SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA 01/21/2023

Today was the day of goodbye. Yesterday, we had chosen a bus at noon so that we could have a relaxed breakfast together. Franziska's flight was in the evening, and she had booked a late check-out for about 20,000 pesos. We had time until 12 o'clock. The breakfast at the hotel cost about 7.5 € and was quite extensive in buffet style and in peace, as we had previously brought our luggage to Franzi. Then she took us on the five minute walk to the bus station. It was quite small and located directly on a busy shopping street with small shops and street vendors. But it was already crowded, and we just managed to get a seat in the waiting area. Other travelers immediately warned us about thieves and reminded us to be more careful. And again, we noticed how many passengers were waiting for the bus with masses of suitcases, bags, and boxes. The bus arrived on time, but not at the bus parking lot, but on the street! People got off and were picked up, got their luggage from the driver, and it was our turn. Loading with the help of the second man, this time without a control slip, show tickets to the driver at the door and get on. Again in the front row on the right side with a view forward. But as it turned out, this bus also had a small door to the cockpit, and everything transparent from the front was covered with a curtain after departure. Well, we could also look out to the side. This bus, by the way, from 'Frontera del Norte', had the leg rests again, and we had a lot of space in the front row. A last wave to our daughter, and we left on time. From now on, we were supposed to be on our own and make our way. We were really happy that Franzi had taken a week off just for us and had organized this first section perfectly. Especially since she would have preferred to do the northern tour through Arica and the northwestern national parks with us. All friends and acquaintances who have already visited her in Chile travel to the absolutely tourist center San Pedro, but according to her opinion, the starting point Arica is much better. There, the landscape is supposed to be more diverse and all possibilities are said to be connected with much fewer people. But we had given our wishes and so we sat in the bus without her.

But we still had a connection to her: an older LG cell phone that runs in her telephone provider contract without her using it, she gave it to us. There was the most necessary on it, and we could reach her at any time. With Karin's cell phone or my prepaid phone, we would probably have to pay very, very expensive roaming charges. A second SIM card that we could have bought here (like in Australia) was not an option, because Karin only has space for one, and we don't know what happens to the data not stored on the SIM. That's how I understood the problem anyway?!

So, we were looking out of the bus window. There is not much to see on the road from Calama to San Pedro, actually nothing at all. Mostly very flat plains on the left and right side of the road, occasionally interrupted by smaller elevations and in the very far distance merging into the Cordillera de los Andes. That's how the desert is! And the Atacama Desert, through which we only drove a short distance (about 1.5 hours), is said to be the driest of all deserts. Everything is in a beige-reddish tone and covered with dusty sand at noon. Despite these inhospitable conditions, you can see beside the asphalted main road, occasionally unmarked sandy side roads that lead to nowhere. But there must be people on the move too, because high dust fountains occasionally indicate moving cars. Soon we got sleepy and dozed off a bit. The landscape changed before San Pedro. We could look into smaller valleys from the elevated road, which are best described as 'rugged lunar landscape'. Unfortunately, the long-distance buses do not make photo stops, but they stop in the middle of the desert when the passenger knocks on the window of the connecting door to the driver and has expressed his/her wishes. Maybe these stopping arrangements are already made at the start? In any case, very confusing when there is absolutely nothing to see at the drop-off point, the luggage is unloaded, and a person is simply left behind in the Atacama!

On the other hand, we were picked up by a man at the bus station in San Pedro. A chic new Chinese VW-Rock replica brought us to our Airbnb apartment. Communication consisted of goodwill and almost nothing understood on both sides. Only one local recommendation I interpreted correctly. Even in the house with our host Lidia, it was no different. She showed us the apartment and explained everything, and we understood. The Google translator hardly came into play, and we were there. Describing the overall ensemble of our accommodation is not so easy! The front facing the street (Calle Puritama) consists of a normal one-story side of a house with an entrance door and window and a large wide wooden door. Behind this door begins a tiled area that is used as a garage and passage to the back. Back meaning that there is our apartment with an entrance door, living area with kitchen and dining area and couch corner, and a toilet with shower and TV (WLAN) and a staircase leading up to the double bed on an open gallery, three times next to each other. We suspect that the other two apartments are permanently rented, and our unit is being offered on Airbnb for the first time. The location on the edge of the center (about 7 minutes' walk) is very nice because we don't notice the hustle and bustle in the village here.

But we still had to go there today because the office where we booked our four excursions wanted to see us. We had already transferred the tour prices, but the entrance fees to the national sites still had to be paid separately. For two tours, we could only pay this through a Chilean account in our name, so we paid in cash in advance at the office. On the way to the 'travel agency', we had to get used to the fact that everything is different: the paths and roads are partly just sandy dirt roads, mostly very simple buildings that line the chessboard-like streets. Countless travel agencies that all offer the same excursions at the same prices. In between, occasionally a minimarket, a handicraft shop, and even more pubs. Occasionally a few old hippies who didn't make the breakaway and offer homemade jewelry. In between, the village square with church, police, post office, and tourist office next door. All of this at an altitude of 2438 meters, which didn't bother us at all on the first day. Since we were on the road, we immediately stocked up on the basic equipment, which we didn't find so easily in a supermarket. The local population doesn't accept these modern stores so easily, just as many residents with indigenous backgrounds are critical of the summer tourist hustle and bustle. We learned this from a guide on our first tour, whose grandfather came from Chemnitz and who emigrated to Chile. Hermann, that's the guide's name, no longer spoke German, but he could express himself quite well in English.

In any case, on the first evening, we sat in a Hollywood swing that also belongs to our apartment, with a glass in hand and were exhausted. We were not bothered that the view in our courtyard was not so great, because we had landscape all day!