SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA 26/01/2023

The highlight was here! Every visitor to San Pedro surely has the Tatio Geysers, located at an altitude of 4300 meters, on their must-do list! The highest geysers in the world and the attraction in northern Chile. We also really wanted to go there because this natural phenomenon was completely unknown to us. 'Then we don't necessarily have to go to Iceland anymore if we have already been to Chile!', was one of our considerations!? But just going there, enjoying the setting sun in the afternoon, and then returning around 1:00 am after enjoying thermal baths with breakfast, all for about €25, that is probably an old dream from the Lonely Planet on page 157! The reality can be found on page 171: Pickup at 4:00 am in the morning, waiting for the tour bus in the darkness and cold for half an hour, and standing in line at the bakery behind all the other buses again. Then 95 km north through the night, luckily! Because there is no properly paved road and when in Chile there is a sign on the side of the road warning of extreme caution, it is good if half the bus is sleeping (including Karin!) and doesn't notice how the driver reaches this altitude! Well, I know narrow, serpentine, narrow paths from our vacations in South Tyrol, but we drive a small, agile Hyundai i-10 there. Here, a Mercedes minibus with 12 people made its way through the mountains! Sometimes I thought that we would all have to get out and carry the rear of the car around the corner! Totally crazy! But the red taillights of the many other buses in front of us showed that it was also possible to do it. After the serpentine roads, there was a dry riverbed and then a free sandy plain where each vehicle simply found its own track (Paris-Dakar Rally). Then we finally reached the entrance to the national park, the administration of which was transferred to the indigenous Atacameño tribe many years ago. Even our senior citizen documents could not reduce the entrance fee of 10,000 pesos. Here, from children to senior citizens, everyone pays the same, as our guide explained in English. His explanations were difficult for us to understand because the speaking speed corresponded to his Spanish and so did the emphasis. So we strolled over a field with 64 geysers and hundreds of fumaroles (water and gas outlets). It was really freezing cold and our gloves, hats, sweaters, and jackets were not brought in vain. But the mist fascinated already and encouraged countless photos. At the same time, we observed that hardly anyone takes simple comprehensive photos anymore. Posing, perhaps influenced by Instagram, is the standard today. We haven't seen so many exaggerated forms of human bodies in a long time! Are they all crazy? Of course, the guide knew where the best places with the best background for self-representation were. Even the altitude could not prevent the performances. A woman from the bus was brought back for safety reasons because she showed circulatory disorders in her fingers. But with so much distraction, we didn't forget about the geysers. For me, I was disillusioned because I expected high, hot water fountains. So in intervals of minutes, a loud hiss here and there and then a water column at least two meters high! But not like this, haha! Small volcano-like openings in the ground from which warm water rose and steamed. Often without interruption, but occasionally with intervals. Well, in two or three places, in the course of the last million years, a small hill formed from the deposits of substances contained in the water, from the top of which the water splashed a little. That at least does not rule out a trip to Iceland for me! Almost more remarkable was the fact that within a very short time, our clothes came off, the sun heated up. During the included breakfast at the roadside, with a view back to the snowy Andes, I sat in a T-shirt next to Karin on a warm stone.

From here, we moved towards San Pedro and passed through the Guatin Canyon. A valley crossed by a small river. It's amazing how water can totally transform a landscape. Previously all sandy, dry, dusty, impossible to sustain life and suddenly the opposite!? Small cultivation areas, carefully laid out plantations for various fruits and vegetables, domestic animals! And away from people, suddenly many birds and wild animals that find an ideal home here!

The next point we visited was a small village called 'Machuca'. Here we got 20 minutes to explore the village, but almost all participants stayed in a small snack bar. There were not even the standard tourist offerings, only closed sales stands. I was the only participant who went to the small church on a hill at the outskirts of the village. Here, the film industry could easily find the perfect backdrop for an Italian Western. But instead of Django, an older man awaited me. He supervised the church grounds and asked me to enter and left me alone with my prayers! After a understanding farewell, I went back to the bus and we headed home. No one complained when this excursion ended almost an hour early after all.

We packed our things and prepared for departure the next day! According to the recommendation of our guide, we wanted to satisfy our hunger and go out to eat local food one last time. It should be a menu (three courses) that should be quite inexpensive. Many simple restaurants offer such a set menu. But during the search for the restaurant, we stumbled upon a tourist market and ended up acquiring a new tablecloth for our glass table and bought a small bag of coca leaves!? I'm curious what kind of tea will result from them? This shopping trip took too long and the intended restaurant, as well as the others next to it, had just closed! What a shame! So we headed back towards our Airbnb and our regular restaurant. Luckily, we passed by the post office and used the opportunity to buy some stamps. An older gentleman, who disappeared behind his counter because he was looking for a package for a customer with the phone in his hand, served us invisibly at the same time. He understood what we wanted and proudly showed us our postcards at the end, which he had affixed with the hopefully correct stamps. Then he wished us a broken 'Goodbye' in German and immediately disappeared again in search of the package! Wonderfully warm-hearted!

Karin eventually got fried vegetables with very tasty rice in the restaurant, and I treated myself to chicken schnitzel with French fries and red and white sauces, of course with a draft Cristal beer! At home, we handed over the apartment for inspection to our hosts and clarified the last questions with gestures and signs. When they knocked on the door again later in the evening, we were already in bed, which surprised us at first, but they handed us a bottle of Chilean white wine as a farewell gift! Very friendly and genuine! We hope that your business with Airbnb will continue to thrive, our evaluation will certainly contribute to that!