Nazca

Took a short bus ride on to the town of Nazca, a grubby little place set in a fertile patch flanked by mountains and desert. Not as intimidating as Ica anyway, and the main square, Plaza de Armas (every town seems to have a Plaza de Armas) is a nice place to sit around and watch all the locals sitting around doing their thing. Took my chances with the flight over the Nazca lines. Was feeling pretty chipper as the four-seater plane took off for a 35 minute flight over the desert, but that all changed when the temperature seemed to suddenly increase rapidly, right after a few very tight turns and some turbulence. Managed to keep the little I´d risked eating inside though. Me, the Brazilian couple on the flight with me, and an aussie sailor sat on a bench for half an hour after, all of us experiencing various forms of discomfort.

The lines are so strange, we could see them really clearly. A German lady called Marie Reich spent decades studying them, most of the time on her own traipsing around the desert. I think she must have lost the run of herself a decade or two into it. Fair play to her anyway, they called the airport after her and built a little planetarium in her honour (where they explain the main theories about the lines, including hers which no one believes anymore).

Discussed South American world cup qualification over a cheese sandwich with the owner of a quiet little cafe while watching Argentina get beat by Chile.