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PERU - DAY FOURTEEN - Nasca

Previous Blogs:

Day 1 - Arequepa | Day 2 - Yanque | Day 3 - Colca Canyon | Day 4 - Lake Titicaca | Day 5 - Road to Cusco | Day 6 - Machu Picchu | Day 7 - Cusco

Day 8 - Sacred Valley | Day 9 - Salt and Terraces | Day 10 - Rain Forrest | Day 11-12 - Rainforest/Lima | Day 13 - Paracus | Day 14 - Nasca

Click photos for a larger image...

With a 7AM start we headed for what is an important destination for any Sci-Fi enthusiast as myself - the Nasca Lines!

The entire way was pure desert!

And then you would come to a valley that was green.

Nasca Downtown

Nasca is not all that easy to get to, it is a 4 hour bus ride from Paracus and then a 7.5 hour bus ride back to Lima, all of this just for a 30 minute flight in a small plane!

However, having said that, it is worth the trip - because no where else in the world can you see one of the strangest ancient remnants of an super intelligent society (or positive proof of ancient aliens, depending how scifi you want to get!)

It is immediately obvious that the creation of these lines and "drawings" was intended only for viewing from the air, as no where else on the ground can you see them. They are too vast to be even seen from ground level, let alone appreciated from anything other than a couple thousand feet up in the air.

Why did they create them then? - who knows - maybe they were made by, or for, Ancient Aliens....

The bus terminal

Nasca as a town is pretty shabby - actually is it downright ugly, which is kinda strange for what is a pretty big tourist destination, certainly for Sci-Fi nuts.

There are two airlines that fly back to back 30 minute trips to see the lines and each has several aircraft, so definitely a lot of tourists pass through this neighborhood.

So what is so strange about these lines? Firstly, in a very hilly section of Peru there is suddenly a perfectly flat plateau - almost too flat, like it was made flat.

Secondly, the lines run a PERFECTLY straight line for MILES and MILES, across the horizon. Who had the technology back then to be able to do that? Make an exactly straight line for beyond what the eye can see. Also many of the shapes are perfect geometric trapezoids, but HUGE, once again brilliant scholars who could measure out such exact structures? Or did they have help?

And of course finally, one of the drawings does look like an astronaut... you decide!

We were taken straight from the bus terminal to the small airport.

 

Here's our plane, we had the two back seats, best seats in the house.

Perfect straight lines and triangles everywhere

The Astronaut

The Hummingbird

The Condor

The Spider

The Parrot

Notice how it suddenly gets perfectly flat as if it were deliberately flattened into a "landing area"

The lines continue as far as the eye can see crossing living areas and continuing right to the mountains.

Valleys are like an oasis in the desert

We had time for a good lunch at what I believe is the only restaurant with western standards in town (even our pilot came in to eat)

Waiting at the bus station have a $1.25 beer while we wait for our 7.5 hour bus ride back to Lima.
 

And finally,

Here is what the kill joys at Wikipedia have to say about the Nasca Lines:

"Contrary to the popular belief that the lines and figures can only be seen with the aid of flight, they are visible from atop the surrounding foothills. Scholars have theorized the Nazca people could have used simple tools and surveying equipment to construct the lines. Archaeological surveys have found wooden stakes in the ground at the end of some lines, which support this theory. One such stake was carbon-dated and was the basis for establishing the age of the design complex. Scholar Joe Nickell of the University of Kentucky has reproduced the figures using tools and technology available to the Nazca people. Scientific American called his work "remarkable in its exactness" when compared to the actual lines. With careful planning and simple technologies, a small team of people could recreate even the largest figures within days, without any aerial assistance."

Nah, I still think they were made with assistance from Ancient Aliens!!!!