Nazca to Arequipa is almost 600 km by car, most of it follows the Pan American Highway 1S.

 

It is a two-lane road and the travel takes the better part of a day, the reason why most tourist prefer to take the plane.

By doing so they miss the opportunity to see an impressive and unspoiled part of rural Peru.

 

The drive will bring you through deserts, follows long stretches along the Pacific coast and negotiates a mountain range.

 

On the way you pass through hamlets and villages where you can taste the locally grown large and meaty olives and enjoy a Lomo Saltado in one of the many little restaurants.

 

In September 2010, after our flight over the Nazca lines, we travelled by car from Nazca to Arequipa, where we arrived late in the evening.

So unfortunately there are no pictures from the dangerous mountainous stretch from el Cruce la Joya to Arequipa.