Blogs from San Pedro de Atacama, Antofagasta Region, Chile, South America - page 13

San Pedro de Atacama First day in San Pedro has been quite the adventure. I overslept a little and bumped into a British guy in my dorm when i got up who recommended a good place to rent bikes and do some exploring, so i set off and got myself a nice little blue number from a gentleman who also gave me a puncture repair kit, map, and a bunch of recommendations of places to go (none of which i really understood, but i smiled politely and said si alot). I set off at about 10am, which was probably ill advised in retrospect given it would pretty much put me in the middle of the desert at around midday. Anyway, the task at hand was to locate a place called Valle del Diablo, about 10km north ... read more

Après avoir passé 3 jours à nous geler le derrière dans le salar de Uyuni, nous avons traversé la frontière entre le Bolivie et le Chili. Nous sommes arrivés à San Pedro de Atacama vers midi, et une belle surprise m'y attendait : il faisait chauuuuud!!!! Comme genre, 25-30 degrés! C'est un village assez relaxe, avec plein de restaurants et de boutiques. Notre premier repas chilien s'est passé dans un resto avec plein de locaux, et la serveuse était super gentille. Elle nous a tout décrit le menu du jour, et Phil y et allé pour la "torte française", une espèce de lasagne, mais faite avec des omelettes au lieu des pâtes. Et entre les omelettes, il y avait plein de légumes, c'était assez cool :) C'est une ville qui est reconnu pour être ensoleillé 330 ... read more

After saying very fond farewells to Jorje and Valparaiso, we got the night bus to La Serena. The bus station was very busy as it was a Bank Holiday in Chile so everyone was also on the move. Could only get the pricey Cama seats (kinda like business class!) so we had a very comfortable journey. Arrived in cold and grey La Serena very early at 7am on Sunday. Our room at the nice German owned Hostel Del Punto wouldn't be ready until 1pm so we dumped our bags and we out for a walk. Our first impressions of La Serena were not good. The town centre was shut but didn't look great. We walked to the beach front to kill some time but this was horrible, no nice promenade, grey sand, ugly high-rises, stray dogs ... read more

After braving the 23 hour journey to get here, which actually wasn´t as bad as it sounds, if we erase the memory of the food, we arrived in San Pedro to beautiful sunshine. We immediately found our hostel, dropped off our belongings and changed into our shorts feeling very happy to have finally found some heat! Sadly this didn´t last long, once the sun had gone it was freezing! So cold in fact that the social scene here at this time of year revolves around finding somewhere with a courtyard and a fire, for which of course you have to buy a drink! As you can tell from our photos we found this just a little bit exciting, and we´re sure the locals thought we were lunatics! Anyway... San Pedro itself is tiny and set in ... read more

After Bolivia, little bus trip to San Pedro de Atacama...and a new country for Ma'ri. For me, I actually onyl came twice to Chile, but does not really count. The first time was back 6 years ago...between LA and Bariloche, I spent the night at a friend place...and two years ago, I had to transfer from the international terminal in Santiago on my way to Antartica....you can barely call this "going" to Chile! But this time, our program is 10 full days in Chile...and even this is clearly not enough to consider knowing a country. First stop, San Pedro de Atacama. First mission, to find a room...first impression...wow, nothing is cheap around here! Found a nice, clean, proper room for three nights. Back to a nearly hot shower, but finally a proper bed. People use San ... read more