Nazca - Bus in, see some lines, night bus out of there to Cuzco

People say that if you can manage to avoid staying a night in Nazca then do it, and it's understandable why now having been there.  There isn't a whole lot to the town, but I'd managed to come up with some bus options so that I'd arrive about 2 in the arvo, go flying over the lines, then night bus out of there to Cusco at 8 at night so the 'avoid Nazca' plan was set.

Happily when I arrived there was a guy with my name waiting there, you're never too sure when you line things up through a hostel but this one worked out OK.  So I was shuffled straight out to the airport, along with 3 Americans but then I got to watch a video while they went straight in to a plane, go figure.

About half an hour later, with a history of the Nazca lines now under my belt, I was ready to battle the motion sickness of the plane.

  I stood around chatting with Ada from Atlanta, and Grace from Lima (a genuine local person!) while we waited to get the green light.  Both of them had taken motion sickness tablets, so I wasn't sure what I was in for here.

Finally our 6 seater plane was under way, with captain Martin handing us a card with all the lines on it, and then shouting ´to the right' and 'to the left' as we passed them.  The Nazca lines are another common source of debate among travellers for whether they are worthwhile or not.  I'd have to say that the lines are quite hard to see, I think I did manage to get them all, but they are almost always a case of 'oh, there it is' rather than 'wow, that's incredible'  So the novelty of th 6 seater plane was pretty good, and I'm glad I did it, but I think it is something you could easily cross off your itinerary.

 Quite frankly I think learning about the origins of the lines, and dwelling on where the heck they came from is more interesting than trying to make them out from the plane.

Now travelling wouldn't be an adventure if just hopped in the minivan back to Nazca, would it ?  The two girls I'd flown with had hired a car with driver and were heading back to Ica so they kindly offered me a lift.  We had only earlier been discussing the fact that Grace had heard Australians were hard to understand, but indicated she could understand me fine.  However, as we drifted on further and further down the highway, it dawned on me that the bus trip to the airport hadn't taken that long.  Sure enough, the girls thought I had said I needed to go back to Ica, not Nasca.

Maybe I need to work on my English a bit more ;)

Fortunately there is a lookout tower where people can look over the Nazca lines if they didn't want the plane option.  So, as the driver seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere, they dropped me there and asked the locals to flag down a Nazca bus for me.  I did have half an eye on the time, with my night bus to Cusco getting closer and closer, but sure enough within twenty minutes I was loaded on to a bus full of locals, crouching in the aisle so as not to block the tv, and heading back to Nazca.  I even had time to try the Peruvian specialty 'ceviche' for dinner before my bus arrived, absolutely fantastic stuff!!! It's basically raw fish which is 'cooked' by soaking in lime, chilli and a few other bits and pieces.  Thoroughly recommended!