Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [105]
Hostería Suiza (23-8762; www.hostesuiza.5u.com; Balneario de Huacachina; s/d/tr/q incl breakfast S95/155/198/245; ) At the far end of the road beside the oasis, this is a tranquil alternative: no pumping bars here, just an elegant, characterful building and a restful garden. The service is a bit stuffy, but the peace and quiet is priceless. Dutch, French, Italian and English are spoken.
Hotel Mossone (21-3630; reservas@dematourshoteles.com; s/d/tr/ste from S186/235/265/292; ) The resort’s original grand hotel has simple yet stylish rooms carefully arranged around an almost Mediterranean-style courtyard. All rooms have hot showers and TVs. There’s also an upscale restaurant with a convivial waterfront bar. Walk-in guests can score big discounts in the low season.
Most hotels have a cafe of sorts and there are a few touristy restaurants near the waterfront.
Getting There & Away
The only way to get to Huacachina from Ica is by taxi (S5 one-way).
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PALPA
056 / pop 7200 / elev 300m
From Ica, Carr Panamericana Sur heads southeast through the small oasis of Palpa, famous for its orange groves. Like Nazca, Palpa is surrounded by perplexing geoglyphs in the pampa (large, flat area). The best way to see these lines is on a combined overflight from Nazca (Click here). Spanish-speaking guides at the municipalidad (40-4488) may be able to take you around local archaeological sites with advance notice.
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NAZCA & AROUND
056 / pop 57,500 / elev 590m
As Carr Panamericana Sur rises through coastal mountains and stretches across the arid flats to Nazca, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this desolate pampa holds little of interest. And indeed this sun-bleached expanse was largely ignored by the outside world until 1939, when North American scientist Paul Kosok flew across the desert and noticed a series of extensive lines and figures etched below, which he initially took to be an elaborate pre-Inca irrigation system. In fact, what he had stumbled across was one of ancient Peru’s most impressive and enigmatic achievements: the world-famous Nazca Lines. Today the small town of Nazca is continually inundated by travelers who show up to marvel and scratch their heads over the purpose of these mysterious lines, which were declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1994.
History
In 1901 archaeologist Max Uhle was the first to realize that the drifting desert sands hid remnants of a Nazca culture distinct from other coastal peoples. Thousands of ceramics have since been uncovered, mostly by careless huaqueros (grave robbers) who plundered burial sites and sold off their finds to individuals and museums. Archaeologists pieced together the story of this unique culture from its highly distinctive ceramics: brightly colored and naturalistic early pottery (AD 200 to 500), the stylized and sophisticated designs characterizing the late period (AD 500 to 700), and also the simpler designs of the terminal period (AD 700 to 800), influenced by the conquering Wari. Invaluable tools for unraveling Peru’s ancient past, the ceramics depict everything from everyday plants and animals to fetishes and divinities; some even echo the Nazca Lines themselves. Even the most heedless observer will soon learn to recognize the strikingly different Nazca ceramics, some of which can be seen in the local archaeological museum and at the Museo Regional de Ica (Click here), though the best collections are stashed away at museums in Lima.
Orientation & Information
All buses arrive and depart near the óvalo (main roundabout) at the west end of town. From there, it’s about a 15-minute walk east to the Plaza de Armas. Internet cafes are on every other street. A few international tourist hotels will exchange US dollars or cash traveler’s checks, but it’s nearly impossible to get euros exchanged here.
BCP (Lima 495) Has a Visa/MasterCard ATM and changes US dollars and traveler’s checks.