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So our next stop on our northbound trek was La Serena and the Elqui Valley, apparently a centre of mystical energy, hippies and Elqui-holics. Surrounded by arid mountains and desert, with this lush valley carving a green vein through the landscape, it´s easy to understand why people feel the valley special. We spent the night at a small town called Vicuna, and went to an observatory, which was pretty awesome, seeing Saturn and nebulae, star clusters and shooting stars.
The next coupla days were spent chiling in the tiny little desert town of Pisco Elqui, with its sleepy town square occupied by hippies selling volcanic stones and trinkets. Like, very zen man.
18 hours by bus later, and we arrived in San Pedro de Atacama, a desert oasis in the middle of the Atacama desert. Surrounded by snow-capped volcanic peaks rising to over 5000m on the one side, and a jagged mural of red, ochre and black sand sculptures on the other, this special oasis town makes you feel like you´re on another planet. Indeed, some of the crazy locals probably are.
The otherworldy scenery is accentuated by the names given to the sourrounding landscape. Our first day
there, we hired mountain bikes and bravely rode 35km through the desert, into the aptly named "Valley of Death", then on to the "Valle de la Luna" (valley of the Moon). Having climbed a promonotory with our newly aquinted friends from town, (a Canadian, a Belgian, a Dutchman and one mad Swiss), we could definitely identify with the lunar effect, as the sun´s rays fell over the dramatic, stark terrain. Cycling back, our main source of light was the almost full moon, casting an eerie glow over the desert plains.
The following day, we decided it would be a good idea to walk to the "nearby" desert springs, where you can dust off the sand and take a dip in the natural water. Of course, 3km´s by Chilean standards is actually closer to 5, so when we finally arrived, and realised to our relief that it wasn´t a mirage, we were all too happy soak our weary bones and savour our survival!
The rest of our time in San Pedro was spent wandering the dusty (unpaved dirt tracks) of this charming desert town, partying with our fellow travellers and planning our trip into Bolivia. Our newly-formed group of
seven travellers (we picked up an Aussie girl), decided to do the 3 day jeep crossing together, going up to 5000m, and past some of the most dramatic scenery in the world.
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