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Last minute , I decided to go up northern Chile, since I have 10 days to kill before flying to the Easter Islands which was also last minute only because people we met in the Villarica climb told me rates are cheaper if you buy them at LanChile local website, for under $500 I got a round trip ticket, if I book 1 month before departure I would have paid only$330. But I dont want to spend any longer time here Chile is not cheap. 32 hour bus ride from Pucon, Mick saw me off at the bus station, I booked a semi came nice seat up front on the 2nd level. I slept very well on the 10 hour ride to Santiago, 1 hour lay over changing buses for Calama. 22 hours, I got the same seat so I was comfortable the only thing is I cant really see the movies they are playing but did not matter, I watched movies on my netbook. Surprisingly I slept well again. We stopped briefly for lunch other than that we stopped only in towns to drop off or pick up pasajeros.
The bus stopped briefly in La Serena, a place I
visited 5 years ago. The scenery near Calama now reminded me of the Atacama desert, the town itself is no particularly interesting but they have a mall and Lider, a grocery supermarket and a Russian circus performing starting tonight!! I bought a ticket for San Pedro from Tur Bus, luckily it is in the same bus station as the Pullman. To kill 2 hours I walked into town, saw a weird sculpture of the sun made of copper, the reason for this town´s boom, desert and barren mountains behind the town. Arriving in San Pedro de Atacama I was surprised how much has changed, well the roads are still dirt, but it looks nicer now, I cant point a finger to what makes it more appealing to me a 2nd time, anyway I looked for the hostel we stayed in the last time Residencial Villacuyo, with a nice courtyard and kitchen to use and very friendly owners. Alas I did not get the same room I shared with the Dutch dudes but I got a bit sentimental after all this town is where I celebrated my B-day 5 years ago. Took a stroll into town after a hot shower, it
is warmer here but in the pm gets cold I was told. Made a decision to book the Altiplano Lakes tour as I only got one full day here and then went to Tur Bus ticket office to purchase my ticket to Arica. I feel light headed sometime, cant believe I am suffering from altitude sickness its not even 3,00 meters here in Atacama, hopefully I get used to it quickly.
Decided to do the Altiplano lake tour to visit the lakes around the Salar de Atacama, we visited some town called Toconao, there was a place where there was 2 petroglyphs apparently older than Christ, at least that is how I understood it the guide only speaks in Spanish and you know how I tune in and out when it is in Spanish depending on how bored I am, anyway we eventually got to the lakes, we visited Lakes, Miscanti and Minique, similar, lots of colors but I must admit not as stunning as the ones in Bolivia! We also went to Laguna Chaxa to see some flamingos, then lunch then back to Toconao again to visit some church, boring! Well a way to pass the time by
but I definitely will do Salar de Uyuni again when I get to Bolivia as the ones here in Chile are not as dramatic. Night bus for Arica tonight, i already called Arica Surf House hostel to expect me very early in the morning!
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Elton
Elton.
nice!
Very nice pictures, I really liked them!!! Enjoy and have a good trip to Isla de Pascua! Cheers!