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The people here live outside Santiago in the countryside almost exclusively in shacks, and I wonder how they endure the cold winter months. Jorge, the owner of the hostel, told me that minus 15 degrees is not uncommon... Brrrr

There is a gas station here in San Pedro de Atacama, but it is the only one within a radius of 200 km, except in Calama. People line up day and night to refuel, sometimes with barrels attached to their pickup trucks, which are filled up with the very cheap fuel (see picture). 1 EUR is about 700 Chilean pesos, so one liter of diesel is about 75 cents.

Alcohol doesn't seem to play a big role here. It can be sold in bars, but not in supermarkets, only in certain stores that have a license for it. In general, people drink very little, which is surely also due to the very high prices, 4.50 EUR for a 0.3 liter bottle of Chilean beer is more like Stacchus level. 1 can of my favorite drink costs about 1.20 EUR. 1 "Cornetto Nuss" (Cream Nut) costs 2 EUR. So, it's not cheap here, as we noticed in Santiago, where the locals had their own market...