Into the desert

The road to San Pedro.

Houses in San Pedro.

Houses in San Pedro.

Moving from one place to another in South America is easy - you get on a bus and off you go. I've said it before, but I will say it again - buses are king here. The bus terminals are city onto themselves, always busy with people getting on and off, saying goodbye to loved ones, maybe moving to a new city, or like me, loading their over-sized backpacks onto yet another bus to another destination. This time I was catching a 10 am bus from Santiago to Calama, from where I would get yet another bus to San Pedro de Atacama in the north of the country. The bus trip would be 23 hours and 1,500 km - another long haul. I bought some water and biscuits for the trip, my bus staples, but was counting on stopping off for lunch or dinner somewhere along the way. Silly me. We passed through the big coastal towns of La Serena and Antofogasta, stopping to pick up more people and offload some, but we didn't stop for lunch. At about 7pm I was getting worried and asked the driver - he replied witha  curt 'no.' I rushed into the terminal to buy an empanada and a drink at least - the empanada had to be microwaved and the drink wasn't cold, but I made it back to the bus in time. After my crappy dinner, I tried to sleep, knowing that if I got hungry during the night, there would be nothing that could be done. Yet another great bus ride.

San Pedro with the volcanoes in the background.

Inside San Pedro church.

Typical building in town.

The cities and town up north in Chile don't really appeal to me. I guess they are beach towns for the most part, offering warmer weather that the rest of the Chilean coast. At this time of year these places are nearly bursting at the seams too. Heading North, the landscape just gets drier and drier, and hotter and hotter. I sometimes wonder why people live up here - is the minerals and mining industry? Cost? Maybe they were born here in the first place - that explains why so many people live in Canberra. Sorry Canberrans, but why would anyone choose to live with all of the politicians? San Pedro is one of these places where you think, "why?" The answer here is simple though - tourism. The town itself isn't much to write home about, dusty, squat homes, quiet streets with a few dogs seeking what shade they can and not much else - it's like stepping off the bus, being hit in the face with the heat, and finding yourself on Tatooine. The centre though is a different story all together. The houses are what you see on Google images - white-washed houses and cute little streets, plazas with palm trees and cute little streets. In reality it is just like this, but with hundreds, if not thousands, of people wandering around the same streets, shops selling the same tack, travel agents touting tours and trips at every corner. Sounds great right? Well, if you can avoid this as much as possible, and get out there and see things, it can be great. Challenge accepted! I'd booked a small hostel away from the centre, which I was very glad of, as it allowed me to be away from all the chaos of the town, enjoy cheaper food and also have a good night's sleep.

The church in San Pedro.

The Tatio Geyers (and the toilet line).

All dressed up and nowhere to go.

I found myself a good deal for some tours around the area, booked through my hostel. Unfortunately guided tours are the way you have to see the sights around here, unless you have your own car. Some people choose to rent a bicycle and get around that way - not something I'd choose going alone, as I saw one guy with a flat on the side of the road, miles away from civilization. The first tour was the geyser - a 5am start and a 1.5 hr drive. I asked why so early, and the reason for this is that it's the best time to see the geysers due to the cold night and the sun warming up the ground, causing the best 'eruptions.' I was up and ready for the bus to pick me up, but when it arrived they said it wasn't my bus - I was worried. I had got up early for this and now possible for nothing. I sat up and had a mate and chatted to the hostel girl - it was her first day (and didn't speak any Spanish) so she didn't know what she could do for me except say sorry. 15 mins later, another bus turned up - again, I wasn't on the list, but I asked really nicely and they took me.

Just like soup in a pot.

Waiting for the geyser to go off.

A family of vincuñas.

Although we were rushed around by our guide, it was exciting to see loads of these 'little volcanoes' going off all over the valley, but sometimes it was hard to see through all the people taking selfies in front of them. In 1994 the Chilean government tried to build a geothermal power plant (good intentions) and actually damaged them, causing them to lose some of their steam, and now they are much less potent. Breakfast was served, coffee and biscuits, before moving onto the next part of the tour, which was a small village famous for serving llama kebabs. Yes, I did try it, and it was OK - but since then I've had better. The altitude first came into play at this point, at 4400m you have to be careful how quickly you walk, and also walking and talking is not a good idea or you'll find yourself breathing like you've just done an audition for "so you think you can dance." Before we were all herded back on the bus for the return trip, we got to have a quick soak in the local hot springs, courtesy of the geysers - the pool varied in temperature a lot, and finding the hottest spot was easy, but getting a spot was not - I felt like I was in a big pot of soup.

Selfie time (again).

The 2 1/2 Marias.

Valle de La Luna.

Back to town for lunch before heading off on another tour, this time to the "Valle de la Luna," or the Valley of the Moon. On another bus full of different tourist, I was already tired of feeling like a retiree being dragged around in big groups, lead around like slow-moving sheep. The first stop on this tour was the "3 Marias." Nearby, there used to be salt mines and the workers would seek shelter here with the Marias, a strange rock formation that actually looks like 3 women. The valley was visited in the 60s by a Belgian preist, and he decided that it should be called "Valle de la Luna" as it looked like the moon, so the name was changed from it's original name of "Saltineras." Standing in front of these rocks, I only saw 2 figures, and asked the tour guide. They now call it the 2 1/2 Marias, as a few years back some tourist got it in his head to climb one, and broke it off. Real clever and way to ruin in for everyone. We did some hiking around the hills in the area, walking through the hot sand to the top to enjoy the views. There are strange rock formations and zero life, apart from all the tourists with their hats and sunscreen. Most people enjoyed the peace of the valley, but there are always some who spoilt the moment. Regretfully for Chile, these tend to be Chileans - one group of women that was with us made a whole load of noise, selfies abundant, screaming and yelling, even making 'sand angels' and one even got her top off and screamed into the desert like a crazy animal. Holidays in Chile are basically February for most people, and that's it for the year and they don't tend to travel far, and so they try and make the most of them I guess - it felt like Spring Break for Chilean parents here in San Pedro; leave the kids with anyone who will take them, then head north to 'party' and enjoy the freedom before going back to reality. Fine, enjoy it, but don't be anyone near me when you do please.

Our guide getting some quiet time away from the group.

Diving into the "eye" of the desert.

Salute to the sun!

I had the next morning off, which was a good as I came home from the full day of tours and decided to have a liquid dinner to save time. It turned into a late 'dinner' that went into the quiet hours of the morning too. The only thing on the list to do today was the Laguna Cejar. A long drive out, but worth it, as this lagoon is like the Dead Sea - it's salt content is so hight that you just float on top of the water, no effort required. In fact, it's so salty that swimming is difficult and you can't really do much but float. Be warned though, getting this salt into your eyes will burn your eyes completely out like a can of Mace. Ok, maybe not, but I wouldn't recommend it. The GoPros and selfie sticks were out to capture the moment, meanwhile I floated with no camera and enjoyed the sensation - keeping one eye on my camera on the shore. It was cool, but time was short and we needed to be back on that darn bus again, so I hit the showers and tried unsuccessfully to wash the salt off which had got everywhere, before jumping back on the bus. We stopped briefly at two more lagoons which sat directly opposite each other. These ones were 'sweet' water though, and again, people were jumping in and splashing around - not so sweet now. If seen from a plane, they are exactly the same size and look like two giant eyes in the desert. As the sun was setting, we headed off to the high point in the area to watch the sun set. The area was a cliff which looked out over San Pedro and the desert, and being such a touristy spot, there were bus loads of people, and a queue for 'the shot' on the ledge. I did wait for the mandatory shot, although I wasn't happy about it.

Sunset at hanging rock.

A long few days, but I had seen and done plenty - all in the sun and warm weather of Northern Chile. This was my last stop in Chile - I'm not sure when I will return. It has been great - travelling this long country has been fun, and the people I've met along the way have only helped it be even more. The next adventure was just around the corner - the 3 day, 4x4 tour of Uyuni inBolivia. I'd be crossing the border early in the morning, swapping from a mini-bus to a Landcrusier and setting off into the biggest salt flat in the world. This is one trip that everyone talks about, and the photos that you see from here are of people jumping and doing perspective shots out on the salt flats - but there is much more than salt and jumping out there.

Sunset over the Atacama desert.