today, i drove from ica to nazca (aka nasca). along the way there’s a ‘mirador’ which looks out over some of the nazca lines. i was expecting a lookout on the edge of a cliff. instead, i found myself climbing up a rickety metal tower in the middle of the desert. from the top, you can see a couple of the glyphs, but it’s not as dramatic as the plane. as soon as i got into nasca, i hopped on a 6-seater prop plane and got the birds eye view of the lines….which is much more impressive….although it didn’t help that i’ve already been feeling kinda sick since yesterday afternoon. The girl in front of me actually did puke on the plane. a few more turns and i would have been next.

so what’s the deal with the lines? well, supposedly they were ‘drawn’ in the desert 1-2 thousand years ago by removing the top soil/rocks to form lines and shapes. I was actually a bit underwhelmed by the lines….they were smaller and easier to make than i had originally anticipated. with a bit of rope, and some time, i could probably do a comparable job….just not hundreds of them…unless i had the sentra. however, what is impressive is:
-the lines have survived wind and rain for thousands of years. especially when they’re so shallow (6in deep?)
-an entire population has sprouted in the middle of the desert, solely financed by some lines on the desert floor….which were accidentally dscovered about 100 hundred years ago.
-according to lonely planet, there are unrecovered landmines around the lines from their earlier wars — what an ingenious way to keep tourists from destroying the archaeological evidence….much easier, cheaper and more effective than fencing in the entire desert.

aside:
one of the most frustrating things about driving in latin america is not understanding the driving culture/language. sure, i understand most of the basic laws and signs*…but it’s the driver-to-driver language which i lack. for instance, today, a white sentra in front of me was signaling with his hand that i should pull over to the side (he had his left arm on top of the car, finger pointing to the side, and sliding his arm left-to-right). kinda worried, i pulled over, and everything seemed fine….well, \fine’s\” a relative term, when the exhaust pipe is split in two (hanging up with some of mark’s wire) and the brake switch/lights don’t work. later on, two additional on-coming cars flashed their lights at me….but the car was fine, and there were no cops to be seen. on top of that, cars seem to honk all the time.
USEFL COMMUNCATION TOOL: one thing i learned from another cab in guayquil is how to signal to the window washers ‘no’ (at many stop lights, people will come up to your car with a squeege and offer to wash your windshield). simply turn on your windshield wipers and they’ll walk right by.

*according to a taxi cab driver in guayaquil (ecuador), it’s legal–and expected–to turn left at a red light…as long as there are no cops around. even when cops are present, the rules are flexible…such as the cab driver in huaraz (peru), who sped through a police checkpoint (all taxi’s there look the same, so it’s hard to catch them).”