Day 40 – Saturday, March 7, 2026

Somewhat atypical for me, I had started organizing this sightseeing tour two days prior to arriving here, but could not tell when I would arrive (or at all, for that matter) and where I would stay if I did. I tried to explain this to the tour operator whom I found online via WhatsApp. The communication was anything but smooth. A key take-away: pose only one question at a time - as only the last one shall be answered - all previous ones ignored.

Anyhow, the previous evening I told them I had safely arrived in the town of Nazca and the name of my hotel, the reply was a bit of an uncommittal 8:30 pick-up time. I way mentally prepared for all permutations of this, that they would either be late, be at the wrong place or would never show up at all - all the more surprised I was to see someone looking for me at 8:30 sharp (with an almost correct pronunciation of my name) and soon we were heading to the tiny airport.

Here all passengers get weighed (!), need to pay airport and government taxes for the visit on top of the $80 sightseeing fare (and additional $40 or so) and after a short wait, passport and strict security controls took place.

A small Cessna 207

I really enjoyed it!

We were a group of five in a Cessna 207 in addition to two friendly pilots. I had a blast, to sum it up briefly. By now you will know that (safe for a few places) I have developed a strong bond to the Atacama Desert and it was an amazing sight from above. Needless to say, the lines and the various figures were breathtaking - I enjoyed the trip so much, I started negotiating for a repeat run as soon as we landed - but then decided against it, it would have been costly both monetary and time-wise.

My favorite was the monkey, this insprired the "P" in the touristic logo of Peru.

Someone down there owns a mansion with multiple pools

Whoever did this 800 years ago was a genious

The "P" was inspired by the tail of the monkey

Condor

LineToEternity

I think they said it was a baby whale, though it looks more like a dinosaurus

Sure, it is a touristy thing, but I love flying - so would have never dreamed of missing this highlight. I am smiling looking through the pics.

As much I have had a smile during the sightseeing flight, it becames quite of a frown regarding the latter part of the day.

At noon, I left town, having big plans of making 80 or more kilometers in the afternoon.

Soon thereafter, all things a biker dislikes were offered as a package deal: heavy traffic; bad or no shouder, a strog headwind, quite a few ascents, it got really hot and the scenery was anything but top. There was a lookout, from where some of the Nazca lines and figures could be seen. A security guard was selling a sort of s frozen friut drink - i gulped down four (!) of these, I was so thirsty and tired from the ride.

This truck had some issues as well...!

View from the lookout

My progress was slow and I felt compelled to stop at the various sites - there were figures all around. I met a French family who have been traveling around South America for months by car.

There were literally dozens of figures all around

I finally reached a small town called Pulpa and was ready for yet another negative experience what the accommodation was concerned. My opinion changed when I reached the center - the church and the arcades could have been in Italy or Spain. I had a tasty dinner, some sort of a goulash. Aldo, I found quite am OK hotel. At that point, there were still 400 km to Lima.

Where was I really?

Goulash...

There was one more interesting thing I noted in Pulpa. I found a supermarket, where they actually charged for the platic bag - a tiny amount, but this was a step in the right direction. Everywhere else you got a platic bag with almost each item you purchased. So there was some intention of going green...

Well, that afternoon I covered just 50 km...