The Atacama Desert is the driest place on earth. Frozen salts are buried deep in the ground and even they haven’t received rain in over a hundred years. San Pedro, a town situated in the north of Chile, is also home to the great Atacama Desert. Shops line its viaducts with unique gifts, money exchange […]
The Atacama Desert is the driest place on earth. Frozen salts are buried deep in the ground and even they haven’t received rain in over a hundred years.
San Pedro, a town situated in the north of Chile, is also home to the great Atacama Desert. Shops line its viaducts with unique gifts, money exchange spots, internet cafes, restaurants, and plenty of tourist agencies. This quaint resort town has much to offer tourists, but at a high price (unlike my experience of Peru and Bolivia where I could keep my expenses considerably lower).
After much looking around for a hostel inside the town square, I wandered outside the tourist areas for further exploration. There were far fewer people wandering the streets the further out I went, but in broad daylight I felt there was nothing to worry about. After walking aimlessly, I became lost (big surprise) and concluded that any hostel that wasn’t currently full would be more than good enough for my tired feet. As luck would have it, a lovely voice asked me if I needed any help; that’s when a tour van pulled up next to me and Maria offered me a private room at her resort just up the block. At $30 USD per night for a private room, it was a steal! The free breakfast and access to a rental bike were definitely perks. Hostel Incanorth (remember that people): it’s a bit out-of-town but it only takes 5 minutes to cycle in. I also decided to book a few tours with Maria’s other venture, a tour group company situated in the middle of town.
Sleeping in had not been on my radar since the start of the trip, so the next day I decided it was the most important task on my list. That evening a group of us traveled to the Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley) and a few of the neighbouring stops which included dry lakes and frozen salt mountain ranges. This valley is the driest place located within the Atacama Desert itself. In fact NASA tested various projects here as it mimics the surface of the moon. Each stop along the tour showed us how valleys were formed by the rushing wind tunnels and as we stood atop the mountains, you could hear the sounds of caverns contracting and expanding from underneath. These were spectacular sites but they were no match for the image of watching the sun dip under the horizon and lighting up the mountains red.
It was a bloody early morning, the earliest on this trip by far. At 4AM the sun was still sleeping while I received a wake-up knock on my door. Soon after I was packed into a van with five others who had decided to join this trip. The driver had a great sense of direction in the dark but I had no clue how everyone was asleep while the van hurtled down roads not fit for any vehicle. Was it a surprise that the van was fitted with a reinforced roll cage? How was it not falling apart? So many questions rattled through my exhausted mind; what a warm welcome to the Valley of Geysers at El Tatio! This would mark my third visit to a “Top 6 Geyser Field” world site. If you’ve been to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming or will be in the future, I would not recommend spending the energy and day’s drive to see the Valley of Geysers at El Tatio. This day trip drained me completely and with the non-stop traveling since my stay in La Paz, I took the next few days to organize a much-needed relaxing end to my South America trip. I remember counting llamas to sleep.
Valparaiso, in about 23 hours, you and me are going to celebrate—here’s to an extra year added to the clock!