Towards Nazca

Down the coast to Nazca, home of the Nazcans who settled here 1,000 years before the Incas did their stuff. A desert tribe they were engineering whizzkids, building subterranean aquaducts to bring water down from the Andes out on to the dry pampas where they did their cool ceramics, artisan skills that survive to this day. Riding down the coast to here was a blast – where sand drifts cover the road in parts and the landscape climbs from the sea toward the Andes. A great strip to ride, especially if free from the burden of stomach cramps that acclimatisation to the local cuisine engenders. Poor Chris, getting caught up with the roadside squirts so early in the piece. We’re all bound to have turns ejecting the fast food for a while. Need more antibodies on board.

Then there’s the famous Nazca lines – stretching far across the pampas, with the myriad of animals carved out of the desert sand and stone some 2,000 years ago. An under-rated people, the Nazcans. See the photos of Nazca.