The Big Dry Desert

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Arriving in San Pedro was not exactly exciting. After seven hours on the bus to get to Calama, then waiting two hours in the bus station before catching another two hour bus ride to San Pedro, I was not exactly impressed when we first arrived. Dry desert was pretty much the only things I could see, and the streets in San Pedro were all dust and dirt. The Plasa des armas was a little better as it was cobblestone with a fountain in the middle and little restaurants and shops that lined the square.
Molly and I were excited to book an excursion to the salt lakes as we missed them in Bolivia. However, plans went sour when we realized we were too late to book anything for the day and couldnt afford a private tour. We also werent planning on staying the night in San Pedro as time is tight to get down Chile. Plan B was to rent bikes and head off into the desert but the closest lakes were 23kms away and I wasnt in a rush to jump on a bike and head off into the sand and heat.
So there we were, drinking coffe in the plaza and wondering how the heck we were going to spend the next twelve hours in this tiny middle of nowhere town, when two german surfers literally saved the day. They walked up and sat down and told us their life story and pretty soon Molly and I found ourselves in their van beside the surf boards, heading out to the salt lakes so that we could take pictures. So maybe that wasnt the smartest idea but they were pretty cool and trustable and we didnt feel theatend. It made a good excursion but the salt lakes werent anything like the ones in Bolivia.
When we got back to San Pedro we were shocked when we ran into our two australien buddies that we had left in La Paz (small small world). One of them had a plane to catch but the other continued on with us to La Serena.

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