The Nazca lines are famous - and to my mind deserve their reputation. There are plenty of theories about how they came to be and what they represent and obviously that is well documented. In the here and now of our journey it was fantastic day and a highlight.
We had arrived on the overnight bus - which was supposed to be a "sleeper" that allowed us to lie down, but we found the seats awkward and uncomfortable and we hardly slept. We were "collected" at the bus stop by the tour organiser and taken to their office near the airport. We were shown a short video about lines (in french - because the movie had already started) while we waited for our turn).
It was a small six seater plane with the pilot, a "narrator" explaining to us all the things we were seeing and four passengers. I love small plans and the flight would have been enjoyable and exciting enough even without the mystery and beauty of the lines. We had heard stories of air sickness with the banking and turning to get better views of the figures but had no problems ourselves. It was a nice clear day, pleasant flight and an amazing mind-bogling man made marvel. The narrator didn't add much - just pointing out which side of the plan which particular figure was that we were approaching.
Following the flight we joined a tour group to visit an ancient cemetary that has been turned into a museum. I always feel a little uncomfortable as a tourist at burial sites as I somehow feel I am desecrating a sacred site, but on an intellectual level it was very interesting.
We spent the rest of the day "hanging out" and exploring Nazca, Jo visitied a museum while I spend some time keeping up my correspondence on the Internet and calling my son for his birthday.
Before catching the night bus to Arequipa we visited a very intereting planetarium that gave an interesting insight into the atronomical theories about the origins and purpose of the lines. Unfortunately the darkness and comfort was most conducive to sleep and I found myself nodding off. We were lucky enough after the performance to look through a telescope aimed at Jupiter. I don't know much about the stars in a scientific sense - so I was happy to have the constellations etc pointed out.
