Over the past couple of days I had come to the conclusion that I would leave my volunteer project early. After reading my Peru guidebook, I realize that there are a lot of places I want to visit while in Peru and don’t think I have enough time to do it all. So on Saturday I left Pisco and headed for Nazca to begin my travels around Peru.
As you tend to find at bus stations in South America, I was greeted by two women who were trying to get me to go to their hotel (it’s the sales people you find greeting you a lot, not necessarily women greeting you). But the way they do it is quite interesting. They lure you in by saying that they are a representative of a very popular hotel in the guide book, and then while they are taking you there they tell you about this other place that’s better ... it’s usually owned by a brother of the owners, or sometimes the same people, just a different hotel of the same chain. If you decide to go with them, you have to be adamant that you are going to the first place they told you about. So, off I went with them to my hotel, and along the way they asked me about what I wanted to do in Nazca and managed to sell me on two tours that left tomorrow, a flight over the Nazca lines and a trip to the Chauchilla Cemetery (you have to be very cautious about the Nazca lines flight as two days ago a plane crashed in Nazca killing all 5 French tourists ... Volunteer Visions were so nervous about this that they had me sign a contract saying I would not hold them responsible if I died in a plane over the Nazca lines, even if I had terminated my volunteer contract with them).
The "Nazca lines" are the main attraction in Nazca. In total there are about 10,000 lines (one straight line is 25 km long) covering over 500 km² situated about 10km north of Nazca. They are so large the Pan-American Highway drives directly through the middle of them and they are close to the city. When I drove by later on the bus, I kjnew they wer there and where they were located along teh highway, but I couldn't see them becuase I was too close. It wasn’t until the 1920’s that a man flying from Arequipa to Lima looked down while over Nazca and discovered these lines, which form some 300 different geometric shapes, animals and plants. Since then people have been trying to figure out what these lines (which were created between 900BC and 600AD …. dates change depending on who did the research) were built for. Maria Reiche (she studied the lines for 50 years and is assumed to be the authority on the lines) believed the lines create an astrological calendar to help the Nazca people know when to plant the crops, and all the drawings in the sand were symbols of the astrological calendar’s months. The problem with this theory, as with most of the theories, is that only a few of the lines fit with this theory.
The most important three lines that fit with this theory, are very long straight lines that point to the sun at the solstice and equinox. Other theories include Erich von Daniken’s theory that they are from an alien landing sight. He claimed that the triangular shapes are because of the lift-off pattern created by UFOs. My favourite theory is that of George von Breunig who thought they were running tracks ... who knows why he thought that!
But here is what I find most believable. The images in the sand all represent animals that Shaman (religious people of the time) tend to see in their drug induced dreams. These dreams take the Shaman to, what they believed were places where they can talk to the gods. The creation of the animals tends to coincide with a time when the religious site close to Nazca was abandoned (no one knows why), which was followed by a sever draught for 40 years. It is felt that these symbols were built to appease the gods in hopes they would bring water. Some of the lines appear to point to the mountains where the Nazca people knew there was water. The only problems with this theory are: What’s with the rest of the lines? How did the Nazca people know about monkeys, which are only in the jungle on the other side of the mountains? What is with the alien/astronaut figure?
One thing that has been solved is how they were formed and why they have lasted so long. They figure that the shapes were built at that size in one of two ways. Through a series of ropes and poles, they were able to use a small drawing in the sand from which to create larger scale in which they currently are seen. The second way is that they managed to build a tower from which they could see the drawing, and then move the tower when they started to build the drawing. Probably the most interesting thing about the lines is how they lasted so long, especially since they are created by moving one layer of rocks away to create a contrast between the dark, sun-baked rocks and the light brown earth below ... where is no depth to these drawings, and as such should have been filled in a long time ago. In fact, the nature of the desert is what helped preserve these lines. Because the dark rocks get so hot during the day, the wind is unable to penetrate through the heat layer and touch the ground. On those occasions when the wind is able to reach the ground, it creates a tornado which picks up the sand that might have filed in the line, and carries it away (I saw as many as 5 mini-tornados at one time while in Nazca). Because the earth below the rocks is so hard, the tornados don’t take any of that earth away.
The flight that I took over the lines left at about 8:30 in the morning. I managed to get the co-pilot seat in the front of the plane so as to get a better view of the lines below. Over the 30 minute flight, we managed to visit 11 of the figures and each time our pilot would circle it twice, each time banking to the other side so both sides of the 4 passenger plane could see the lines below. It was better than any roller coaster ride could ever be, especially since there was some turbulence.
Later that morning, I was picked up for my next tour by Jesus, the most interesting character in all of Peru who had so many tall tales that I recommend to anyone going to Nazca to look up Jesus. It was from him that we got most of our information on the Nazca lines, and the Chauchilla Cemetery. According to Jesus (which I did verify later), the Chacuchilla Cemetery was a burial site for the Nazca people over 1,000 years ago. They people were buried in family tombs after being mummified, and as in the Egyptian culture, were buried with things they might need in the next life; water, food and personal affects. When the next person in the family would die, they would open up the tomb and put them in as well, until everyone in the family had died and they would seal the tomb for good.
This burial ground was found about 100 years ago by grave robbers, who would dig up the graves, steal what they wanted, and throw the bodies aside as they were worthless to them, except for those of the important families. It was tradition for many South American tribes to use tools to change the shape of the skulls of important families when they were children to make them look like coneheads or “alien like” ... these skulls were also quite valuable on the black market. By the time archaeologists arrived, there were bodies spread haphazardly around the desert. Only in the last couple of years was the Peruvian government able to spend the money on archaeologists to come in and research. They would then arrange the bodies in a more respectful manner. But as there is not enough money to protect this gravesite around the clock, grave robbers still visit the sight at night and have been known to open up new tombs.
Now, you are able to walk around about 12 different tombs which have been opened up. All of the tombs contain some bodies in them which, due to the dry climate of the desert, still have a full head of hair and all their clothes surrounding them. The tombs also have a few different types of pottery in them, along with various bones and other items that were in the tombs. One thing that Jesus was quick to point out is that, due to the bodies being thrown around the landscape, there is no way of knowing if these bodies did actually come from these tombs or not. But one thing was for sure, it was kind of awkward going for a walk in the desert, looking down on various dead bodies of adults and children…especially when I was taking pictures of them.
When I arrived in Ica, I was approached by a very friendly man who wanted to save me some time and money and suggested I stay in Ica, at his brother’s hotel. He told me that he owned a hotel in Huacachina and that it was one of the only two that were left standing after the earthquake, only had water for two hours a day and there was no electricity. Had I not been working in Pisco I would have believed him, but I knew there was no way his story was true, hotels had been built very quickly and electricity had been restored within three weeks of the earthquake. When I finally did arrive in Huacachina, as I suspected, there was only one hotel that hadn’t reopened and all others were fine. You would never have known there was an earthquake seven months ago if it weren’t for the one hotel that didn’t reopened.
That night, the party that I had been told about didn’t happen. It turns out that Huacachina is quite dead on a Monday night, not that it should suprise me. In spite of not being surrounded by lots of people to hang out with, I did manage to find three other guys to spend the evening chatting with; two from Argentina, and one from Australia. It made for an interesting evening as I became the translator for everyone as the Argentineans didn't speak much English and the Australian didn't speak Spanish. Even the bartender got into it and had me teach him a few things in English so he could better help the hotel guests in the future.
The next day I got up early in hopes of going sandboarding. After breakfast, I rented a board from the hotel and headed out to try sandboarding. Well, let's just say, this is something that Lonely Planet hyped up more than was needed. I started on a small hill in hopes of practicing a bit. The heat was extreme and you kept sliding back down while climbing the sand dunes. It took about 10 minutes to get to the top, and once there I put on the board, I stood up and didn't move. I had to bend over to push myself along in order to get any speed. Covered in sand, I decided to climb up the highest sand dune in hopes of getting enough speed that I could probably try to turn. After 20 minutes of climbing, I reached the top, put on the board, pointed it directly downhill and didn't move. I pushed myself a bit, and didn't move. All I could do was push myself along and move slowly down the hill. In the end I just took off the board and ran down the hill ... which was more fun and a lot faster. I guess after skiing on real snow, sand just isn't fast enough .... and there's something wrong when you're skiing and suffering from heat stroke .... it just doesn't seem right.
