feel we were weaving through mountainous landscape... shape not be able to enjoy it! Ah well... plenty more of that to come...

Accommodation: San Marcelo
Weather: Plain old hot all day. Blue skies; 27 degrees. Beautiful.