The Nazca Lines

When I think of Peru I think of three places – Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca and the Nazca lines. Created by the Nazcas around 1,500 years ago, the lines are a bizarre set of ancient geoglyphs best seen from above, and that’s what makes them fantastical. Not only because no one really know how or why they were created, but because you need to climb into a tiny little plane to best appreciate them.

These days it is illegal to walk the lines themselves so the only other option is to visit the viewing tower where you can see three “lines”, though many more are visible from the air.

These aren’t the only lines either. The nearby Palpa lines were discovered more recently and although you can choose a longer flight to see them, we stopped off briefly at the viewing tower instead.

The Palpa Lines

While the Palpa lines are generally scoured into a hillside so they can be appreciated from ground level, the Nazca lines are mainly engraved into the flat ground.

We were warned to avoid breakfast and to take travel sick pills, and this was very good advice. The flight was rather entertaining (think: bumpy) and the motion as it rolled right and left for each of the lines left some of us worse for ware. But it was great to see not only a dozen of the lines, but the landscape around.