Science Fiction or Science Fact? 77ward little roadside station and Rama's technology
seemed literally worlds apart.
As I continued my journey back to Lima, the whole
weekend started to seem unreal. And the more distance
that came between me and my experience with Rama,
the more difficult it was to accept the idea of space ships
and alien beings from outer space.
Driving to Lima wasn't bad at all, even though the
only road between Lima and Huancayo was damaged
beyond hope. I was able to make the trip in about four
and a half hours. This time I had no trouble with altitude
sickness.
When I arrived in Lima, I went straight to the hotel to
check my messages. Finding none, I went up to my room,
took and shower and then went out for a walk. I was
looking for an open bookstore, but it was too late. I
walked to the other two major hotels in the area wh ere I
had seen magazine stands selling paperback books in
English. Neither place had anything dealing with flying
saucers. I saw some fictional related material, but no
factual or scientific accounts. I asked the clerk at one of
the hotels. She suggested I try the airport.
The twenty minute drive was worthwhile; I found a
paperback copy of Erich Von Daniken's Chariot of the Gods,
and a very thin book, Mystery of the Desert, by Maria
Reiche, which was fully illustrated with aerial shots and
drawings of the Nazca Plains, located in Peru about 220
miles south of Lima.
I bought both books and headed back to the hotel.
Making myself comfortable, I started reading the Von
Daniken book at about 10 o'clock that evening. By 5
o'clock the next morning, I had read one hundred and
fifty-three pages of the paperback edition. What I
discovered in these books made it well worth losing a
night's sleep. Doors opened in my mind, and I was given