San Pedro de Atacama (elevation 2438m)

Day 1

We managed to secure our last freebie flight to get us part way to San Pedro which is Chile’s No.1 tourist destination due to its spectacular deserts, scenery, volcano’s (that I won’t be climbing!), lagoons and geysers. At an elevation of 2438m we were also going up in the world.

Grabbing b/f, we took a taxi to the airport where we caught a flight to Antofagasta. The flight was only around an hour or so but they had upgraded us to exit seats which was nice for Glenn.

Arriving in Antofagasta, we managed to find a shared transfer to the bus terminal in town. Not sure if Glenn has spoken about these before but usually at airports, there are options for expensive taxi’s as you come out of security. But if you walk a little further, you can usually pick up a shared transfer which is typically a people carrier or a small minibus. You need to wait for the car to fill up before you leave but it doesn’t take long and it’s a much cheaper alternative and safe.

Antofagasta is a big industrial town in the middle of the desert, from what we saw on the drive, it’s not a place we would want to spend any significant amount of time in. Lots of rubbish, lots of make-shift tents on the beach for the homeless, something about it just made me feel a bit uneasy.

We had pre-booked our tickets and realised we were well ahead of time so when we arrived at the bus station, we headed to the counter to try and change to a bus that we could see was going shortly. After a long conversation and a lot of head shaking at the counter, we soon gave up on that Idea and settled in for the 2hr wait.

We grabbed some lunch, a Chilean favourite, which consisted of burger rolls stuffed with meat, Avocado, tomato and mayo. Note anything with Avo, tom and mayo has Italiano in its description, not because it will reward you with the delights of Italian cuisine, but because it has the colours of their flag. I gave up on mine so Glenn was soon eating two Chilean favourites!

The bus left around 2:30 and we were soon heading off on our 5hr journey through the desert, if felt more like you were on the moon, totally different landscapes from what we had previously seen.

We arrived in a tiny, dusty town around dusk. The bus terminal, which was pretty much just a car park, was just outside of town which meant we had to drag our bags through dusty streets, with the odd dog following, until we came to the main plaza and finally located our hostel.

It’s worth noting here that all the accommodation in San Pedro is way overpriced and pretty poor! It’s the No’1 tourist destination so I guess they can charge what they want. You are in a desert so you don’t expect 5*, but we did pay a lot of money for a tiny room with ill-fitting patio doors and no windows which meant you couldn’t open a door and get air in at night for fear of someone walking in. Smelly blankets, constant footfall past your door in the middle of the night with people getting up and using the bathroom and music played up until around midnight. Things that don’t bother you if you paid cheap, but piss you off when you’ve forked out a lot of money! The good news was that we were right in the centre of town. Plus, whilst the accommodation was expensive, the excursions were much cheaper than what we had found in Pucon.

Locking up, we went for a stroll around town. Whilst touristy, San Pedro has a lovely feel to it. I would say though if you are a lone traveller, best to pay a bit more and stay close to town as the lighting is bad and the streets are narrow and dark.

We turned a corner and could hear rock music, Glenn was drawn to this like a moth to a candle and we were soon sipping beers in San Pedro’s only bar. The bar was tiny with lots of locals and really cool tunes, when the power didn’t cut out! We loved it and as it was late, we decided to stay and order pizza. The only thing that spoilt the ambience was that the litre bottles of beer they gave you had twist caps which were impossible to get off, causing Glenn to go bright red under the strain of trying to twist them off, then a deeper crimson when we had to relent and ask the barman/woman to remove them.

Fed and watered, we headed back to our sweatbox for a fitful sleep.

Day 2 - Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon)

Feeling a bit travel weary and after a restless night of listening to the hostel staff partying and periodically removing one of the 12 blankets off our bed…everywhere in Chile, expect at least 4 blankets which feels like you have a dead weight laying on you…we decided to have a lazy morning, late b/f and try to sort out our failing technology.

As with anything to do with tech or banking, this put Glenn in a not so good mood. By lunchtime, I suggested we just head out, look around town and see what we would be doing over the coming days. The only thing that outnumbers the tourists and dogs in San Pedro is the number of make-shift tourist offices. We had heard that there were a few dodgy outfits so we went in search of one that looked pretty good on trip advisor. After trudging around for a bit, failing to find the office and Glenn’s mood not improving in the heat, we headed to the bar for a bottle you can’t open which seemed to do the trick!

In the bar, we did a bit more research and then headed to another tourist office where we arranged some trips for the coming days. As one was later the same afternoon, we headed back to the hostel to chill and wait for the excursion.

Being in the desert, the days are hot and the nights cold. However, around 4pm the heat seems to be at its maximum, when you feel like you are walking through treacle, even the dogs clear off to the shade! We headed to the tourist office with our bag of sunscreen and water and boarded a coach to Valle de la Luna for our afternoon trip.

The coach was a mix of Europeans and South Americans. The guide who spoke some English, briefly explained the itinerary and we were soon speeding off into the desert. We stopped at a magnificent rocky moonlike landscape and was told to leave our water on-board as we would be doing a short trek and would need both hands. It was an easy trek but to let him know if you were claustrophobic.

We got to the mouth of a crevasse, where a rather large Chilean woman had 2^nd thoughts and went back. The trek itself wasn’t bad (not when you are used to climbing Villaricca!) but it was extremely hot and you had to negotiate through narrow crevice’s and climb quite high on hands and knees across hot and jagged rocks – it was amazing and well worth it. However, there was a beautifully turned out Italian couple in our group who I guess were in their mid 60’s. She really struggled and we wasn’t sure she would make it. Luckily someone in the group ignored the order not to bring water and could share with her to get her through the trek. Poor cow, I know how she feels!

Back on the bus, the next stop was a short climb up to a viewpoint and cave you could climb down to (Italians and fat lady stayed on the bus). Then onto an outcrop of rocks which I think were called the 3 sisters, (Italians and fat lady stayed on the bus).

The final stop was a viewpoint to watch the sunset (Italians and fat lady got off the bus) with sand dunes and volcanos in the distance. Unfortunately, my phone had died at this point so not sure if the pics off the camera will do it justice.

It was an enjoyable trip and we arrived back in town around 8:30. Opting to just get a quiet bite and an early night as we were up again in the morning, we headed to a café for some food and then off to bed. Sadly, leaving our bag with all our sunscreen and water in the café (Glenn not Shel!)

Day 3 – Salar de Atacama, Laguna Chaxa & Laguna Cejar.

After another noisy night, we were up and ready for our 7am pick up. Realising that we had left the bag in the café and desperately in need of sunscreen for the day, Glenn quickly headed to the not surprisingly closed café to see if he could get it. We would have to rely on a few generous fellow travellers to share their cream or burn! We were greeted by the same tour guide as the evening trip, then went around town collecting others.

We drove for a while before we came to a small village, famous for its tiny church which had a roof made from cactus and the plan was to take a look inside. The Church was closed, so after a while of standing around with the guide quizzically scratching his head, we boarded the bus and moved on.

Next, we came to the Chilean salt flats which are created by movement of the earths plates and sea water becoming trapped between mountains which then crystallise into salt. It was stunning, with layers of mountains in the background in varying colours. There were some water holes here where 3 different types of Flamingo’s were feeding off the algae. We sat watching them, taking some pics before heading back to the van for a simple but nice b/f of bread, ham, cheese and cake.

The bus climbed for quite some time (not sure how high) until we came to a view point of two lagoons where Vicuna’s were drinking (type of Llama but with bigger hearts, adapted for the altitude) and again, stunning scenery. We got off the bus at both points and wandered through taking more pics.

Next stop was a one dog town in the middle of nowhere with a little church. Not sure why we stopped here other than to buy the wares the village women had to offer.

The final stop was the line of Capricorn where we jumped off for a quick pick before heading back to San Pedro around 2:30. After going to the still closed café, and buying some much needed sun-cream,  we headed back to the hostel to have a rest prior to our next excursion in the afternoon.

The afternoons trip was to see and swim in some more lagoons. To be honest, we were both a bit tired but we donned our cozzies and headed to the agency through the 4pm heat. The bus was packed and we were the only non-native Spanish speakers.  I sat away from Glenn, next to a Chilean woman who merrily chatted to me in Spanish, with me nodding, smiling and understanding the odd word (I did try!). We got to the first lagoon which was only about 20mins outside of town and had to pay an exorbitant fee to get in. The guide explained to the group in Spanish what the plan was, then took us to the side and explained to us, again in Spanish,  but with more finger pointing. The gist was we had around an hour, swim in the first lagoon but don’t submerge your hair, don’t swim In the 2^nd but take pics.

We headed to the first lagoon, which has the same consistency as the dead sea enabling you to just float. It was freezing but once in, you could just bob about and watch others plucking up the courage to get their shoulders under.

Being the brits we are, and not wanting to be late, we headed back to the open showers to remove the salt. Learning from our mistakes on the rafting trip, we had come prepared with towels and shower bubbles! I was merrily soaping up and cleaning off when a small Chilean woman started shouting at me and pointed to a sign… evidently no bubbles were allowed!

We dried off and headed to the 2^nd lagoon to take some pics before boarding the bus with 5 mins to spare. We then waited a further 30 minutes for a Chilean family who, deciding they had their own schedule, ambled back without an apology for keeping the group waiting. At least I had my new Chilean mate chatting to me for company.

After another entrance fee, we went to another lagoon where only a handful of people were swimming. I think nobody could be arsed to get wet again and there were no showers. Again, we waited for the family before we could be off again to our final destination.  

By now, tired, hungry and having a bit of a cob on, I asked the driver what time we would be returning to San Pedro. Realising I wasn’t quite enjoying myself, he suddenly broke into excellent English and he buoyed me along with a promise of pisco at sunset and more importantly, he started to manage the tardy Chileans.

After paying our final entrance fee, we walked down across salt flats to a water’s edge with amazing views. We were here for a while so Glenn and I larked about taking silly pics before returning to our bus for a sunset Pisco and snacks. Back on board, we reached town around 8:30pm.  The final stop was lovely but with all of the additional entrance fees, we are not sure if the price warranted the trip. It was so close to town you could probably arrange your own transport and do it cheaper.

Unfortunately, the café with our bag was still closed. We were very hungry so went to a place opposite which offered a Menu de Dia at a reasonable price. Sadly, we discovered the Menu of the Day was very small and we retired to bed, both still hungry!

Day 4 -Geysers Taitom (4300m)

5am pick-up meant it was still dark when we left San Pedro. Our guide couldn’t speak a word of English but was lovely, made lots of jokes (from what we could make out) and soon we were off on our long journey to see the Geysers at sunrise.

95k out of town, and at 4300m, Geysers Taito are the highest in the world. The Geysers are at their best at dawn break so you can appreciate the light thought the gurgling and steaming clouds. It was bloody freezing but we were prepared and well wrapped up. We had seen Geysers in NZ but whilst not the highest and NZ claims, they were more spectacular due to the backdrop of mountains and volcanos.

We made our way around the park before arriving at a hot spring where the brave was donning their swimmers and jumping in. We had forgotten all about the springs and didn’t bring ours with us. But to be honest, given our track record of being bored after 5 minutes, I don’t think the effort of jumping in, then drying off in the freezing cold was worth it. However, the setting was stunning!

Back at the van, we had our usual b/f and got chatting to two Brazilian bikers who were on a road trip. They had biked from Brazil, through Argentina and into Chile a massive road trip that we commented that their backside must be really sore!

Back on the bus, we then made our journey back to San Pedro, stopping at various view points and a pretty town with an authentic church and buildings along the way. We were treated to some sightings of Ostriches, Vicuna’s and a South American Kangaroo. He moved too fast for us to get a pic but they basically look like and overgrown rabbit or a shrunken Roo.

We really enjoyed this trip and were back in town around mid-day. Knackered from the back to back excursions and early starts which now complete, we both felt high on the freedom we now had to do things, or not do things, under our own steam.

First though, we had some chores, the missing bag was the first stop, finally the café was open and we managed to get the bag back. We then headed to an agency to book our bus to Bolivia, then sourced a hostel for an additional night as we both thought we could do with a bit more time here before taking the long road-trip to Bolivia. Changing out of our layers, we then headed to the only bar in town with bottles you couldn’t open for a well-deserved Cerveza or 3!

It was really lively and we were soon chatting to other groups in there (who equally couldn’t get the bottles open) and sharing a few beers. I think it was the relief of not having another 5am start but the beers went down well with Glenn and we were back home around 5pm with Glenn taking a cold shower to try (and fail) to sober up a bit.

To his credit, after a small nap, he bounced right back and we could grab a bite to eat before heading back to the hostel for the night.

Day 5 – Star Gazing

Our plan was to stay an extra day to chill, but also to try and get our banking sorted. We hung around our hostel until 12pm where we tried and failed to do this!

Checking out, we then moved to a hostel a little further up the road which was fantastic. Quiet, clean, and cheaper than the last! It was too early to check in so we left our big bags and went off to do some chores.

We picked up some water and snacks for the trip to Bolivia (told you needed at least 2litres each due to the altitude), went in search for a good rate to change money into Bolivianos, had a wander around the pretty plaza and church and then booked a trip for the evening.

We had stayed in touch with Stephanie who was the French lady we met in Valpariso and La Serena to share tips. She was heading to San Pedro so we arranged to do the evening Star Gazing Astronomy trip together to A: share tips and say goodbye, and B: keep us out of the bar.

We met up and headed to the agency where after a short journey, we arrived at the Astronomy site. The site was set-up with 3 huge telescopes and a very lively guide who gave great explanations in Spanish and then in English. He pointed out the various constellations and clusters before we moved onto the planets.

The first was Saturn. Rather than seeing a pink planet with a ring around it, we saw a white blob! not that impressive. Next Mars, where we got a much clearer picture and an explanation that amazingly, today we have the technology to re-create an environment on Mars where we could live. Today! we knew there were plans for trips and communities set up in Mars, but didn’t realise how close we were to doing it.  So, in several years, when we’ve finished buggering up this planet, future generations will have post codes ending in Mars.

The final and most impressive was the moon where we got a detailed look at the craters and landscape. Interestingly (or not?), the dark side of the moon is where the many craters are. Gazing done, we then retired to a little hut where we had a bit of an educational slide show and hot chocolate before heading back into town.

Here, we said goodbye to Stephanie and headed to the only bar in town for a farewell bottle of beer you can’t open. It was late, quite raucous in there and we probably had a beer too many given we were up with the larks the following day. So much for star gazing keeping us out of the bar!