Nasca

Nasca as a city is not very interesting. Again, there is the Plaza de Armas to have a look at, but that is about it. Nasca is very known, though, for its lines. There are about three hundred figures drawn in the sand of the Nasca desert, amongst them a figure of a monkey, a spider, a humming bird, a dog, hands etc.
Up to today, it is still not very clear how the Incas could have drawn the figures with such an accuracy, some of the figures are over fifty meters long. Of course, some people came up with alien theories as well. The lines are in danger because locos sometimes drive over them with motorbikes to get in contact with creatures from outer space. Another threat is the pollution. Nowadays, you can get up to five years in prison for destroying them! Another thing, the Panamerican motorway runs right through one of the figures.

Anyway, the lines are best viewed from the air, well actually, they can only be seen from the air, except for two or three which can be seen from a mirador. This fact convinced some people that the incas could fly in the air some way, for example using hot air balloons. After about three hours of waiting, we finally got into the air for a 35 minute tour high above the lines. The pilote always flew over the figures from the right as well from the left, so all people in the six passenger-plane could watch the lines. Only one of the passengers was throwing up all the time.

Before all that, we had already been to el Cementerio de Chauchillas which is set in a dramatic desert landscape surrounded by mountains. It has some graves where you can watch bones, hair and ceramics.

Now a bit more about Pervian cuisine. The food here is quite good and not expensive at all. One of our favourites are the Chifas, Chinese restaurants where you can get a menu consisting of a noodle soup and a massive plate of nazi goreng with chips and vegetables for three to five soles, which is about 0,70 to 1,30 euros! You can order a Chicha to go with it. Chicha is a drink made of black mais, it is also called mais beer although it contains no alcohol. Other restaurants usually offer menus for about 10 soles (about 2,70 euros) including a vegetable or pasta soup or salad and than an alpaca steak with rice or a trucha a la plancha (trout) or a spaghetti. If you are lucky, you get a soft drink to go with it. A good choice is the Inca Cola, a very yellow drink that tastes a bit like chewing gum. Beers are quite okay, there are a lot of brands, like Cuzqueña, Arequipeña etc. but I prefer the Cristal beer

Puno is said to be the chicken city, but we have not had chicken so far, a lot of trucha though, which is always tasty. Tonight might be the night we are going to have chicken for the first time at El Rancho in Puno, 5 soles (1,30 euros) for a quarter chicken con arroz, papas fritas y verduras!
A tip for people travelling to Peru: do not order a la carte cause it is much more expensive than a menu. The plates you can order a la carte seem to be designed for tourists only!
We only still have to try the guinea pigs and the ceviche!

Take care, polare, que les vayan bien!