My favorite costume from a May day celebration at Tompkins square park… Soon there after the woman broke out in song as the man marched around with the flag/noose…
The Tree. The lines look unintelligible from the ground, but can only be seen from high above… A weird thing for people to create before they had the ability to travel through the air, though perhaps the lines are also visible as anyone crosses the mountain range that lies outside the city…
Whether the Nazca lines were landing routes for ancient aliens or the work of slaves to show the might and will of their empire, I still did not have an extra $60 or desire to go up in a lo fi aircraft to view them. Hence, the mirador was the next best thing. Basically, I took a bus 10 miles out into the desert that was headed for the next city over, but exited in the middle of no where. There I paid two men about a 1.50 to climb a metal structure, which was basically several contiguous flights of stairs from which you could view several of the Nazca lines, one of which has been bisected by the panamerican highway.
The ingenious Incan built these spiral wells in order to secure reservoirs of water within the desert, where fresh water was otherwise a rarity… Although a protected historical landmark, we could walk the spiral trajectory and touch the water that filled the bottom of each.
Several miles and a couple hours later, I was second guessing myself for not hiring a taxi… My liter water bottle was almost gone, and I still had miles to return… On my way to this site a taxi full of people picked me up. I was hesitant to get in, but an old woman insisted, and she seemed honest, and I might be in danger of heat exhaustion had I gone much further, and it was the first car that past in several moments.
“Where are your friends?” she asked, as soon as we started driving.
I told her that they were waiting for me at the wells, which was the next site on my treasure map. This was a total lie, as I was traveling by myself at this point of my journey. I have learned through past experience that it’s usually preferable to fabricate friends, boyfriends, concrete plans, etc. in situations like these…
They drove me a couple miles down the street and turned into the appropriate driveway, past the barking guard dog, who I would have most likely avoided had I decided to walk in. “Can I give you money for the taxi?” I asked, but she kindly refused. The other car inhabitants wished me well, and I wandered on to find the ancient wells.
Some of the Nazca ruines… Following a suggestion from the guide book, I walked down the main street out of the town of Nazca, not really knowing what to expect. Luckily the ticket to this place was a treasure map, delineating the location of other similar sites, although I was already too far out to hail a taxi…
