Hello from chilly Chile - Part 4, San Pedro de Atacama

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I saved the best for last. San Pedro de Aacama is a small town in the middle of the desert, close to the Bolivian and Argentian borders and is rightly considered the archeological capital of Chile. It used to be the centre of the Atacameño culture before the arrival of the Spaniards. It does look very indigenous with all the construction made from adobe. It is a great base to explore this side of the world and at an altidude of 2,400m, requires some getting used to! The recommendation is to drink coca tea or chew on coca leaves and avoid any strenuous physical activities for two days. I don´t know what they mean by strenuous but I was winded just by carrying my back pack from the bus station to the hostel. It does get very cold here at night. I was given a sheet, 3 blankets, a quilt and another bedspread plus heating and it was still bloody cold. I washed my trousers and left it to dry in the morning whilst I went for breakfast. When I came back, they were frozen stiff, with icicles at the bottom. It was about 15 degrees during the day and -15 during the night. It was fine in the sunshine, but as soon as the sun set, the temperature plumetted. The sky is so clear and the high altitude makes it a perfect place to observe the stars. It´s a sight to behold - deep blue sky with millions of stars. One can even make out the curvature of the earth.

My first tour was to the Valle de La Luna to watch the sun set and the Valle de la Muerte, rightly named as nothing grows there and a merciless wind batters the rocks and sand dunes. Also part of the tour was a visit to an abandoned salt mine. The whole landscape was so alien with weird and wonderful rock formations and sand dunes. We did climb up a sand dune next to Duna Mayor to admire the sunset. At that altitude a small climb does become a major physical undertaking. The sunset was spectacular with the colours of the mountains changing with the diminishing light. The temperature after sunset dropped by one degree every six minutes.

The second day was a whole day´s tour of the Salar de Atecama and the Lagunas of Miscanti and Miniques on this Altiplanico. The two lagoons are bodies of water at an altitude of 4,200 metres with deep blue water and white salt shores where birds and vicuñas (another form of wild lama, of the kind that will spit on you if pissed off). The Salar de Atacama, which is the third biggest in the world after Uyuni and the Utah salt lakes, is so flat that one can see right across. It is an amazing sight (a word alongside "spectacular" which will be overused in this blog). We saw pink flamingos in the Laguna Chaxa, which is in the Salar. Then we visited a couple of oases, including a small picturesque town of Tocanao.

The third day was by far the most physically taxing for me. I did a 4x4 trek of the altiplano at 4,900 metres. Yours truly got a bad bout of Mal de Puna (altitude sickness) and required oxygen. Again the pain of the pounding headache and general unwellness were worth it. Words fail me. We visited a couple of Salars, including one called Tara where I saw spectacular pink rock formations which are called the Cathedral of Tara. We saw huge volcanic structures eroded by the wind and frozen lagunas. We passed close to the Bolivian border and caught a glimpse of the Laguna Verde. The 4x4 was definitely worth it was we passed through steep sand and rock dunes. I believe this was the highlight of my travels so far. We were off road for most of the time and crossed the Tropic of Capricorn a few times, but it was unfortunately not signposted.

This is proving to be my longest update. Day 4 was geyser day when I went to the El Tatio Geisers. I have never been so cold in my entire life. The day started at 4 am. My guide book said to "wear all your warmest clothes" and this is advice that should be heeded. It was -18 degrees when we arrived at the geysers. I was wearing a thermal, a long sleeved top, two fleeces and my jacket. At the bottom, I was wearing a pair of long johns and my jeans. My fatal mistake was to wear only one pair of socks. My toes were hurting so much that I thought they would fall off. The geyser field contains a few scores of geyers and steam vents. It is a spectacular site and sight- the highest on the planet at 4,321 metres. A few people on the tour got altitude sickness. Thanks to my earlier foray in the Altiplane, I was fine. Some brave souls undressed and went for a bath in the thermal pool. The thought of even peeling a layer off was too much for me.

I am now in Cusco with Rupal, after having spent a couple of days in Lima. But those adventures are for another day!

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Comments

[tordes]

Yikes!
wow, we are heading that way in a few weeks and although we were expecting it to be cold I dont think we had envisioned it to be quite as cold as you are describing. Thanks for the heads up and I am sure I will be wearing more than one pair of socks :-)