The Nazca Lines - Peru

We took a bus from Ica and though it was a relatively short journey it was particularly tough for me. A combination of an already dodgy stomach and a morning wine tour which included downing shots of Pisco meant I spent the journey staring out of the window at a point in the distance, breathing deeply and pondering as to what would be worse: sticking my head out of the window, or braving the festering toilet at the back which could turn even the most cast-iron of stomachs. I got through it with neither action necessary, but it was touch and go.

Once in a while you turn up at a place that is high up on the agenda of most people's itinerary and in most cases you know this because prices are suddenly higher. Nazca is one of those places. It is a small dusty town just off the Panamerican highway and when I say dusty, I mean you need goggles to walk up the street. That said, they're in the process of turning more of the dirt into tarmac and generally making it a more pleasant town centre. But all this really isn't of concern if you happen to be staying in a rather top-notch retreat just out of town - see vivalatinamerica.com

Moving on to the reason for being in Nazca, the Nazca Lines. The strangely precise sets of lines engraved in the dry earth making up shapes which include a spider, an astronaut, and a monkey with a very curly tail, have inspired various theories to be drawn as to their meaning. The Nazca people were around at 200BC (and were gone long before the Incas showed up) and you have to admire their work, whatever the purpose of it was. My favorite theory is that they created these geoglyphs so that they could then entertain themselves by flying over them in hot air balloons. How very decadent... and a slightly ridiculous conclusion, if you ask me! After all, it is us who are all about decadent things such as flying in the sky for fun.

Which brings me to the best part. If you want to get a good look at these lines, you really have to get in a plane and see them from above. It's not cheap, but it is definitely worth it. You can book your flight from many places in town, but the best thing to do is take a taxi straight to the airport at 7am or 8am and buy your ticket there. It's cheaper at US$60 as opposed to anything up to US$75 elsewhere. Then you have to pay about US$7 for the airport tax.

Anyway, enough of the money talk. The flight is an amazing experience. Our plane was about as small as you can get - I think it was a Cessna 172. It had four seats so it was just the two pilots and us - two pilots in case one suddenly becomes ill, which has apparently happened. It was very cosy. The pilots were as cool as pilots usually are (but not smug like commercial pilots can appear to be!) and it reaffirmed my desire to be one when I grow up! What a fantastic job.

Trying to forget the Cessna's single point of failure in having just one engine, we were soon zooming around spotting geoglyphs to the right and then to the left as the plane banked and swooped around - I can see why they provide sick bags. Even if there were no ancient lines to see, I would have enjoyed flying above the desert anyway. It is something you shouldn't miss and thirty minutes in that plane makes the trip to Nazca well worth it.