Week 8 - Nazca, Peru

Dino

Accomodtions and Food

Hotel
Casa Andina Classic - Nasca
Jr. Bolognesi 367, Nasca 5156, Peru
$80/room
Total for 2 rooms= $1120

This particular hotel we felt was so-so compared to the others we had checked into during the 8 weeks. The service we thought was okay, but not excellent and the complementary breakfast was mediocre at best. We did appreciate the free-WiFi and the cleanliness of the pool. Overall for the price we got the room it was good, but could have been much better.

Food


This week, like last week we took advantage of the free breakfast that came with our hotel rooms. But unlike last week we felt that the food was not as good as the ones like in Bolivia. We believe it’s because we had basically the same breakfast over and over for the past two weeks. But we endured it get proper pick up we needed for the adventures ahead. That and Erin and Jennifer are coffee addicts.

We found a restaurant called La Taberna, which had a pretty interesting vibe about it. On the wall was graffiti from tourists and locals that have been into this restaurant. Here we all decided to be healthy and eat the vegetarian meals that they offered. This was a change from our high protein diet we had all been on since the beginning of the trip. The guys did not enjoy the meal as much because they did not like vegetables, but got through the meal just fine. Price was not too bad at about $8.75 a person. Total bill came out t be $43.75
Not hearing about too many restaurants in Nazca, Peru, aside from eating at the hotel for breakfast it was hard to find places that were trust worthy. So we checked TripAdvisor and found out about Dono Hono. Without much detail on it we decided to go. Overall we thought the restaurant was clean and decent and had a good mix of tourists and locals. We tried the lasagna and other soups on their menu. The prices in this particular place was not too expensive, about $3/dish. With such a great low price and pretty delicious food we came back for seconds. For trip of two we spent a grand total of $30

We then found Pollo a la brasa. A local area that served some of the best chicken for under $10 a plate. The place seemed to be crawling with locals. A bit intimidating to the 5 of us. But we built up the courage and went it to get some of the good local foods. The chicken was great and the locals were not as bad as they seemed when entering the building. Although we did get some stares. But for the $50 we spent, it was not too bad.

Overall Spent of Food: $341, including our free breakfast at the hotel.

Jennifer

Transportation

On Saturday, October 23rd at 7am we hopped back into our rental car and headed to the airport. Our flight was at 8:52am and we were running behind. This was the only flight that day so it would be a big deal to miss it. We pulled up and dropped Erin off and let her run inside to hold our plane while we returned the car. When the rest of us finally got to the gate they were obviously arguing with her and trying to get the door closed. They weren’t pleased, but we made it. The flight was only 1 hour 48 minutes, but took us to Lima, Peru since there were no flights into Nazca. To get there we decided to take a bus and found a service that provided two deck seating, served dinner, and had VIP seating which turned out to be incredibly comfortable. We arrived at the airport at 9:40am and had till 1:30pm to grab food and get to the Expreso Cruz del Sur bus station. We got one of the airport officials to call us a registered taxi, which ended up being Andinataxi. Their drivers speak English or they provide a translator, and they also make sure their drivers aren’t out to rip off tourists and locals alike. We were making sure that we got a taxi big enough for all five of us and all our stuff. We ended up having the driver drop us off at a restaurant close to the bus station, which ended up being a little sandwich shop. The food was unimpressive, but we were looking forward to food in Nazca. It is 446km from Lima to Nazca which took six and a half hours by bus. We got to ride on the second level, and saw some amazing views. The seats were incredibly comfortable, and the dinner was very nice, and came with the price of the bus ticket. We got into Nazca at 8pm and were met by the car that we had chartered to take us around. The service only cost $50 a day, and it was great to have someone who knew the area show us around and take us to the best restaurants.

To return to Raleigh we caught the same bus back from Nazca to Lima with again cost us ($37.65 per person). The first bus back left at 11:30am and got us back at 6pm. We ended up calling Andinataxi again and they came and took us back to the airport. The ride was much longer this time since it was during rush hour, but we’d made sure to give ourselves plenty of time and didn’t have to be to the airport till 11:35pm. We decided to fly first class again, but even with that this was a long flight. The first leg took us from Lima to Newark Liberty where it was 7:30am. Our next flight didn’t leave until 10:07 so a few of us took a nap in the VIP area while the rest went to find food and coffee. From Newark we had a quick flight to Washington Dulles, and luckily only an hour layover before our last leg to RDU. The whole flight took us 14 hours and 15 minutes, and we were just glad to be home.

5 tickets La Paz, Bolivia to Lima, Peru Sat, October 23rd First Class = 30863.43 bolivianos ($4,396.50 [$752 per person])
1 bus ticket Lima to Nazca with Expreso Cruz del Sur (Class Cruzero VIP) = 530.21 bolivianos ($188.25)
Return trip = 530.21 bolivianos ($188.25)
Taxi = 42.25 bolivianos ($15)
Lunch in Lima = 56.33 bolivianos ($20)
Chartered Car = 704.13 ($250)
Return Flight: 5 tickets Lima, Peru to Raleigh/Durham, Sat, October 30th First Class = 29227.10 bolivianos ($10,377.10)

Nathaniel

Attractions

Cantalloc Aqueduct
Carretera Puquio-Cusco
Nasca, Peru

As our final stop in our trip, we decided for one of the attractions to visit the Cantalloc Aqueduct. We took a rental car to the site. This site was really cool because it was a natural attraction that had a lot of history tied to it. We found out that this aqueduct has been in existence since the 3rd century. It was also a really good piece of engineering, which was especially cool because of how long it has lasted. To walk around and see with our own eyes something this old was really cool, especially for me. The point of this site was to provide water for the inhabitants of the area back when it was made. What made this attraction so unique was the fact that it was made in area that had very little water. It cost just $1.06 USD per person for us to visit this place. Everyone found this attraction very interesting, especially Nathaniel. We ended up staying there for about five hours.

Sandboarding

Cerro Blanco
Peru

The last place we went was on a sandboarding trip to Cerro Blanco. We took the rental car to the site and spent like six hours enjoying the day. It was really cool because we got to rent a 4x4 buggy vehicle that would carry us across the sand dunes. The experience was a lot of fun because it was more like an amusement park ride than anything else because of the nature of the terrain. It was a lot of fun to travel on the sand, except for the fact that we got sand everywhere and our group was in need of some long showers when we got back. Sandboarding is almost exactly like snowboarding except for the fact that we are travelling on sand. It was interesting to take part in this because we had just done the same activity on snow a few weeks prior. Overall, the trip cost $30 USD per person.

John

Budget

Hotel: $1,120
Food: $361
Air Travel to Nazca: $4,396.50
Air Travel to Raleigh: $10,377.10
Taxi/Bus: $641.50
Attractions: $136.30

Total: $17,032.40
Total Remaining: $41,886.71