Sometime between 200 BC and 600 AD, the people of Nazca drew lines on the dry desert. Covering a space of about 200 square miles, they drew hundreds of different figures like geometric shapes to various animal shapes. Some of the drawings are also said to be of aliens and where they landed. They form a spooky and surreal tourist attraction, only really visible from the sky. If you travel to Peru, you might want to add this to your sightseeing wish-list.
These large figures, up to 890 feet long, can be seen much better from the sky. Beyond astonishing any visitor who gets to view it from above, it will make anyone wonder how they were made in the first place. Since air travel was only invented centuries later, their creators would have never seen how the drawings actually looked.
This location is one of the most mysterious sites of archaeology, and experts have drawn many theories on why they were created by the Nazca people to begin with. Even new-age believers and alien enthusiasts have their own ideas regarding its origin. Of course, there is no way to find out now, given that their creators are long gone.
If you like cosy holidays by the sea, or lush mountain retreats, then don’t come here. There are thousands of other places, well documented in other travel articles, where you may prefer to be. This is about as far from the coast and luxury as you can get. It’s an off-the-beaten-track travel destination in the middle of nowhere, amid a dusty desert of nothingness. This is, of course, what makes it even more astonishing and exciting place to travel to.
It is incredible that these lines have survived more than 1,500 years. The Nazca people were believed to be technologically advanced for their time, but they would have scraped the iron oxide off of the desert floor by hand. The weather and the extreme dryness of the location have allowed these drawings to still be seen by modern man.
Making these lines also showed a stroke of genius. Because the figures are gigantic and they cannot see the entire shapes on the ground, creating them would have taken a lot of time and effort. Theories say that the designers used stakes on the ground and tied a rope in between them, before scraping along the rope. Given the wooden stakes discovered on the ground, this was a highly plausible answer. Researchers believe that the sketches were done first on the ground with stakes and then expanded on the desert, following the miniature model.
Still, the question is why they created these sketches. The most popular answer includes the whole area being sacred ground and thus, the paintings are there and not on the walls. Others state that this is because of alien visitors, either as a sign for them or even being created by aliens themselves. Some believe that the Nazca were advanced enough to have created hot-air balloons to admire their work.
Getting to the Nazca Valley requires flying over to Lima or Arequipa. From there, buses going to Nazca are available. Individual arrangements can also be made, so that small planes can be chartered. It is best to book flights in the morning, because the winds become stronger in the afternoon, leading to bumpier rides.
It is incredible how many ancient but inexplicable works like the drawings at Nazca have survived throughout the centuries. Not only do we see remnants of their technology that might have helped with their construction, but you can also marvel at how they were created in the first place. Just make sure you get to see the figures from above, as they were meant to be viewed.
