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Published: November 27th 2009
San Pedro de Atacama
Thursday 19th November - Day 74 When we arrive in San Pedro we had been travelling for 24 hours from Santiago, it was now about 9.30am. We were tired, hot and looking forward to checking into a hostel and getting some well needed sleep! The bus stop was tiny and full of dust, not surprising considering we were in the middle of the desert. We get off the bus and are bombarded with people trying to get us to our hostel and we picked up a few leaflets.
We head off down the road when suddenly Rick says - where is the camera? - As we had only just had a scare a few days ago we almost laughed that we had left it on the bus again. So Rick dumps the bags with Lizzy and sprints back to the bus. No luck… he sprints back and has another look through all the bags - more frantic now - still no luck. So, this time Lizzy runs to the bus and still… no luck. This time it was for real…it really had been stolen. Gutted.
The bus driver told us to go to the
office to fill in a lost form but the unhelpful lady behind the desk almost laughed at us. For insurance we knew we´d need a police form so then we trek off in the desert heat with our rucksacks to the police station. Both of us were in shock to be honest. The camera had been in Rick´s rucksack; under his seat…we had to assume someone went into the bag whilst we were sleeping.
At the police station there was only one man sitting behind a desk at a computer, didn´t speak a word of English. He was a big guy all done up with his full police gear on, including a 6 shooter revolver on his side. We started to explain that our camera had been stolen and after about half an hour we had our form. In the end he was quite patient with us.
So…we then decided to head to one of the hostels we had the leaflet for. The little map on the slip was rubbish, made it look really close when it was actually about a 15-20 minute walk away, still in the desert sun, along with the heavy rucksacks. Once we got there
The lake
with the Volcano in the backgroundthough we were pleased we´d stuck the walk out. The owner, Mario, was really friendly. There was a large outside area with lots of shade and hammocks to chill out. There was also a freestanding pool which looked so appealing at the time. We stayed in a 6 bed dorm which looked relatively new and clean so we were happy, and all for 6 GBP a night. We start to check in when Rick realizes that the camera wasn´t the only thing to be stolen, all the money in his wallet was taken as well…worked out to be about 150 GBP. Great…. Luckily we had split the money so Lizzy had enough to settle the bill with Mario. The camera being stolen annoyed us more than the money…least we´d backed up all our photos in Santiago. That was really really lucky…we felt like someone was looking out for us there.
So we´re checked in and really what we want to do is explore the town and book some tours up however we needed to sort out buying a new camera. As San Pedro is right in the Atacama desert, surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, there are loads of excursions
you can do. We didn´t want to go on these amazing excursions with no camera so we started asking around if there was anywhere in San Pedro where we could purchase a new one. Unfortunately for us there wasn´t and the next closest place was Calama…a 90 minute bus ride away. Excellent we thought…the last place we wanted to be was on another bus but we needed a camera. So off we walked to the bus station…exhausted by this point. The next bus to Calama isn´t for another 2 hours so we book our tickets and decide to head back to the hostel for a well needed shower to make us feel slightly human again.
Once we finally get to Calama we only have to walk about 10 minutes to find a huge 24 hr mall - we were so relieved as it was now about 18.30 and we were worried that shops would be shut. The first few places only had about 5 cameras max, all were either too expensive or the size of a brick…we keep searching and finally found somewhere with a good selection. We managed to get one similar to what we had which was
handy.
Now we had the camera we were relieved…we sat down in the food court and decided to treat ourselves to KFC…we needed junk food. A bit random, as it was served with Empanadas but it was still tasty.
The bus back to San Pedro was 45 minutes late…typical considering we could barely keep our eyes open. We stumble into our hostel at about 11.30pm…and slept for the next 12 hours.
Friday 20th November - Day 75 We wake up both feeling like death warmed up. Lizzy had caught something and felt like her throat had been shredded by razors, headache and blocked up nose…all the aircon in the bus doesn´t help. Rick was not feeling too hot either.
We head down into town which is loads of narrow dusty roads with various tour agencies, restaurants, hostels and bars…there are so many different tours to choose from.
After a while of searching we decide on a company called Atacama Connections and booked up to visit the geysers, flamingos and the moon valley. Pleased with ourselves we decide to get some lunch…we found a nice little restaurant offering a chilli for 3000 pesos which is about 4
GBP…a chilli in Chile. It was really nice.
In the evening we stayed in at the hostel, still feeling ill and slightly exhausted. Lizzy by this point couldn´t talk…Rick was living in bliss. We met some other couples at the hostel and it was good sharing travelling stories. One British photographer chap we were talking to said he had his iPod stolen out of his pocket on the tube in Santiago but he had to wait over 5 hours to see the police…we realized we were quite lucky with our 30 mins.
Saturday 21st November - Day 76 We get picked up from our hostel at 8am and headed to Laguna Chaxa within Salar de Atacama, the famous Salt Flats. It was a scorching day and we were travelling in a mini bus with little air con. There were 11 of us on the tour, 5 Germans, 2 Chileans, 2 Russians…and us. At the Laguna Chaxa we started off by getting some education on the salt flats…how they´re formed etc…very interesting. Then we got to see the flamingos which Lizzy was really excited about. We saw the 3 different types as well - James, Chilean and Andean
- and we got to learn how to spot the difference between them.
From here we travelled to Laguna Miscanti, a 13 km sq beautiful lake set 4120m high surrounded by Miniques Volcano. It´s a heart shaped lake with a really deep blue colour. At the time we were there, a protected bird was nesting and they were so shy, if we were to go near they would fly away, leaving their eggs to be eaten by other birds. No one knew the depth of the lake as no one had ever been in it…they leave it purely for the birds and animals.
From here we went to a tiny village for lunch which had been completely flattened in an earthquake in 2007 and had been rebuilt since. There are still Inca ruins here from where they harvested beans. There are two churches here as during the earthquake the national heritage church was destroyed so the local people built a new one. It wasn´t until after this was built that the government stepped in and said they needed to replicate the original.
After lunch we started to head to a lower altitude and explored some fruit farms.
By now it was about 5.30pm and we started to head back to the hostel.
Sunday 22nd November - Day 77 Very early start… get picked up at 4am…it´s still dark. Before we set off our guide who speaks perfect English starts to explain the effects of Altitude Sickness and the precautions we need to take. As we were about to travel 4300m in only 2 hours, the chance of getting affected by it are increased. The guide explains we need to take long, slow, deep breaths as if we are asleep. If we feel a headache coming on - one of the first signs of altitude sickness - we then need to alternate between short quick breaths and long breaths.
Luckily we both get to the top feeling fine…as soon as you step out of the bus you notice the cold - it´s about -5 at least - so outcome the hats, gloves and scarfs. In the distance you can see the first sights of geysers and we were really excited.
The tour of the geysers lasts about 30 minutes and it´s so interesting. We watched one start from beginning to end. Starts off with just
the sound of boiling water deep within a hole in the ground, within a minute you see the water boiling over the top and we all stand back for the boiling water shooting out of the ground about 6ft high, loads of steam coming from it. They can last for about 10 minutes and at it´s peak it´s at least the size of a house.
After this we head to the hot springs and strip down to our swim wear - freezing - into the water which is lovely and warm - boiling in some places. In true British style, Rick was the first one in. We spent about 20 minutes relaxing in the water before everyone had to get out and frantically dry and change before you catch cold.
From here we went on an Animal Photo Jeep Safari - the words of our guide - and saw llama, vicuña, a relative of the ostrich and more.
By this time everyone is getting hungry so we stop in a tiny village in the mountains where conveniently enough there is a chap with some llama meat ready on the BBQ. We both tried it and were really impressed
BBQ Llama
Very tasty! with how tasty it was…Rick even went as far to say it was one of his favourite meats. As a big carnivore, that´s saying something.
That was the end of our tour and by now we´re all ready for siesta.
Zzzzzzzzz
At 4pm, we head off downtown for our 2nd tour of the day - Valle de la Luna - Valley of the Moon. The valley itself is unique in the way it was formed, the rock shoot up from the ground having been squeezed by mountains ranges on either side. While we´re waiting for our bus we realize that the couple we´re sharing our room with are also there. We get chatting to them, they are French-Canadian and had been travelling for 6 months, really nice couple.
The valley is considered one of the driest places on earth as it hasn´t ever received a single recorded drop of rain ever. The valley itself is covered with various rocks which look somewhat similar to the surface of the moon. It was here we climbed a sand dune to then climbed a further peak to sit and watch the sun set - it was beautiful however Lizzy´s legs
were literally shaking from being scared not only of the height we were at, but because we were sitting at the edge of a huge drop.
By the end of the day we were so tired…as we were checking out the next morning we decided to pack our things.
Monday 23rd November - Day 78 Spend the day relaxing in the garden, reading in the hammocks. Head to the bus station for a 8.45pm bus to Arica. The bus was cramped and we managed to get the seats right next to the heater…great…no sleep tonight then.
Tuesday 24th November- Day 79 Arrive at Arica at 6am…got hardly any sleep through the night. We head to the baños- toilets- to freshen up. We were planning on spending a day at the beach in Arica but we wanted to book our tickets for La Paz for the next morning.
None of the ticket offices were open at the time so we found ourselves a spot in the station, prepared to wait for the next 2 hours.
During the wait 1 company we hadn´t heard of opened offering a trip to La Paz at 9.30am. On the spur
of the moment we decided to travel straight there today, almost to get the travelling over with and also give us more time to get used to the high altitude of La Paz.
We wait at the bus station for over 2 hours, we´ve bought our tickets so all we had to do was be patient.
The bus is finally ready and we´re about to get on when we´re told we need a yellow ticket. The lady wouldn´t let us on without one and kept pointing to where we would get this yellow ticket. It was obvious we didn´t understand what she meant or where we had to go however luckily some friendly old man watching the whole thing led us across to the other side of the station to the back of a long queue.
Now we were worried that the bus would leave without us…especially as we´d already put our bags on. We finally get our yellow ticket and sprint back to the bus which thankfully was still there. We understand later that this is tax…something we hadn’t come across before. We couldn´t believe that after waiting for 2 hours, there still was a last minute
panic!
The scenic journey to La Paz was beautiful, we drove amongst mountains and volcanos. Saw llamas by the side and sometimes in the middle of the road, which the bus driver often had to stop and keep beeping until they´d move. Sometimes we were driving high up a mountain with nothing but a drop next to us…these drivers don´t hang about either.
Crossing the border to Bolivia was relatively harmless, queue didn´t take long at all and we were soon back on the road again. It was exciting to be in another country.
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Jane
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Wonderful photos, really enjoying the blogs. love photo of you both in front of bird pool, seasoned travellers!! Safe journey, love to you both xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx