From Lima, we took the Cruz del Sur bus down to Nasca to see the Nasca Lines. We met Tom and Anna, a British couple that are on a year-long honeymoon, on the bus to Nasca. We would later run into them several times during our trip even though we were on very different itineraries. We got to Nasca in the evening, dropped our stuff in the hotel, and then arranged for a flight over the lines the next day.

For scale, the tiny dots in the photographs of the lines are large rocks. We lucked out in choosing a company (Aereo Expreso Moche) that operates a plane with no wing struts obstructing the view from the windows. The lines have mixed reviews from other travellers; you either think they're incredible or you don't see what the fuss is. We thought that the lines are quite incredible and certainly worth the detour down to Nasca. We only stayed one night in Nasca before taking the (very expensive) overnight bus to Arequipa. We had not heard of the Cial bus company before but the bus turned out to be nicer than the Cruz del Sur buses that we'd taken.