Journey in a place where nature will never stop to amaze you: San Pedro de Atacama!!

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San Pedro de Atacama was the last stop of my journey in Chile and it was definitely worth saving 3 days to stay there!

In this place, I was amazed a bit more everyday by natural wonders around. For anyone thinking that San Pedro de Atacama is too touristic and is thinking about not going, I would advise you to rethink your decision and to go there anyway. Why? Because, yes for sure the village where you will spend the night is full of tourists and you won’t like it but all the wonders around are worth it. For information, I haven’t paid any tour to visit all those places around and I could visit in 3 days everything meeting local people and families on vacation as I was hitchhiking to each place or as I was walking there.

The most amazing one was the geysers of Tatio Mountains. It’s at an altitude of more than 4000m and it’s freezing up there.

For the story, I went there in a pick-up with a German family that I had met the afternoon before. Well, to be precise, I wasn’t inside the pick-up but at the back of the pick-up and that’s why, the journey to the geysers is a story in itself. We left San Pedro de Atacama at 4.30am. At that time, the temperature in the desert is low as it’s still the night. However, it is still bearable. So, at the back of the pick-up, looking at the amazing sky full of stars that I could enjoy, I thought to myself “it’s not so bad to be at the back, I can fully enjoy the view over the stars that way”. Well, this thought was for the first 30 minutes maximum. We were indeed driving more and more to the top of the mountains, so the altitude was making the temperature fall quicker and quicker… Moreover, with the speed of the vehicle, the temperature was even lower than it was… I was prepared for the coldness, so I was of course wearing all my winter clothes but after a while it didn’t make up for the cold. The journey was of 90kms on a bad road so it last around 2 hours to arrive… Each time the vehicle was slowing down, I was hoping for it to stop, but unfortunately it wasn’t the case. The last 30 minutes were the worse and I don’t know whether I had lived something so difficult in my life before: I couldn’t feel my feet, my hands and my legs were freezing as well… At that time, I was literally shouting in the air to give myself some energy and I was repeating to myself “Natacha, you are strong, it’s almost finished, it’s the last kilometers, I hope it’s worth it”. I was repeating this over and over in my mind; it was the only way for me to keep up with the huge pain I was feeling… We then arrived at the entrance of the place. I was happy as I thought we arrived. Well, we didn’t in fact. It was just a checkpoint. The people from the site looking at me at the back of the pick-up, in the middle of the night with this coldness, told me “you are CRAZY” 😉 Well, yes, I know, I am crazy but at least it would be later a nice story to tell and I didn’t have to pay the 30€ to go there with a tour. I am sure that for some people reading this you would think that 30€ isn’t that much but I can assure you that while travelling for a very long period 30€ is a huge amount of money for me –it’s 3 days of travelling budget in Bolivia for instance-. Well, after driving for another 10 minutes –which seemed like an hour for me-, we finally arrived at the viewpoint! It was still very dark but we could already see a bit of the steam coming out of the earth. There, my pain wasn’t ending: the German family offered me to come inside at the driver seat to warm up. It was very nice of them but the next 30 minutes inside would be painful as well because the contrast warm/cold is very painful for the frozen toes and hands.

However, to answer the question, “was it worth it?” It’s definitely was! I could see a natural show in front of me, nothing was organized it was just nature in full action. By that I mean that you will have steam of water coming out of holes in the earth just in front of you, you will feel the high temperature of that steam while walking next to it, you will even see water jump out of the holes and this all around you with the mountains in the background. I was amazed!!

On the way back to San Pedro de Atacama, the scenery was great as well with the different colors on the mountains, the small lagunas, rivers, the cactus on the hills and we even saw a herd of llamas with colorful bands on their ears.

Another place I loved in San Pedro de Atacama was the natural thermal station. It was in the middle on the riverbed surrounding by mountains and with hot water springs. There were different pools with different water temperature. It’s so nice to be able to enjoy such a pool thinking that you are in the nature!! Only thing, which wasn’t that nice: the price. The entrance costs indeed 20€. I got lucky as I played the card “Do you have any student discount?” 😉 They didn’t but as she saw that I really thought it was expensive, she told me “it’s ok, I will give you a ticket as if you were a child” 😊 Some small tricks, which can help save some money in a trip 😉

The 3^rd place, I loved around San Pedro de Atacama was salt lake. I was amazed by the clearness of the water, the salt all around it –walking around on the salt was weird for me, it was as if I was destroying a precious place-, the reflects of the volcanoes in the lake –one was in activity on that morning!- . In one lake where the salt content was really high, I couldn’t swim but just float on the water it was bluffing. After like 5 minutes out of the water I could feel the salt on my skin. It was like getting a free peeling but it’s not that nice. I went to shower quickly afterwards but as the shower was cold, I did it quickly and soon after, I could still feel on my skin, which part of my body I didn’t rinse enough as I was still feeling the salt there. My tee-shirt, which was a bit wet from my swimsuit was after less than an hour very hard on the parts, which were wet because of the salt content. It was crazy to notice all this. I also saw two very small lakes –called Ojos del Salar, “Eyes of the salar”-. It was looking like two meteorites holes, perfectly aligned and round. Once again, I was amazed by the nature there!

In the 3 days, I spent in San Pedro de Atacama, I also went to Valley de la Luna, where the landscapes is indeed looking as if you were on the moon and from where you can see the sky get awesome colors at sunset; and to the Lagunas in the high plains, which were nice as well.

As I said, San Pedro de Atacama was definitely the highlight of my trip in Chile! It was a nice way to finish it 😊

Summary to travel in Chile:

Must see places: San Pedro de Atacama, South of Chile (Puerto Varas, Chiloe, Caraterra Austral, Lake General Carrera), Valparaiso

Average daily cost (on a budget=hitchhiking, hostel or camping + eating snacks): 15€

Most long distance buses: 15€ for 10 hours drive

Hitchhiking: a bit difficult in the South but otherwise, very easy for anyone (woman alone or couple)

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