We had a late sleep-in after the mosquito massacre of last night. A late breakfast then off to fly the Nasca lines. The airplane was a 6 seat prop. We were joined by three French men that had probably never showered. The captain kept the window open as long as he could but on take-off he had to shut it. I did notice that he opened a few vents near him once we were in the air. It took a few minutes to reach the first “line”. It was very difficult to figure out at first. There are lots of ground markings that are trails from the Indians so at first it was difficult. The Captain started shouting “well, well, well, well!” I wasn’t sure if he wanted us to bale out of the plane or what! Just as he turned the corner (can you do that up in the air?) I looked back over my shoulder and sure enough there was the Whale! Clear as day! Vinnie in the meantime was still trying to get his headphones to work…never happened! By the time we came up to the 2nd line we were all ready…I nudged Vinnie and pointed! It was way cool! See photo’s (they will be up soon…I hope J).
After the lines we went back to the hotel and relaxed by the pool. We stayed at Hotel Mojoro. It is online if you are interested in this wonderful place (no complaints except the mosquitos). Around 3 pm we were packed up and ready for our next tour and then our last bus ride (Thank God). We went to the “cemetery”. It is an archeological site that was first looted quite heavily so not much but the bones and the wind are left. They have done a wonderful job of setting it up so you can see the original mummies. The mummies sit beneath the ground in their original graves. After that we went to see how the Indians used to make their pottery and then to see how the gold miners of today still get their gold out of the rocks they collect. It is an awful job, very hard work for very little product.
We were dropped at the bus station several hours prior to departure so we took the time to walk around this very nice town and eat at one of the chicken roasting places. Food was excellent but it took a toll on my stomach. Luckily I was over to medicate and solve any “issues” prior to boarding the bus. The bus rumbled in right on time J. We boarded and were so happy we almost wept. We finally had nice clean seats that reclined with only a few other adults around us. It was non-stop service so we didn’t have to worry about others getting on. We even had a bathroom! We tucked ourselves in (it was already 10 pm) and settled down for a nice sleep. Wrong! The bus careened around corners and we had to hold on for dear life the first 5 hours. After that we either got used to it and fell asleep or the road was in better condition. I would still ride this bus before ever getting on any other. It was a double decker but we were downstairs this time. We arrived in Arequipa around 7 am.
