We Love Llamas And Llama Kebabs, Valle De La Luna
Trip Start
Sep 29, 2007
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97
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Trip End
Ongoing
San Pedro de Atacama,
Chile
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Hooray! We found a Lonely Planet edition in a second hand shop, that same book we had stolen so i now begin the arduous task of mapping out the trip again. Nadine has just found me a highly sought after copy of Isabel Allendes "House Of Spirits" too so we have some English books again.
We passed by the church in the central square . The church is a beautiful dwelling made of adobe and the ceilings are made of timber, locust tree and clay and covered with cactus wood. There are no nails used in construction. We also wasted no time in visiting the archaeological museum in town where there was a diverse range of indigenous objects including ceramics, metals and shamans tools and instruments used for ceremonies involving hallucinogenic substances. There was supposed to be some mummies here but they have been moved.
We locked in a 3 day tour across the worlds largest salt flats and into Bolivia from one of many agencies in town. We took a punt and just put our money on one that seemed well organised and had a fancy computer. Error or not, we will soon find out. There will be six of us in the group. Last night we saw the Semana Santa (Easter) procession through the streets that included a re-enactment with a man in Jesus garb getting whipped by men in helmets, a pope looking guy singing, crucifix being dragged through the streets, shrines and some figures being carried.
Steeple
The whole townsfolk followed behind singing. We kind of walked into the parade and were taken along with the crowd until we could escape to higher ground. Then i think the whole town got drunk. The four Chilean men we are sharing our room with did not come home. These guys are snoring potential so we have moved to a private room tonight.This morning we took a tour at 4am to watch the sunrise at the Tatio Geysers which are large, gurgling spouts of steam and water, sometimes up to 10 metres high that are formed when a frozen underground river makes contact with hot rocks. The geysers are at their best early morning and we shared the views with many others who turned up for the spectacle. We were too cold to get out of the van and could only do small stints of outside exposure to take photographs. Muddy blow holes took turns in gushing out hot water of up to 85degrees in temperature whilst people walked among them. The tour company had told us to "take a jacket" and had forgotten to tell us that the geysers were 4320 meters above sea level and located in freezing cold conditions. Worth the effort of getting up early. Some people are more insane than us and it was proven today when people stripped off all their clothes and jumped into the hot springs formed in the middle of the geyser field. Good luck getting out at this temperature. we passed on that one.
We also visited the small village of Machuca where they are reviving agricultural activities, shepherding and making cheese. The town was in the middle of the desert, surrounded by cactus plants and seemed to us like it was existing just to cater to tourists.
Adobe church
Two local men had fired up the BBQs and were cooking marinated llama meat and onions on shishkabab skewers. Of course we tried them and they were deliciously tender and healthy we are told. Just as the bus pulled off to leave, we spotted the villages beautiful herd of llamas and their adorable young trotting around the land. We couldnt look them in the eye of course having just gleefully devoured one of their cousins. Yesterday in town we were considering doing a trek where you pull a llama along in the desert and today we are eating them.Tonight we had a very special experience during a tour to Death Valley and the Valle de la Luna, Valley Of The Moon. The Death Valley is a geological phenomenon of enormous mineral sculptures formed by the wind and the rain. The spectacular shapes are made up of salt hills, gypsum and clay and were brilliantly coloured at sunset. Sand boarding is popular here and we saw some professionals doing the extreme dunes, no sandy crotch for us though. We did spend some time running around and climbing on the rock formations. We couldnīt get the line Ļi walk through the valley of the shadow of deathĻout of our brains. Whilst nobody was looking we pilfered some of the gorgeous red and white desert rocks to crush up and send home. We visited a rock structure called the īTres Mariasī that are a formation comprised of gems, gravel, clay,salt and quartz and are about one million years old.
The Valley Of The Moon was an interesting one. The landscape there is beautiful for its resemblance to the surface of the moon. Otherworldly and bizarre, the sculpture shapes of the rocks have been carved by wind and the effect of atmospheric conditions have resulted in sharp crests, hilltops and waves that transform the landscape. The absence of animal and vegetable life as well as the lack of humidity make this one of the most inhospitable places on Earth. Tonight was a full moon so we were lucky to witness the valley in all its glory. The valley is also named that of the moon because you can watch the sun set and disappear on one side then immediately the moon rises up from the mountains. Glamorous to watch and it definitely gave us a good feeling for the position of our Earth to our precious sun and moon. After a fresh Pisco Sour made by our driver we collapsed in bed exhausted and ready for the 4WD trek across the salt flats.
Loving the desert and all its surreal landscapes.
