A long drive through no man's land, after having technically left Bolivia, brought us to the border into Chile. With all the effeciancy and politeness one would expect from border control people, the first step into the world's most elongated country were made some mere two hours later, and as it had become dark, we got well use of the best invention since sliced bread (the headtorch, that is) when setting camp.
San Pedro de Atacama is located by a natural oasis in one of the driest places on earth, the Atacama desert. Its mildish climate, reasonable altitude (2500 masl) and stunning surroundings bring in many a traveller, eager to sample the fine dining and wining and to go mountain biking, trekking or mountaineering.
The main attraction of the area is La Valle de Luna, Moon Valley, though. Erosion through wind and water has shaped the rock into eerie shapes, narrow cave corridors and vast sand dunes, creating an extraterrestial and almost surreal feel.
Its dry, remote and rocky conditions made it perfect for test driving the Mars rovers, and the similarities to the Moon in certain parts of the valley are spoken of near and far.
Upon arrival, the scenery didn't strike me so much lunar as Tattoiine-y, and I half expected Tusken raiders upon the cliffs. Climbing the oddly-shaped rocks and creeping through the sometimes pitch black tunnel caves was great fun, but an uneasy feeling descended soon. Sand people, or worse? It turned out that this very day, what seemed like all of South America's high schools had their yearly excursion to northern Chile. A vast army of teens crawled all over the place, making it difficult to find a reasonably solitary spot for the supposedly spectacular sunset spotting. Difficult, but not impossible, as it were, and quite a few snapshots were taken of the sun setting across the dunes.
The differencies between Chile and Bolivia are bigger than the vast no man's land that distances them. Gone were the dust and the cameloids, to be replaced by vegetation and cattle. Rather than almost exclusively seeing indigenous people, the streets were a mixture of hispanics, indigenous, gringos, what have you. There's a much more western feel to Chile than Bolivia, and a less off-the-beaten-tracky. The main difference would be the foods and beverages, though. From stringy, often overcooked llamas and beef from very old cows served with a pile of cold potatoes and colder rice, to tender steaks, juicy mash and fine wine goes the gastronomical journey, and supposedly the next stop along the line will be even better: Argentina.
To summarize: Two days in Chile with spacey scenery and good eating.
Fun factoid: It is well-known, to those who know it well, that some believe that NASA landing on the moon is a hoax, and was in fact done on a soundstage in Hollywood. That is, of course, utter hogswallop. Truth is, they staged it here, in Valle de Luna.
.
The web's original travel blog
