Nazca, Peru. It's warm!

The famous Nazca lines are here. Outlines of pre-Incan symmbols in the earth stretching over many kilometres. The best view is from the air. Tour packages start at $35 USD and they take you up in a small plane to the various symbols. I'm way too cheap and bought a postcard. $1 Sol.

I took a tour to the cemetary instead. Over many kilometres, an ancient burial site was discovred not too long ago (within 30 years). Only a few sites have been excavated and put on display (lack of government / private funding).

* Mummies, almost perfectly preserved by the desert, in the fetal position of all social classes were buried here.

* They were discoved in various rooms surrounded by pottery, food and talismans. Possibly more but grave robbers all but decimated the area since the place was discovered.

* Most of the mummies had hair up to 2 metres long, in rasta-fari dred locked styles.

* The 12 display sites were arranged by archeologist as the remains were scattered all over by the grave robbers.

* Even as you step on the path, pieces of bone, hair, textiles and other human remains are poking up from the sand.

After the cementary, we went to a pottery craftsman's workshop where he showed us how the ancients made and painted their pottery. Using colours from rocks, like cobalt and copper, the paints were made. To polish the pottery, a stone was used to rub the oil from the nose, then was rubbed onto the surface of the pottery. Then he showed us his wares for sale. If I didn't have to carry a pack, I wold have bought a piece.

We then proceeded to the gold miner's factory. Excavating 20 kilos of rock, then crushing it into fine powder, then using mercury to extract the gold from the powder, they can get a gram of gold. And here I thought that going goldpanning in the Fraser River was hard work. Mind you, after 2 years, I don't even have a gram of gold. The process of grinding the rocks involve men standing on huge stones, rocking back and forth, using the weight of the big stone to crush the rocks in the water basin below. This factory, which is really some guy's backyard, held 5 crushing stations. Really, we've invented gear technology years ago. The whole set-up could be done much easier. But I'm sure it's to attract people to buy the wares in the front.

After being dropped off by the tour wagon, I made my way to an archeological museum, wherin many artifacts from surrounding sites were on display. From pottery to household items to intrically woven textiles and amazingly woven human hair. Showcased were pictures documenting excavation processes. The place was fairly big and I was impressed.