Map of the route around Nazca
Program of excursions: Huacachina / feel / Nazca /Cahuachi / Chauchilla / Nazca / Arequipa
WHAT TRANSPORTATION FOR THE CIRCUIT AROUND NAZCA?
Our program for the day was quite complicated to organize by public transport, especially since the bus timetables did not allow us much flexibility ...
We had only one constraint: to be at 21:00 p.m. in Nazca to take the night bus to AREQUIPA which leaves precisely at 22:00 p.m.
The day before we found at Huacachina a driver whose name I forgot but who was very nice! He offered to pick us up at the hotel to do the following circuit: Palpa lines, Nazca lines, Pyramids of Cahuachi, cemetery of Chauchilla and get us back to Nazca on time for our bus. We have negotiated 15 Euros per person. But at the end of the tour, we felt that was not enough and decided to give him a nice tip on top of that.
Here is his card:
ACTIVITIES OF THE CIRCUIT AROUND NAZCA
PALPA LINES
It was a surprise because we had not heard of this site. It is in my opinion as interesting as the Nazca lines. The geoglyphs are more numerous and more visible than in Nazca. They represent 8 members of the Real de Paracas family drawn on a hill. We go up to the Mirador opposite and we can observe them very easily.
NAZCA LINES
Stop at one of the watchtowers to observe the Nazca lines : I must admit that we do not distinguish them very well from all the drawings because we are not high enough and they are very extensive. Note that it is strictly forbidden to go walking in the middle or between the lines, which is understandable ... So the only choices are the helicopter (too expensive and uncertain depending on the weather and times) or the watchtower.
On site, you can then visit the small Reina Reiche museum. It is dedicated to a German mathematician who sacrificed much of her life to research the mysteries of the Nazca Lines. Currently, nothing has yet been scientifically determined, everything is just guesswork.
But why and how?
Personally, from all that I could read or see in the reports… I will rather retain this interpretation: these famous lines would have been drawn to thank the gods or to dialogue with them by sending them messages. Just as one squares a page to reproduce a drawing by enlarging it and copying each square one by one, the Nazcas surely squared the ground with immense cords and we reproduced in each large square the drawing they had made in addition small. Clever, isn't it?
CAHUACHI
These pyramids are about 45 minutes from Nazca but the access is very difficult because it is necessary to take a track which crosses the pampas… The site is imposing and is not yet entirely discovered. It is still being excavated but the Peruvians lack funding and the research is very long.
Lost in the middle of nowhere, I discovered a site without any tourists and with, as a bonus, a sandstorm. I had the impression that it was I who discovered a true lost city. As we don't know much about these pyramids, we can imagine lots of possibilities… I LOVED it !!!
CHAUCHILLA CEMETERY
This is the last visit of our busy day. Be careful, because the site is very poorly indicated and our driver took the wrong route which made us waste a little time.
Imagine: we are in the pampas with nothing around, there is a real sandstorm and we enter a cemetery where there is nobody at the end of the day with the sun going down… The atmosphere is murky.
So take a look at my little video:
When we approach the open-air tombs, we discover real mummies dressed and sitting in their holes (men, women and children!). This cemetery dates from the Ica-Chinca civilization around the year 1000. Humans were left alive in these holes to die slowly. They mummified naturally thanks to the climatic conditions (drought and wind). They were offerings to the Gods to claim in return a little rain in this harsh desert.
What about the little bones that we found here and there that came from I don't know where? There must be looting because the site is not guarded at night.
I liked this place because we were the only tourists there, because we have the impression of being in another world, in another time, because this place was "authentic", in its own juice, without shops. memories around, with nothing around elsewhere!
NAZCA AREQUIPA BUS
Return to Nazca to take our night bus direction AREQUIPA. Departure address: Avenida Lima, 105-3. Nazca, Ica.
22:00 p.m. - Departure by bus from Nazca arrival 6:45 a.m. in Arequipa (Oltursa Company) +51 1 7085000
I had booked the tickets in April to make sure I had a sleeper seat and I did well. In fact, there is only the bottom of the bus equipped with seat beds, ie 8 in total, the entire floor of the bus has only classic seats… Reservations are therefore COMPULSORY to enjoy a “comfort” trip. ".
Here is the link for online reservations:
https://www.redbus.pe/en/operator/oltursa-bus-tickets
NAZCA AREQUIPA NIGHT BUS PRICE
| ORIGIN | DESTINATION |
| born | AREQUIPA |
| FECHA DE PARTIDA | RATES |
| 17/10/2016 22:00:00 |
S /. 140.00 |
CONTINUE BY CLICKING ON DAY 4: DAY 4 AREQUIPA VISIT