Best of Peru: Nasca and the Nasca Lines

By Neil Schlect

The famous Nasca Lines are one of the most remarkable sights in Peru: massive, mysterious drawings carved into the impossibly dry pampas more than a millennium ago. The purpose of this vast tapestry of "geoglyphs" has baffled observers for decades and given rise to wild conjecture about Peru's ancient past. Most of the etchings, on flat sand canvasses amid the desert's unending expanse of brown, craggy, origami-like folds, are so large they can only be properly appreciated from the air. The town of Nasca plays second fiddle to its famous attraction, although a couple of good museums and archaeological sites are clues to the sophistication of the pre-Columbian Nasca culture.

Note: Several of the sights beyond Nasca are remote and difficult to get to on your own. Without a rental car, the only real options for reaching them are by taxi (most often, the best idea is to hire one round-trip from Nasca and have it wait for you during your visit) or organized tour (by far the cheapest and most convenient option). Private (two-person minimum) and group tours are easy to arrange at any of the major Nasca travel agencies.

Photo Caption: The Nasca Lines in Nasca, Peru.

Were it not for the presence of those strange desert etchings, Nasca would be just a dusty little town with a frontier feel, and one that has been repeatedly damaged by earthquakes. This popular pedestrian-only boulevard, leading from the Plaza de Armas to Plaza Bolognesi, is the town's recent attempt to make itself more presentable for visitors.

Details: Btw. Bolívar and Plaza de Armas.

Photo Caption: The Plaza de Armas in Nasca, Peru.

A visit to this unexpectedly terrific private archaeology museum, funded by an Italian foundation, is essential to get a handle on the sophisticated Nasca culture and archaeological excavations. On view are fine ceramics, trophy heads worn by warriors after beheadings (to inspire fear among enemies), musical instruments, and a few well-preserved mummies. In the garden out back is the Bisambra aqueduct, an ancient Nasca stone irrigation canal.

Details: Av. de la Cultura 600, Bisambra (a 10-min. walk from the Plaza de Armas). tel. 056/523-444. Admission S/15. Daily 9am-7pm.

Photo Caption: Museo Antonini is Nasca, Peru.

For lunch, drop into this amiable little restaurant adorned with the graffiti of hundreds of visitors. It can be touristy, but it's a comfy place with a varied international menu and some dependable Peruvian specialties.

Details: Jr. Lima 321. 056/806-783. Items S/9-S/18.

Photo Caption: Graffiti on the wall at La Taberna in Nasca, Peru.

One of the world's great enigmas, these etchings of giant plant and animal figures and mysterious geometric lines are carved into the barren surface of the Pampa de San José desert. Throughout the Nasca Valley, an area of nearly 1,000 sq. km (390 sq. miles), there are at least 10,000 lines and 300 different figures. Most are found alongside a 48km (30-mile) stretch of the Pan-American Highway. The lines were discovered in the 1920s when commercial airlines began flights over the Peruvian desert. Most experts believe they were constructed by the Nasca (pre-Inca) culture between 300 b.c. and a.d. 700, although predecessor and successor cultures -- the Paracas and Huari -- also may have contributed to the desert canvas.

The peculiar figures are easy to identify from the air: You'll spot the outlines of a parrot, hummingbird, spider, condor, dog, whale, monkey with its tail wound like a top, giant spirals, huge trapezoids, and, perhaps oddest of all, a cartoonish anthropomorphic figure with its hand raised to the sky that has come to be known as "the Astronaut." Some figures are as long as 300m (1,000 ft.), and some lines are 30m (100 ft.) wide and stretch more than 9.5km (6 miles). Travel agencies and air carriers organize overflights. For the best visibility, try to go in midafternoon (2-5pm) or early in the morning, but be prepared for conditions that frequently delay flights and occasionally make them impossible.

Details: More information in our Nasca destination guide.

Photo Caption: The Nasca Lines seen next to the Pan-American Highway Observation Tower in Nasca, Peru.

While the only way to see the Nasca Lines in their entirety is from above, this mirador (lookout) beside the Pan-American Highway permits a vague and partial view of three figures: hands, lizard, and tree. It can't compare to a bird's-eye view, but it's the best you'll be able to do if you can't take the stomach-turning dips and dives of the light-craft flights.

Details: Ctra. Panamericana Sur. Admission S/3 adults, S/2 students. Daily 9am-7pm.

Photo Caption: The Pan-American Highway Observation Tower in Nasca, Peru.

A German mathematician, María Reiche, became the world's foremost expert on the Nasca Lines in the latter half of the 20th century. The "Dame of the Desert" dedicated her life to studying and publicizing them, assiduously debunking the crazier theories about their purpose. The Spartan adobe house where Reiche worked and lived (she died in 1998 at the age of 95) is now a small museum about her life and the Lines, complete with maps, models, plans, and photos.

Details: Caserío la Pascana, Ctra. Panamericana Sur Km. 420, San Pablo (27km/17 miles north of Nasca). tel. 056/234-383. Admission S/5. Mon-Fri 9am-7pm; Sat 8:30am-6:30pm; Sun 9am-1pm. By taxi S/50 round-trip.

Photo Caption: Casa-Museo María Reiche in Nasca, Peru.

These well-preserved stone aqueducts were part of a sophisticated subterranean system constructed by the Nasca to irrigate the bone-dry fields in the pampas. Three dozen beautifully engineered pre-Columbian puquios (aqueducts), many Sshaped to slow the flow of water, still function and are used by local farmers.

Details: Ctra. Puquio-Cusco. No phone. Admission S/12; organized tour S/45-S/110 per person. Daily 8am-5pm. By taxi S/25 round-trip.

Photo Caption: The Acueductos de Cantalloc in Nasca, Peru.

An ancient adobe complex, Cahuachi was the Nascas' most important ceremonial and administrative center. The ruins are in poor condition, largely buried under sand, and are still undergoing excavation, but they are said to be twice as arge as Chan Chan, the massive Chimú city along Peru's northern coast. Many of the finest examples of Nasca ceramics in existence were discovered at Cahuachi. Only a handful of temples and pyramids may be visited, and only by guided tour. Nearby is El Estaquería, rows of huarango trees that probably marked important grave sites.

Details: No phone. Free admission. Daily 8am-5pm. Travel agencies in Nasca usually offer the site as part of a tour for around S/75-S/105 per person.

Photo Caption: The ruins of Cahuachi in Nasca, Peru.

No mere cemetery, this valley of tombs from the IncaChincha period (a.d. 1000-1400) is a vast necropolis consisting of thousands of graves. There are a dozen underground tombs exposed for visitors, and even though they were discovered by huaqueros (grave robbers) and many stripped of their possessions, they present a rich picture of the ancient culture of the desert valley. One tomb holds only children; others are populated with the remains of adults with thick, Rasta-like dreadlocks. The desert's very dry conditions helped preserve the mummies over the centuries.

Details: Admission S/5; organized tour S/60 per person. Daily 8am-5pm. By taxi S/75-S/100 roundtrip, including wait time.

Photo Caption: The Cementerios de Chauchilla in Nasca, Peru.