Well we arrived in Nazcas on a late afternoon bus a little bit apprehensive as we hadn't organised a flight over the Nazca lines the whole reason we had decided to come to Nazca.

The Nazca lines were discovered about 80 years ago when a guy flew over Nazca and saw all these lines and figures in the desert. Up until then Nazca was pretty much a very small town with few people. Now it has over 22000 people purely as a result of tourism from the lines.

Upon arrival and being warned by the lonely planet that touts wait at the bus station and get aggressive trying to get you to hotels and tours of their choice (they were right) we decided to stay at the the hotel across the road.

Good choice on our behalf. the Hotel Alegria is huge with a large pool and good rooms. After a bit of confusion (and two single beds . . .) we got a room (he he everything with a double bed is matrimonal) and went literally next door to a recommended tour company. We were pretty lucky to get a room in that the day after we arrived a large tour group was coming in and the hotel was booked out. Sometimes you can just be lucky :)

After a discussion with a guy who spoke rather good english we determined that possibly luck may very well have ended up right in our laps.
We ended up getting a flight at 11am on a four seater plane (2 pilots and us) for $100US plus 25 soles tax which as we found out is an amazing deal as everyone else paid the same amount or more for a seat on a 10 plus seater plane. We were quoted $130 in Ica so were pleasantly surprised.

So we settled in for the night (unfortunately both of us have managed to acquire a light luckily dose of food poisoning from bus food).

The next day we were up early and had a light breakfast. Phil got talking to a young guy from the US (we think) about the nazca lines. He was interested in going to look at them and was looking to join others but wasn't so keen on the tour group that was also in the Hotel.
Quote of the day:
They are the gringoest gringos I have met so far.  He was talking about a group of US guys on the tour group.

Headed next door to the tour company at 11am and were promptly put in a van to the airport. We safely arrived at the airport after a look at the pretty rough housing of the outer suburbs. After paying the airport tax we watched a quick dvd about the discovery of the lines and then it was onto the plane.

And off we went. Wow the lines were amazing. It was very quick before we arrived at the first 'line'.  Each one was made by the Inca people who moved the darker stones away creating lines. No one is really sure as to why they were made and what they represent.

After each flyby of each 'line' the pilot would bank (very sharply) and turn so the other person could see the figure. Needless to say although this was good the banking wasn't so good and in conjunction with the bumpy thermals and sideways turns it wasn't so good on the stomachs! Happily it did all stay down. Gave us great opportunities for photos although some were quite hard to see. Pilots were great with good descriptions and made sure we knew where to look and that we actually saw them. Phil's favourite was of course the spider.

After a 30 minute flight it was back down and into Nazca for the afternoon before our overnight bus to Arequipa. We did also love the way that they incorporate the lines into the town. Our favourites were the bus shelters, which were made of stone and then the lines were cut into of them. Each of the shelters along the main street had a different figure.

After a little souvenir shopping (we really aren't having much luck on that front - although we found some cool coasters featuring the lines) we settled in with a glass of wine at El Porton. A glass of wine here isn't like Australia they fill the glass!

A call to mum and dad, it is my birthday after all in Australia and was found it was surprisingly easy to call and cheap, about $4 for 12 minutes! Although obviously mum wasn't expecting it as she didn't recognise my voice!

Back to the hotel to collect our bags then off to Arequipa it is. A 10 hour overnight bus ride. . . . .