Short visit to Chile: San Pedro de Atacama

We are quite tired from the exciting and eventful last few days in the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia and don't feel like going on a discovery tour in San Pedro de Atacama today...

We meet Kristine and Mads and look for a vegan restaurant (the selection of good food in Chile is really big, but so are the prices) and enjoy our lunch. Then we visit various agencies one by one to check out options for bikes, cars, trips, etc. It's incredibly exhausting and the prices here are almost outrageous.

The apparently worthwhile astronomy tour is not an option for us because the full moon is so bright that hardly any stars can be seen. A tour to the recommended Piedras Rojas takes the whole day and costs about 75€ per person, including admission to the national park, which is not worth it for us. Then there is the Valle de la Luna, which is popular with many people because of its sunset, but we don't have enough time today. We decide to postpone the decision until tomorrow and just let ourselves drift through the city today and cook something in the evening.

By the way, renting bikes here is the only affordable thing at 12-15€ for the whole day, which is why we are considering it for tomorrow. However, it gets unbearably hot in the Atacama Desert around noon, and you should think carefully about what you want to do with the little energy you can muster in the heat.

After a fantastic breakfast with live music and the best croissant and baguette we have probably ever eaten outside of France (definitely visit the Franchuteria!), we meet the Danes at the bike rental. While yesterday we were told that we can visit many sights in the area on our own with the bike, today the owner claims that some places are no longer accessible to individual travelers without a booked tour after noon. For example, Valle de la Luna already closes its doors to independent travelers at 11 am, and Laguna Cejar at 1 pm, as do many other places. We are extremely frustrated by this because nothing works here without overpriced tours. So today, at a time of already 11:30 am, we have no choice but to visit the various providers again for tours in the afternoon.

We choose the Valle de la Luna, where we set off at 3 pm. Our tour guide is helpful and speaks good English, the roads are great, the bus is relatively new, and every staff member knows what they're doing. But somehow, we are not taken with Chile...

On the way, we stop at the Duna Major; a large sand dune that has been transported here by many sandstorms. Many people are pushed through the national park, and you have to be careful not to lose your group. The guide tells us a lot about the formation of the interesting small mountains and rock formations in the Atacama Desert, which was also covered in salt in the past. Even today, you can find a lot of salt underground, which finds its way to the surface and can displace entire mountains. There are a few special rocks, such as the "Tres Marias" or one in the shape of a dinosaur, but the landscape doesn't impress us after all we have seen on our travels so far. Maybe a little Pisco Sour will help, because at the next break, the guide provides a table with some snacks and drinks. With a better mood, we get back on the bus and finally reach the viewpoint for the sunset. We share this moment with a lot of other people. We sit here and wait for the sky to slowly change colors and the sun to disappear behind the eroded mountains.

Some tour operators leave with their groups much earlier (check the time for sunset before booking!), but even though we are allowed to stay a little longer, today's sunset is just like any other, unfortunately nothing special. Unfortunately, this tour did not make us become fans of Chile...

We just order some food, drink a (of course good) Chilean wine, and play cards with the Danish couple we met in the last few days.

The next day, it's time to pack our things again and take the bus to Calama, from where we will fly in a perhaps unexpected direction: to the Galápagos Islands!!!!! 😍