i took off from nasca bout 7:30am. about 1.5hrs later, i had gone ~30 miles (up hill + road construction), was down to 2/3 of a tank and gasoline was dripping from engine onto the exhaust pipe (and the ground). so, i decided to head back down to nasca to find a mechanic. the mechanic i did find was pretty incompetent, as well as physically abusive to his son. $5 later, he had reconnected a hose (by accident/trial-and-error) and i was back on the road to cuzco. on the way back up the mountain, the fuel gauge sunk even lower….down to ~1/3 of a tank…and i still had ~80 miles to go. i was also pumping the brakes again…and the car nearly stalled several times. at that point, i pulled over and realized three things:
1) the hose he had reconnected was still leaking, but it was excess oil coming from the engine….so not as dangerous as i had once thought.
2) the fuel was actually leaking from the gas cap…i tightened it a bit, and that helped.
3) the mechanic in huaraz was not joking when he said that the sentra was \built for the coast, not the mountains\”
so, back on the drive, i decided to push forward…knowing that i had 4 gallons of super in my trunk (from ecuador). at the next road construction area, a man waved his arm, so i stopped. before i knew it, i had picked up a hitchhiker. the one benefit was that he knew the distance to the next gas station….so that was a bit comforting. he also noticed that the fuel tank was extremely hot (the backseat sits directly on the fuel tank….he thought the engine might be in the trunk). but, like the hannukah miracle, the remaining few gallons burned and burned–much longer than anyone would have expected–and we made it safely to puquin.

the funny thing, though, is that from puquin, i then drove another 200 miles to abancay (nasca to puquin = 100 miles)….but only used half of a tank! seems the sentra has difficulty climbing 2+ miles in elevation….but can stay at a given elevation without too much of a problem.

pic: as tessa and francois can attest to, drivers in peru love driving on the wrong side of the road…..even when there’s no good reason to. why?”

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).”

today:
-bribed some cops at the airport with some granola
-dropped off tessa and francois at the airport
-got lost in lima trying to fnd the panamericana
-used some wire to strap up my broken exhaust (it was dragging on the road)
-drove to ica
-spending the night at a very nice hacienda here (…treating myself a bit….but for only $25/night!)
-there’s a really nice — but very low — car here…how does it survive the speed bumps?

a thought:
peru’s coastline is pretty interesting (…because it’s so monotonous, but kinda unique). in the winter, the ocean is cold (wetsuits needed to surf), but apparently in the summer it’s warm enough. then comes the beach. then comes the panamerican highway. then the beach continues for miles and miles (aka desert). but many parts of the desert here are overcast (maybe just during the winter?). then come the andes. then the rainforest (…i presume).
but aside from a few chicken/vegetable farms and towns, there’s not much else near the panamericana. seems like this area could be used for so much more, especially since it’s right next to a major highway. how about wind/solar power? how about agriculture (low-cost desalination?)?