June 25, 26: Nazca

So it was back on the bus for another few hours to Nazca, which, like most of the southern coast of Peru, is basically a giant desert. A desert with MUMMIES... ooooooh, creepy. After the whole Islas Ballestas boat ride experience, I was not about to jump into an equally vomit inducing airplane ride to go over the famous Nazca lines. I've seen lots of pictures and from what I hear about the flight, even those with stomachs of steel have to brace themselves. Instead I spent two days with a guide named Jose who worked with the German scientist Maria Reiche back in the 70s. Maria Reiche studied the Nazca lines in Peru for close to fifty years and barely lived to see them named a UNESCO World Heritage site. Jose shares Reiche's passion for conservation and most of his tours consisted of some pretty elaborate arm waving that immeasurably helped me understand his Spanish. He was also probably the best enunciator I met in Peru. Despacio y claro, my favorite! All three of these sites can really suck if you don't have a good guide. They're not very flashy and Nazca is incredibly hot and dry. This is a panorama of the Plaza de Armas:
First stop: Cauchilla Cemetery. The Nazcas were a pre-Incan civilization with a huge burial site in the same region as the lines. Unfortunately, huacaros (grave robbers) have stolen most of the gold jewelry and fancy textiles from the tombs, but some bones, some broken pottery, and a lot of 1000 year old hair remains. Jose quite indignantly told us that Cauchilla receives no government protection, that a ticket collector at the entrance to the site pockets the money and doesn't use it for preservation, and that no one is there to guard the mummies at night or when it's not tourist season. It's interesting that Machu Picchu can get away with charging so much and civilizations even more ancient, albeit in less picturesque landscape, get such short shrift.
Second stop: Cauhauchi. I didn't intend to come here but I ended up with a couple from Lima, one of whom was the daughter of an artist who recreated the murals and friezes of the ruins in northern Peru. She was an amateur photographer preparing for an expo on the ruins of southern Peru. Cauhauchi is a city that is slowly being excavated by a team of Italian archaeologists. Originally buried in a massive flood, the city was home to another pre-Incan civilization. Due to rapid wind erosion the Italians are forced to cover up the ruins after excavation, so only a small part of the city is actually visible. I did find some 1000 year old painted pottery shards and bones here, just laying on the ground for anyone to pick up. This place could be incredible if it had the resources for a full excavation and restoration. But I suppose Peru is full of cities hidden by sand or jungle.
Third stop: Nazca aqueducts. These aqueducts are still in use today after 1500 years. Built by the Nazca for water storage and irrigation, there are a series of windows to the subterranean aqueduct which allow for airflow and cleaning. Farmers in the area clean the aqueducts once a year. I thought you could actually go inside the aqueduct from the spiraling staircases but you can't. Bummer. This is me drinking the Nazca water. (Giardia, anyone? Anyone?)
And this is the view of the inside of the aqueduct. The water was crystal clear.I also got to see one Nazca line from the ground. This one is called The Needle and it exemplifies the fragility of the lines. The pattern is made simply by clearing the darker rocks away from the surface, exposing the lighter dirt. No wonder why the construction of the Pan American Highway obliterated the lines in its way.
This is the close up:
Final impressions of Nazca: Hot, dry, dusty, marginally interesting, and for heaven's sake, don't stay at the Hotel Mirador there if you can possibly avoid it. The beds are terrible.