Wow! I´m a bit behind! My friend Jairo from Iquitos made it to Lima, and we left for Nazca the next day by bus. The bus was a double decker charter bus that cost about $22 for the 7 hour trip south to Nazca. We played Bingo, watched a couple movies (Spanish and English), and had lunch on board. In Nazca, we were attacked by crazy people trying to get us to stay at their hostels, but somehow managed to escape and find one we liked. The next morning, we took a tiny, little Cessna up with the pilot and a guy from New Zealand to see the Nazca Lines. Yeah, so, if those little wrist bands for motion sickness actually work, I´d hate to have see how bad it would have been if I didn´t have them. I was quite happy that I hadn´t had anything to eat that morning because I sure was grabbing for that plastic bag. The pilot circled right and left over all 15 or so of the lines. I´m talking 90 degree angles here! But, by the time we landed, the bag was still empty and all was well. The lines were neat but pretty brown. We also toured a tiny gold museum, pottery/ceramic museum, and a cemetary that I found a bit creepy.
Later that afternoon, we caught a car from the corner of the plaza to Marcona. It was an hour long ride in what felt like a hearse. Very interesting way to travel. Just a couple of dollars, and it´s the only way to get there. Marcona is a small fishing town that is pretty much surrounded by water. Jairo has family there, and they welcomed me as one of their own (of course, one who doesn´t really speak the same language though!) It was fantastic. His grandmother cooked traditional food that was all very good, and his uncle is obsessed with music, mostly American. We talked (all in Spanish) quite a bit and had a nice time relaxing there for a few days. We visited the beach and played on some rocks and walked around a bit.
On Sunday, we caught another car back to Nazca and then bought bus tickets to get back to Lima so I could catch my flight the next morning to Cusco.
Oh! I nearly forgot to tell you about the fountain park! I wish I could have an annual pass to that place. It is awesome! Guinness Book of World Records, too. Tallest fountain with music and lights in a city-or something crazy like that. There were around 14 different fountains, and one of them had a laser light show in the water, too. Incredible at night. Also, one of the few places with grass and flowers that I´ve seen. We played in the jumping fountains and probably spent 3 hours there.
