Sand-dunes in San Pedro / Chile
Trip Start
Jan 03, 2007
1
17
30
Trip End
Apr 05, 2007
San Pedro de Atacama,
Chile
Thursday, February 15, 2007
We arrive in San Pedro at 10.30pm to find that S.P does indeed have two ATM's now (the perils of using a guidebook that is now 3yrs out of date) and accommodation is at a premium..
01-Jules and I attempt at sandboarding
. and very dear at that. Hunt around for about 2 hrs, desperately trying to find a bed in this little oasis in the Atacama desert (a backpackers gathering point, being strategically loacted with access into Argentina and Bolivia). Assisted by a Santiagian Chilean musician (whom we met at the bus station) and a nutter english boy (whose mother's family lives in Santiago and thus spoke fluent spanish) we finally find a dorm bed to lay our weary heads. Did i mention that the bus journey to this point was mind-blowingly beautiful? Miles upon miles of pastel coloured mountains, shifting sand-dunes and strikingly eroded landforms. One frequently has to pinch oneself as a reminder that it is you, right now, effortlessly tansversing the world's largest, driest desert!And so we find ourselves in the cash-cow village of San Pedro de Atacama to wait out Lou's arival (she decided to spend a few more days in Argentina, meeting up with a friend in Tilcara). However, the prospect of sand-boarding and hiring bikes to do the Quebrada del Diablo (Devil's Gorge) - a mountain bikers delight of serpentine single-track winding its way through a steep sided canyon - soon buys our enthusiasm.
We befriend a lone scotsmen (Martin) who has accompanied us on a travels since, and await Lou's arrival on Sun Night
02-Sunset in death valley
. Monday morning we rise at 3.30am to make our way to El Tatio geisers - the highest geiser field in the world - by sunrise. From 2440m (San Pedro) up to 4300m in an hour and a half of winding switchbacks, the milky way as lucid as I have ever seen it, we begin to regret the 'two-4-one' Pisco Sour special we relished the night before. Jules becomes increasinly nauseous and light-headed whilst Lou's toothache (amplified by the bone-jarring rattle from erosion humps on the dirt roads) worsens. Martin comes to the rescue with a supply of fresh cocoa leaves (which taste like dried silkworm leaves) which Lou and jules begin to chew gratefully. Remarkably it seemed to the trick for both of them. Cocoa leaves are a banned substance throughout most of Argentina...not sure about Chile...but in Bolivia you buy them in supermarket packets and tip locals by giving them a few fresh leaves. Its a national addiction..like mate in Argentina, but too much cocoa cud aint good for teeth colouring. If we return with black dentures you'll know we've overstayed our time on the high altiplano.Anyways, the gesiers were INCREDIBLE...sorry, i'm running out of superlatives. Got some kewl pics uploaded. It was soooo (-6 deg C) cold first thing in the morning (hence Lou's picture of beach towel wrapped around her) that it took incredible tenacity to take pictures...managed a shaky few, but then my fingers became incapable of pressing the shutter release button.
We regretted not putting our swim-costumes underneath our thermals as a number of people swam in the one geiser (temp 28 deg), but we did wade in the waters burning our toes when we unearthed strata in any particular place.
Took an overnight bus that night to Arica...and here we are at Chilean's premier seaside resort. Not quite the bahamas, but a good place to chill out for a few days.
