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Published: November 19th 2009
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We arrived in San Pedro de Atacama at 10.30am on Sunday 18 October. Although we had reserved a hotel we did not know the address so we spent quite some time walking around in the intense heat with our big backpacks asking people where it was. After being sent on a wild goose chase, a kind man with a minibus gave us a lift. Our room was lovely and the hotel seemed perfect for some rest and relaxation. We went for a walk around the small town that made me think that we were in the middle of a film set. The local supermarket was a tiny shop and we bought some pasta and other bits before returning to the hotel to make some lunch. Then we lay in the hammocks for an hour or so enjoying the nice weather and peace and quiet. After much needed showers we walked back into town and went for a beer before going to another bar for a hot chocolate. It was nice to get back to the room and into a very comfortable bed following the previous nights sleep on the bus. We woke up at 9.30am on Monday in time for the
hotel breakfast which included scrambled egg on toast which was a nice change. Then we spent some time in the hammocks before the midday heat became too much. The afternoon was spent walking around the small town and then at 4pm we went on a tour to watch sunset at Valle de la Luna. Our big overland truck took us to Death Valley where we had some great views of the desert and the mountain ranges. Looking down into the valley, our guide explained to us how the rock formations were created. Then we walked along the top of huge sand dunes before running as fast as we could down the biggest dune. After some fun running around in the sand, we sat down and had a can of beer (really sensible in desert heat when you've been running around). Our next stop was Moon Valley (Valle de la luna) and at this point we were allowed to climb on the top of the truck and sit on the roof as we passed through the valley. We stopped to look at the Tres Marias (rock formation) and also to study the surface of the valley which looks like the moon
due to the minerals on the land. We were told that this part of the desert only has 35mm of rain per year but some parts of the Atacama Desert only receive 1mm of rain every 15 years, making it the driest desert in the world. We climbed a hill for sunset and the sky turned orange, pink and purple so the views of the volcano and the amphitheatre were stunning. Then we jumped back on the truck and returned to town. We went out for a really nice dinner and I had another lovely steak. Then we went for a hot chocolate and I also had a pancake dessert. After another very comfortable sleep, we got up for breakfast and then spent the morning relaxing in the hammocks. Then we walked into town and booked an astronomy tour for that evening before going for lunch where I had a nice thin crust pizza. We spent an hour on the internet and then returned to the hotel to relax. At 10.30pm, we went to the tour agency to catch our bus which took us out of town to Alain's astronomy centre. When we arrived you could already see so much
in the night sky and the guide began to explain to us what we were looking at. In addition to the Milky Way, we could see two other galaxies and also Jupiter. Then we were allowed to walk around the eight different telescopes which were fixed on various different things. We could clearly see Jupiter and its four moons along with the other galaxies and different important stars which were either really bright or coloured red or blue. At midnight we went inside Alain's home/centre where we each had hot chocolate while he gave us further insight into the night sky. Then we went outside again where we were taught how to recognise and identify different constellations and also the signs of the zodiac. We also saw the change in position (relative to Earth) of the stars since we had arrived two hours ago. Oh and we saw a shooting star about every 10 minutes, some lasting just a split second but some lasting at least a couple of seconds. This great tour finished at 1.30am and then we were driven back to town. We woke up at 7am on Wednesday and, after breakfast, I said goodbye to Tom and
Death Valley
Getting ready to run down the sand dune David who were going on a tour to Bolivia. I went back to sleep before checking out at 11am and walking to the hotel next door where I got a cheaper single room. I walked into town to buy some food and drink supplies and then returned to the hotel for lunch. The rest of the day was spent writing my travel blog, reading and watching a film on my iPod. After breakfast on Thursday, I walked around town and took some photos before going on the internet. Then I went for a nice 3 course lunch before returning to my hotel where I spent the rest of the day reading and relaxing. On Friday morning I checked out and walked to the bus stop for my 10am bus to Salta (Argentina). After 15 minutes on the bus we had to get off at a checkpoint to get our exit stamp for Chile and then we continued for a few hours to the Argentine border. For some unknown reason we were made to wait for 2 hours until we could show our passports at the border so in total we were standing in the middle of the desert for close
Luna Valley
Getting positioned for sunset to 3 hours before we could continue on through Argentina. The drive became even more spectacular in Argentina with some of the long, winding roads through the mountains just breathtaking. It was nice to watch the sun go down behind the mountains but as darkness fell, I became increasingly tired and uncomfortable on the fairly basic bus. We eventually arrived in Salta three hours late at 10pm.
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