http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Chile , Atacama en-us Mon, 04 Jan 2010 04:23:32 +0000 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 04:23:32 +0000 For the very first time we see absolutely no differences in landscape as we cross a border its just one continuous stretch of desert running from southern Peru to northern Chile. To cross the border you need to complete a vehicle transit form in quadruplicate these are not available at the border you have to get them from the taxi rank in Tacna the last town before the border The border i http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/El-Salvador/blog-463950.html ... inSan Pedro de Atacama war es nicht wesentlich kuehler so das wir unsere koerperlichen Aktivitaeten auf ein Minimum beschraenkt hielten.Es ist eine der heissesten Wuesten der Erde und man wurde recht haufig darauf hingewiesen sparsam mit dem Wasser umzugehen... duschen 3 min... das ist quasi unmoeglich mit Beine rasieren...Am ersten tag haben wir uns die kleine Stadt angeschaut was ich wuer http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/blog-450995.html Well the Atacama has proved a bit of a disappointment. The trips seem a bit lightweight based around lacklustre ruins that have been reconstructed and the scenery is just much less spectacular than Bolivia. Lagoons with half a dozen flamingos and a thousand tourists while in Bolivia oops sorry the Pluricultural Republic of Bolivia there were four of us looking at a thousand flamingos. They http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/blog-450301.html Hello my lovesWell last time I wrote we were in Peru I believe since then we have done Bolivia and moved on to Chile Of course it is no longer called Bolivia but The Pluricultural Republic of Bolivia don't it just trip off the tongue whoever came up with it really should consider a career in advertisingAlthough we went to La Paz we didn't get to see any of it. We were exhausted havin http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/blog-449775.html Hier sind wir wieder mit updates... hmmmmm... wo anfangenHaben wieder mal eine elendslange Busfahrt hinter uns ueber Nacht und diesmal gleich in die richtige Richtung und sind heil in San Pedro de Atacama also mitten in der Wueste angekommen. Haben zum Glueck auch gleich ein nettes Hostel sogar mit Fruehstueck eine echte Raritaet dort um dem ueblichen Preis gefunden Der nette Besitze http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/blog-446067.html Well... Just our luck We got stuck in San pedro de atacama. Porque We arrived on a Saturday and wanted to take the bus to Argentina on Sunday but it was sold out and the next bus didnt leave until Tuesday. Good thing we had our travelling family the group from salar de uyuni to keep us company. So we ended up staying in a dorm with the family. 8 beds for 6 people Hooray we got the whole http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/blog-445980.html Parque Nacional Pan de AzcarThis was a long weekend in Chile. They were celebrating el da de la madre cristiana the day of the Christian mother or Saint Mary's Day. Ben Nick and I decided to spend a day at Parque Nacional Pan de Azcar which is only about an hour and a half from Caldera near the port town of Chaaral. We arrived in Chaaral at about 1000am on Saturday. From the bus station w http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/Chanaral/blog-444536.html Chile's tremendous length covers a hugely diverse array of landscapes from the desolate moonscape of Chile's Atacama Desert to the fertile vineyards of the Central Valley to the lush rainforests of the Lake District down to the magnificent glaciers and peaks of Patagonia not to mention more than 4830km 3000 miles of coastline and Easter Island. It's truly mindboggling to think of how m http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/blog-440237.html I've tried writing this 2 times before this and both times something happened. The first time my battery ran out before I had a chance to save it and the second time the window went back to the previous screen on its own without me hitting the Back button. So here goes againIt's been a busy few weeks here. I've been feeling the rapid approach of my return to the US. This pressure has encouraged m http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/Caldera/blog-440207.html We took a bus from La Serena to Caldera and upon arrival in the little town we decided that its sister city a few kilometres down the coast had more to offer. We hopped in a colectivo shared taxi and a few minutes later we were dropped on the beach walk of Bahia Inglesa.Our wishlist was finally fulfilled when we reached this summer tourist hot spot. The sun was finally shining and there was a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/Caldera/blog-438530.html San Pedro de Atacama what a place I had intended putting this blog entry in with the last one to make one big Chile entry but San Pedro really deserves its own spot.Its in the north of Chile at an altitude of 2500m in the Atacama desert the driest desert on the planet. The town is like something out of an old western movie and the scenery fits too the place is amazing. The only problem is http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/blog-437987.html I received sad news from home last Friday August 14th. My Aunt Diane who had been struggling with pancreatic cancer for about 2 months passed away in her home surrounded by family and friends. Needless to say there has been a lot of mourning phone calls and late night chat sessions with family in Minnesota. While this news has left me in a bit of shock it has also given me the chance to think http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/Caldera/blog-430252.html San Pedro Atacama http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/blog-429742.html We arrived into San Pedro with only one thing on our minds after two days on the Salt Flats a long long hot shower After we were presentable again we set out to explore the town which didn't take too long. This is a town which seems to exist only for or because of tourists with the main street choc a block full of restaurants tour agents and well fed dogs. Still the sun was shining and it w http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/blog-424825.html The way north from La Serena to San Pedro de Atacama was long but pretty uneventful except that for once the movie was shown in English not Spanish volume still turned up to max of course so for a change I didn't need to play the 'make the story up' game although I've discovered that sometimes the made up version is better than the original Most of the 18plus hours passed with me peering o http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/blog-423147.html Alors lundi soir nous sommes partie en dirrection du Salar de Uyuni. Apres environ 12 heures dautobus sans dormir puisque les gens derrire nous taient trop grand pour baiser nos bancs et que la ride etait sur une route style machine a laver... nous sommes finalement arrivs Uyuni. Uyuni est un petit village avec pas grand chose appart quelques hotels restos et des compagnies de tours http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/Chanaral/blog-420165.html What a start We jumped across the Argentinean border and headed into Salta. We got there after sunset and headed straight for a steak restaurant and the steak lived up to it's billing. I was brought a 700g monster that was delicious as well The following day we got to see a bit of Salta by sunlight before we headed off again and straight away it became one of my favourite cities on the trip. It http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/Cerro-Paranal/blog-417232.html Hey allIt's been along time again. My laptop is giving me more hell than I could ever have wished on my worst enemy. Ok so maybe that's a bit dramatic but it has been giving me trouble. My current issue is that it won't connect to the internet so I am using an internet caf. I actually don't mind it so much. It keeps me from spending all night searching the web for useless information. It would http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/Caldera/blog-415975.html HelloIt's been awhile since my last blog. I've been quite busy and have decided to take any free time that I have had and spend it relaxing as much as possible. But hear goes my next blog.Lately I've been going through a lot of selfevaluation. Family career education and the like have been running around inside my head like yuppies running around Whole Foods 5 minutes before it closes. First http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/Caldera/blog-409613.html Po odjezdu ze Santiaga jsme se zastavili na prohlidku Sereny. Pak vyrazili do Vicuni do planetaria. Bohuzel byl uplnek takze jsme misto hvezd sledovali mesic. Dalsi den jsme vyrazili smer San Pedro kde jsme se setkali s Davidem. V San Pedru jsme stravili nekolik dni a dali si par cest do okoli. Prvni den jsme se jeli vykoupat do nedalekych solnych jezer. A pri ceste nazpet jsme si pockali na zap http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Atacama/blog-405081.html