Day 79 - Valle de la Luna
February 2 - San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
One of the things I was looking most forward to in our visit to the desert was visiting an observatory and star gazing. Unfortunately while we were there all visits to the observatory were suspended as the clouds were to heavy. Such bad timing when you arrive in the driest dessert in the world with best star-gazing, only to find rain and clouds!
The town of San Pedro de Atacama is full of people telling you how to pack your days with a tour sequence that will maximize your time. There is a set of a few tours that people do for three days in town, for example. We resisted. We decided we'd visit a nearby park, Valle de La Luna, later in the evening, and spent the day going for a nice long run into a beautiful area outside of town, making a delicious breakfast and preparing for our trip to Bolivia the following morning.
The preparations turned into a mess. Pretty much everything in this town operates on cash only, which meant we needed more money to pay for our Bolivia trip and our current accommodation. Of the two ATMs, neither worked with any of our cards, and after walking back and forth between the two in the dry heat, we were pooped (and probably sunburnt). Finally we got cash and then went around paying our dues. We finished buying some snacks for the following days trip just in time to leave for Valle de la Luna.
We loaded a van with a few Brasilians and a few Chilenos and headed towards the park. Our tour guide was Chilean but grew up in....NORTH DAKOTA. Bismark. Wild. She spoke super clearly and we understood her descriptions in Spanish of how the valley formed. It was a beautiful and bizarre place, a mix of the Badlands and the Grand Canyon.
We hiked around a bit, then headed to another area with a cavern. The guide was so sweet - before we headed into the cavern, she asked if anyone was claustrophobic. I sheepishly raised my hand. She kindly described what we were going to do and what it would be like, then asked if I wanted to go in or wait for the group. I wanted to check it out, but am not a fan of cave-like spaces. I did it and it actually wasn't bad at all. See the pic of us in the cavern!
On the way out, she led us into an area where the rock was so steep it was like a wall. She had us put our backs against the wall and be silent for 60 seconds. The silence was peaceful and the rock radiating warmth. But that wasn't the point. When you were quiet, you could here pops and cracks in the rocks, as it heated and cooled.
We then went for a place to watch sunset, but sadly there were so many clouds the sun was hidden :(
The last few minutes of sunset, some rays peaked through, but otherwise it was pretty uneventful.
We headed back to town at 8:30 PM ish, right after sunset. All in all, Evan and I could definitely see the value in doing this with a tour rather than on your own as we had learned a lot and had seen some things you wouldn't see on your own.
Despite our need to pack up for Bolivia, we finished cooking dinner and stayed out too late, talking to a nice Dutch couple who was on a similar itinerary. We were bummed to not get to spend another day with them!
One of the things I was looking most forward to in our visit to the desert was visiting an observatory and star gazing. Unfortunately while we were there all visits to the observatory were suspended as the clouds were to heavy. Such bad timing when you arrive in the driest dessert in the world with best star-gazing, only to find rain and clouds!
The preparations turned into a mess. Pretty much everything in this town operates on cash only, which meant we needed more money to pay for our Bolivia trip and our current accommodation. Of the two ATMs, neither worked with any of our cards, and after walking back and forth between the two in the dry heat, we were pooped (and probably sunburnt). Finally we got cash and then went around paying our dues. We finished buying some snacks for the following days trip just in time to leave for Valle de la Luna.
We then went for a place to watch sunset, but sadly there were so many clouds the sun was hidden :(The last few minutes of sunset, some rays peaked through, but otherwise it was pretty uneventful.
We headed back to town at 8:30 PM ish, right after sunset. All in all, Evan and I could definitely see the value in doing this with a tour rather than on your own as we had learned a lot and had seen some things you wouldn't see on your own.
Despite our need to pack up for Bolivia, we finished cooking dinner and stayed out too late, talking to a nice Dutch couple who was on a similar itinerary. We were bummed to not get to spend another day with them!
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