Home » Peru Ecuador » Peru & Ecuador 2002 - Part Four: Nazca

I had three days left and two things I wanted to do. First, I planned to take a flight over the Nazca Lines in southern Peru.

Peru & Ecuador 2002 - Part Four: Nazca

Dougburnett
2003-11-24 14:44:00

Displayed times (last time: )

Nazca, Peru

Tuesday, September 10, 2002

I had three days left and two things I wanted to do. First, I planned to take a flight over the Nazca Lines in southern Peru. Then I wanted to visit an e-friend in Lima. It was someone to whom I had been writing for years, a fellow traveler. We had helped each other plan trips over the years and I thought it was time me met face-to-face.

Once again I had Raymi Travel arrange my transportation - this time they got me a bus ticket to Nazca. Much to my surprise the bus, an Ormeno "Royal Class," left at 9:00 instead of 1:30 as I had been led to believe. This meant getting up early again, as we needed to leave the hotel by 8:00 to navigate the rush hour traffic.

The streets were packed with cars and buses and the going was very slow. In all the vehicles around me I saw sleepy faces, reflecting how I felt. In the end we reach the bus station in about 45 minutes. It was small and clean but there were no signs indicating which bus was going where, so I asked at the information desk. They told me that my bus wasn't ready yet and wouldn't be leaving until 10:00 a.m. Instead of just sitting around I walked several block to where I found a food stand and bought some snacks for the journey.

Back at the station a double-decker bus pulled up to the departure gates a little before 10:00 and Nazca was called out. I boarded and stowed my bag in the overhead bin. The bus was the most luxurious one I had ever been on. The leather seats had footrests and seat belts plus there was a TVs every few seats. I was siting in seat number 2 - on the aisle in the very front - so I was going to have a great view of the road ahead.

My seatmate was a lovesick young woman with raven curls. I had seen her hanging on her boyfriend as I boarded. Now she was sitting by the window waving at him. As we rolled out of the station, ...