On the Road

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Hello from San Pedro de Atacama, the driest desert in the world and Chile's pride and joy. We spent the last week in Iquique, which is a beach town in the Second Region. I flew up Thursday night with Kelly and Kate, two of the other volunteers, and we arrived to our hostel at 1.30 AM. The receptionist was so confused as to why we were so late in arriving, but when we explained that we were coming all the way from Rancagua he understood. Our other friend, Scott, took the bus up and met us there Friday morning...after 24 hours on a bus. That's why we flew.
We spent the next three days, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, lying on the beach, taking naps, wading in the ocean, and walking through town. It was pretty glorious. Monday we checked out of our hostel and spent the day doing the same, but then we left Iquique by night, taking an overnight bus to San Pedro de Atacama. We arrived in San Pedro, a little worse for wear, at around 9.45 AM Tuesday morning. We found our hostel, which left much to be desired, and walked around town. Kelly booked a horse tour, while Kate and I decided to check out one of the major sights around here, the Valle de la Luna. It is an area of the desert that looks like a moon scape. This and the Valle de la Muerte, which is adjacent, are two of the most inhospitable areas in the world. Nothing grows there, nothing lives there, except for tourists, a joke our guide thought was exceedingly funny and repeated a few times.
We were there for sunset, and we walked to the top of this sand dune and across a cliff to watch it. It was incredible, and pictures will come soon. The wind was super strong, so Kate and I were a little wary of the cliff, but it was definately worth it. The other main attraction of San Pedro are the Geysers de Tortio. We went this morning, and it was incredible. We had to wake up at 3.45 and be ready to go by 4, but watching the sun rise over steaming geysers was worth it. We went to another place that had steam baths fed by the geysers, we didn't get in but some people were swimming around. It was about 10 degrees F though, so a little cold. Amazingly, I ran into a friend from college who is traveling around South America with his sister and a couple of other people. He was swimming in the pool and I recognized him and yelled his name. It was ridiculous and just absolutely indicative of how small the world is.
Tonight we are taking another overnight bus back to Iquique and then we are flying out Thursday night, then back to Rancagua for a day, then I am going down to Valdivia, which is about 10 hours south of Rancagua by bus, to work at a Winter Camp for a week. More updates will come after that.

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