Blogs from San Pedro de Atacama, Antofagasta Region, Chile, South America - page 21

After the high altitude of Bolivia, we headed to the coast and back to Chile. A little way in to bus trip we got into the police station and have our bags searched pretty damn thoroughly and our passports stamped. As a lot of cocaine gets in from Bolivia I guess they need to be thorough, but i'm not sure poking holes in my underwear was going to give the officials anything they were after. The descent into town is monumental. From 5,000m above sea level to just 2,400m above sea level to the town of San Pedro de Atacama, an oasis in the middle of the Atacama desert. The air is great, I can breathe properly again for the first time since I landed in Cuzco. We check into our nice hotel and our bags ... read more

Hey all!! We had lots of fun in Salta, despite the camping!! Our campsite was pretty poor; squat toilets, stony ground, and a family living in the shower blocks!! We were pretty impressed with Argentina however, the change was evident as soon as we went over the border - better infrastructrure (i.e. tarmac roads) better houses, billboards everywhere, very modern!! We stopped at a Shell station which had shiny tiled floors, fridges, soap dispensers, and ferrero rocher- pure luxury!! On our first full day there most of us went white water rafting. We were expecting a grade IV river and were looking forward to it as we didn't do it in Cusco, as Salta was really hyped up. Unfortunately it was hyped up a bit too much, it was basically a grade II river with a ... read more

Next stop after the desert was San Pedro de Atacama, a small colonial town in Chile, not far from the boarder. This route seemed like the obvious way to get to Salta, Argentina which is where I was keen to spend some time on recommendation of friends. Had I known what it would entail I might have thought twice and travelled the extra ten hours back to Uyuni and caught the train! Does anything actually work in this town? Dan, Julia and I arrived mid Sunday afternoon to find this cute little town with wide dusty streets, white spanish looking buildings deserted of all people. Ah, good old siesta. Keep forgetting about that one! First stop was to try to find the bus offices to book an onward ticket, as they fill up quickly. Of the ... read more

Day 575 (24.10.08) Nothing much to say for today as we had a whole 26 or so hours of travel before reaching our next destination. A quick hop back to Santiago from the coast and then a all day, all night journey to the Atacama desert where we´d arrive in San Pedro de Atacama, a small oasis town, at about 9am the next day. The semi-cama bus seats (half bed) were pretty comfy and we managed to get a fair amount of sleep overnight as well as making good progress with our books and watching some excellent ´Just for gags´ episodes on the coach TV. Day 576 (25.10.08) We arrived into the dust of San Pedro and immediately liked it there. This tiny little town used to be a stop on the andean cattle trail and ... read more

Day 91: Sunday 28th August - Back to the warmth in San Pedro de Atacama It takes an hour from the border to get to San Pedro de Atacama, the border town in Northern Chile. I'm still dressed in thermals, numerous layers and a coat when we stop at the border control post in San Pedro. The immigration is straightforward but afterwards we must all stand in a line next to our bags as they are inspected (somewhat feebley) for fruit and vegetables. We get back in the bus as it drives the further mile to the centre of the town. Get out of the bus and say my goodbyes to the other three on the tour and then start the process of finding a hostel. Have two in mind and whilst choosing between the two, ... read more