The Peruvian whirlwind, part III

21 May 2013

I barely escaped with my life this morning, after going for a walk and being harassed by three little yappy dogs as I passed a neighbouring farm. It was a lovely morning for a walk, cool, fresh and clear. The surrounding farms grow cactus for the cochineal bug, which is sold for dying fabric. So there was row after row, field after field, of cacti, interspersed with houses and veggie plots.

Our day started at the huge Chauchilla Cemetery, which dates back 1000–2000 years. Researchers have opened some of the graves, each of which houses several ‘real life’ mummies that you can see. When they were first discovered, these mummies still had skin, hair and other human features, but over time, after exposure to the elements and animals, they are mostly just bone and a bit of cloth now. However, some still have hair, up to 1.6 metres long of it in the case of men and shamans. Some lucky mummies even still have one or two of their eyes. There are also quite a few babies in similar sad states. You can imagine how unnerving this all is to see.

Our guide for the day filled us in on all of the gory details. For mummification, bodies were put in the foetal position and dehydrated with astringent herbs and loads of salt. Despite these efforts though, some mummies are still juicy, and their liquid seeps out to meld with the sand underneath them, forming a hard, concrete-like slab.

Around the graves, the sand is littered with bits of bone as far as you can see. This is thanks to grave robbers who raided tombs for tools and jewels, like sea shells and seeds. Deep graves housed the more important people, because the deeper the grave, the harder it was to rob. Robbers took off the cloth wrapped around the bodies to get to the tools and jewels underneath. In doing so, they broke and scattered bones around the graves.

Robbery continues today, with some people coming to steal bones (it's all about the feet and hands apparently) and other ‘memorabilia’ from the graves, as you do. One enterprising person (or two) took an entire body. Interestingly, the mummy who was stolen had a hole in her head that had started to heal (so she hadn’t died from this hole), showing the first early signs of surgery and modern medicine.

Graves were laid on top of other graves, and housed everyone at any stage of life, from foetuses to the elderly. Unlike the Egyptians, organs weren’t removed – the whole person was preserved. But the people at the time did believe in the afterlife, so included things they could use in the next life.

One mummy, a female, was buried with magical tools, weapons and herbs, suggesting she was a shaman and warrior. Until they found her, they didn’t realise women could be warriors and shaman (they clearly hadn't watched Xena). She was also buried with loads of little keepsakes as gifts, suggesting she was very well loved. Near her they uncovered tombs containing the bodies of two men and two women who had been sacrificed, presumably in her honour, meaning she was a very important person. The opposing theory goes that she was really powerful but evil and would order the deaths of people, so her community was afraid of her and did all of this to placate her.

This isn't quite as bad as the king who died, and was buried with his family, servants and warriors – who were all sacrificed to be buried with him. He was covered in gold when they found him.

On the way to Nasca airport for our flight over the lines, we stopped by a ceramics factory, where they make everything by hand and using animal bones. Apparently they use only authentic methods, which the owner’s grandfather worked out. This includes the colours, which are sourced from minerals found locally, and oil from human faces and hair to polish the pottery when it’s complete. The grandfather discovered the latter by rubbing his face with a stone in confusion about how to finish off his pottery, saw the stone was all shiny, and realised that was how they originally did it. (Or so the story goes!)

For the plane trip, it was just us and two pilots, in a little four-seater propeller light aircraft. It wasn’t the smallest plane I’ve been in – gliders are smaller – and I quite liked it. Chris hates flying on long-haul flights in huge jumbo jets, so you can imagine his delight at flying in this little number, that resembled a skinny 1970s Datsun with wings. His fears were only heightened by us having to sign our lives away on a disclaimer before boarding. Chris tried to manage his terror about this flight by the thought that if we both went down together, at least he wouldn’t have to live without me. He's ever the romantic!

It wasn’t too rough (despite what Chris says) and the views were absolutely amazing. I think seeing the views was actually more worthwhile than seeing the lines. They encompassed huge sand dunes, rugged mountains, the proverbial sweeping plains, dry river beds that twisted for kilometres, little villages, and irrigated fields filled with lush crops – all so contradictory and all contained in a relatively small area, under a crystal blue sky.

The lines themselves were smaller, and much less clear and impressive than I imagined. (A bit like the pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt – built up to be something really special but in reality, slightly disappointing.) My favourite was the Spaceman, with the Monkey and Condor tied for a close second. It's pretty incredible to think how old they are, and how well-preserved they are considering their age. An artistic feat if you like.

The pilots were great, and pointed out all of the Nasca lines and other sights to us. They also probably had a bit of a giggle at Chris’ white knuckles, one hand gripping the seat and the other cutting off circulation in my hand (making it quite hard for me to take decent photos), while he muttered at them to keep going and keep it smooth, between gasps as the plane dipped to the side so I could get a better view. I’m pretty sure I saw them stifle a smile when they pointed out where the sick bags were kept (or maybe that was just me). I can thank my dad for my strong stomach for flying and adventurous nature!

Over a delicious lunch afterwards, everyone patted Chris on the back for his efforts, while he downed a very, very large – and well-deserved – beer. We bought snacks and walked around town a little, before boarding our overnight bus for Arequipa.