"Was God an astronaut....?"

The ride to Nasca was thankfully a short one. The “Nasca Lines” are the world famous “drawings” in the desert around Nasca. They are thousands of years old and are of such a scale they can only be viewed in their entirety from the air. Which of course begs the question how were they created by people who hadn`t the wherewithal to view them from the sky?

It was all very interesting to ponder on as I rolled into the town and found some accommodation right on the main plaza. Sadly, my budget didn`t stretch to the popular flight over the “lines” themselves, so I had to make do with wandering around the exhibition of photos in the plaza. Still it was fascinating, especially if you remember Erich Von Daniken`s 70`s best seller, “Chariots of the Gods” where he poses the interesting question “Was God an astronaut?” Many people believe the “Nasca Lines” were ancient landing strips for extra terrestrial spacecraft.
To be honest, it seems like a pretty coherent theory to me!

The following day I was on the coast road south heading for Arequipa which was going to be too far to ride in one day, so after several hours in the saddle I reached the small town of Camana which would put me within a couple of hours ride of Arequipa the next day.

Camana had little going for it apart from a bikini contest being held in a hotel on the main square. With nothing else to tempt me I thought I might drop in and check it out that night. Whilst in Camana, I also noticed with concern, a disturbing trend developing. It would appear there is at large a “Phantom Peruvian toilet seat thief”. The last few hotels I had stayed in had no toilet seats! I actually had to request one! The manager disappeared (obviously to his toilet seat cache somewhere in the basement) and magically dug one out. No doubt when I checked out he would remove it again for “safe keeping”. Maybe I should buy one and strap it to the back of my bike?

In Camana, I checked in, noticed the missing seat and came straight down to reception and said,

“No tengo una asiento en mi banos?”

The manageress just looked at me with one of those looks that clearly said,

“Yes, and your point is…….?”

It`s a funny old world.

For the record, I didn`t actually make the bikini contest. It started at 10.00 p.m. and I`m such a lightweight after over 7 months on the road, I`d eaten, had a couple of beers and was in bed by then.

I arrived in the city of Arequipa at around midday and made for the historical centre of the city hoping to find a decent hotel and stay for a couple of days. After the usual ride around the central plaza in ever increasing circles, I came across a good hotel (with toilet seats included, obviously more geared up for tourists!). It was more than I wanted to pay and whilst negotiating a better deal, an older lady at reception (maybe the owner`s mother, I thought) said to me in broken English,

“Que paix? Where are you from?”

“Inglaterra”

“Inglaterra! I am poor, you are rich!”

In other words, pay the going rate you stingy b*****d! I must admit I didn`t look rich, stood there in my filthy riding gear, but I suppose my second hand bike is worth more than some would make in a year A salutary thought. And I didn`t have the Spanish to say,

“Yes, but I borrowed the money from a good friend and now it`s running out and I`m on a tight budget”

The historical centre of Arequipa is very attractive and at its heart is the large main plaza, where, as with every town and city I`ve visited, everyone comes out in the evening to walk and socialise.

From Arequipa I headed south for the border and stayed in the little town of Moquegua which would leave me a short ride to the Chilean border the following day. My last night in Peru was celebrated in fine fashion with 3 cans of beer and a bag of peanuts in my hotel room.

The next day I crossed into Chile, my 14th country. The border crossing was reasonably straightforward apart from their insistence that I take off my bag and put it through an x ray machine – the first time that had happened. My destination in Chile was the city of Arica only 20 km down the road. Maybe there I would get a decent cappucino?