The Driest Desert in the World - The Atacama

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The Atacama was another amazing place to visit. Just as with the Salt Plains the pictures can describe it better than I can but they dont do the place justice. It was amazing.


Getting there was interesting. We had heard that there were strikes going on in Chili and that those that worked at the border crossing might not show up and we may be stuck in the desert in Bolivia until they came into work. Not a perfect situation but we are a little ahead of schedule so we would have been ok. As it turns out, it was not a strike at all but a movie being filmed, actually, we heard a German mini-series but who knows if that is true. When we got to the border we had noticed a huge American Flag, a huge Mexican flag and Border Patrol Jeeps. I guess it is cheaper to film in Chile than at an actual US/Mexican border. Anyways, while we were crossing the border we watched them filming fake backpackers crossing the border. So look out for us on German Television, we were a little grungy as we had not showered in a few days!!!


Chile is a completely different place from Bolivia. It is not as apparent in San Padro de Atacama where we started as it is a small town in the desert but from what we have seen since, it is much more modern. But, everything is so much more expensive. When looking at hostels I did to exchange rate several times in my head to confirm i had it right. "no, that can´t be right, its too exensive for this place". In Bolivia you could typcially get a pretty nice place with double bed and private bathroom for about $10 a night (more in La Paz). Here, a small grubby room with twin beds with shared bathroom was about $35!!! Very expensive when you are used to Bolivia and Peru prices, and before that Asia prices. But, I think that is what we will have to get used to over the next month.

The town of San Pedro was not much to look at so we didn't think we needed to spend too much time here. However, the activities around town were absolutely fantastic and if we had not booked a bus in advance we prob would have stayed an extra day. We did two trips from town, a trip to see more geysers and a trip to the Moon Valley. Both were fantastic and with a company called Cosmis tours. A more expensive agency at about $10 more per person but def woth the money. One major difference between here and Bolivia is the service. We had excellent guides who explained everything and really made an effort to make us enjoy our trip. It is worth mentioning that some friends went with an agency called XXXXXX and had an awful time. So, if you are reading this and planning to go to the Atacama desert, def do NOT book with the company XXXXX (I have the name in our diary and will add later)


The trip to the Geysers was very similar to what we did in the Salt Plains. The eysers here were more spread out so it was still very interesting. It was much much colder though. We were told minus 8 degresss C. Very Cold! After visiting the geysers we went to a natural hot spring where we went swimming. It was pretty cold though so we didn't stay in for as long. From there we drove along some sites and saw lots of animals and then went on a Cactus walk. It was an excellent morning.


That evening we went on a trip to the Valley of the moons which was absolutely fantastic. We first stopped off at a huge valley which is impossible to describe but fantqastic. Then we went to Death Valley where we went for a walk and then ran down huge Sand Dunes, very good fun. From there we went on another walk and then watched the sunset over the Moon Valley. It was an excellent trip and another highlight of our trip.


The pictures describe the place better so we posted quite a few. We are in Santiago at the moment and enjoying a modern city. We feel as though we could be in Europe, a complete change from Bolivia.

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