20^th

Breakfast is pretty average, at least I wasn't disappointed . As we are checking out the guy at reception has the nerve to tell me that there is a charge for the food, but they won’t be charging me. Why bother to tell me at all.

The flight departs half an hour late, but we dont miss our connecting flight to Calama. Arrive in Calama and our shuttle bus to San Pedro de Atacama is waiting for us. The trip to San Pedro takes just over an hour. We are dropped off at our hostel, Quinta Adela. San Pedro is a little village in the middle of one of the driest deserts on earth. It’s a little oasis as its sits in top of a huge spring.

The hostel is a 5 minute walk to the main street. We eat a place called El Sol. The food is good but not cheap. It seems everything in the desert is going to be expensive. After tea we walk up and down the main street, where cars are banned. It is certainly different. Nearly all the roads are dirt and all the buildings are Adobe brick(mud brick).

There are plenty of stray dogs roaming the streets looking for food . None seem to be undernourished. After the walk we head back to our room and get ready for bed. Cannot believe how quiet it is.

21^st

After a great breakfast that was prepared by of host Jose, we walk to town to see what tours are available. There are 4 main places to visit by tour bus. There are tour operators every 10 steps. The more we look and the more questions we ask the more confused we get. I opt for the dearest operator called Cosmo Andino. They did have great reviews on the internet, but are expensive. We sit down with Vladimir who gives us the necessary info. We book 2 tours with him, Valley de Lune(valley of the moon) and the Altiplano tour. One of the tours to Laugna Cejar is booked out so he suggests we rent some push bikes and ride there.

We grab some lunch and find a place to rent 2 bikes. Its just after 12.30pm and we set of to Laugna Cejar, about 22 kilometres away . Its just over 30 degrees C, and very little wind. The road is flat all the way, but unpaved, so its rough going. By the time we find a tree to rest under we have travelled 16 kilometres, and by bum is killing me. We are both drenched in sweat. I hope the lakes are worth it.

We arrive at the entrance to the salt lakes and pay the entrance fee. We cannot take the bikes into the park, so we have to walk to the lakes. Not impressed as cars car drive right up to the edge. After walking around and looking at the lakes we are both a little disappointed at what is here. Glad we didn’t do the paid tour.

The ride back is painfully slow. It seems to take for ever. So glad to be back in town, and we stop off at our hostel to have a shower before returning the bikes. With bikes returned we eat at El Sol again.

22rd

We start off today with a 4 kilometre walk to see some ruins, Pukara Quitor, and at the top a lookout . The walk takes about an hour. After paying the entrance fee we start the climb to the top of the ruins. We are rewarded with a great view of the town and surrounding desert, and the snow-capped volcanoes.

We are going on the Valle de la Luna tour (valley of the moon) and it leaves town at 3.30pm, and also takes in the sunset, which is just after 8pm. Our guide is David and he seems to be a great guy. We first head into Death Valley, appropriately name as people have died here. We are dropped off and embark on a 1 hour walk across the top of the valley. The view is pretty good.

At the end we are confronted by a massive sand dune running all the way to the bottom of the valley. David tells us the is the only way down, and its not that hard. Well I can tell you looking down from the top it looked incredibly steep. I can tell that most of the people in our group are very hesitant about the prospect of walking down the sand hill.

Well if the others are doing so can i . So I step off the edge and away we go. Its quite easy once you get under way. Turns out to be great fun and some of the group are even running down the hill. The problem is now getting the sand out of the shoes. We continue our walk through some gorges before we boarding the bus. Its now onto the Valle de la Luna. Have to pay an entrance and we drive into the park. We are driven to the end of the road and are told to walk back to the carpark. We are told by David it’s the best way to see the highlights of the park

The walk takes us about 40 minutes before we re-group to tackle the climb to the top of this rather tall hill to get the best view of sunset. Its is rather cold up here and the wind is howling on and off. We make our way along the top of a ridge far away from all the other people . David tells us that we will be the last to leave as the colours of the sunset don’t take place to well after sun has set. Well he is not wrong. Would have to be the best sunset we have ever seen . The colours are stunning. Unfortunately photos just don't capture the true colours. The coloured clouds extend a full 360 degrees right to the edge of horizon.Now once the sun has set a park ranger starts pushing people out off the hill, and out of the park. David tells us to walk very very slowly as the colours will keep changing. It must be one of the best sunsets for some time as even the park ranger is stopping to take pictures. Apparently these colourful sunsets only happen in January and February, as this is the only time they have any clouds. Everyone on our tours is very impressed with what we saw.

We arrive back into town around 9pm. There are 2 Irish girls that ask us to join them for tea, as well as an elderly English couple. We have a great time and don’t get back to our room till midnight.

23^rd

Today is the tour to the Altiplanic lakes and desert. The 2 Irish girls and the English couple are on the same tour . We leave at 7.30am and its not long before we stop to have breakfast at a salt lake where there are some Flamingo’s. Breakfast is great. What a way to start the day sitting in the middle of nowhere, sounded by a salt lake with wild flamingos. We meet another girl on the bus from Oregon, USA. She is travelling by herself. Most of the other people are French or Chilean. Emily is a park ranger at Crater lake NP, so she has a great appreciation for what we are seeing.

Our next stop is 2 lakes at the base of 2 Volcanoes. Unfortunately its cloudy so not good for taking pictures. We spend some time walking around the lakes before heading to the next destination.

Our next destination is a massive salt lake in a beautiful valley. This is where we will have a picnic lunch. Its cold and windy, but the tour guide David finds a nice sheltered spot. Lunch is a surprise. There is so much variety of food. With lunch over with we start to head back to San Pedro, which is about 200 kilometres away . Now its not a 2 hour drive as some of the roads are un-paved, with lots of ruts and pot holes. We don’t get back till 6pm. What a thoroughly enjoyable day.

We decide to meet back at the restaurant at 7.30pm for tea. We are joined by Emily, the 2 Irish girls and the English couple. We have a great time listening to all their stories, but as the Irish and English people are going on a tour to see the geysers at 4am, they leave early to get some sleep. We say our goodbyes and its back to the hostel. The English couple are coming to Australia in a few weeks and are driving from Sydney to Adelaide. We make sure they have our contact info so we can catch up with them while they are in Adelaide.