A Month in Chile: 5,500 kms on Buses from Skiing Volcanos to Biking in the Atacama
Apr 25, 2015, 6:47 am
#16
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Beautifully photographed - a real joy to peruse. I must cross the Andes via Portillo some day. It was a helluva drop from Calama down into Salta but those famous switchbacks beckon ever more stridently via your fine photography. Thanks!
May 9, 2015, 8:59 am
#17
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To my fellow FTers, I am sorry that I have not updated this TR!
Life has been hectic with finals and a trip to Asia (I am at the airport right now), so, I will try to get this one done in the 36 hours of transit I have ahead of me. If it does not happen, I will loose internet connections soon, so it may be delayed until August, when I get back.
On a side note, I am going to try and do a running TR of the trip I am going on today to SE Asia, Europe and Peru. Bear with me, and I will hopefully have this one done by the time I am in Bangkok.
Life has been hectic with finals and a trip to Asia (I am at the airport right now), so, I will try to get this one done in the 36 hours of transit I have ahead of me. If it does not happen, I will loose internet connections soon, so it may be delayed until August, when I get back.
On a side note, I am going to try and do a running TR of the trip I am going on today to SE Asia, Europe and Peru. Bear with me, and I will hopefully have this one done by the time I am in Bangkok.
May 11, 2015, 10:08 am
#18
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The Atacama, Part #1
I was really into the Namib desert when I was there some 6 weeks before this trip, so going to the Atacama seemed to be a great destination. Within 2 months, I visited the oldest desert (Namib) in the world, and the driest desert (Atacama) in the world, which seems pretty darn cool while looking back on it.
Our accommodations for our stay in San Pedro de Atacama were in a hostel called Aji Verde. It was a newer hostel in the area. The hostel was great, depending on your opinions on a good hostel. I thought Aji Verde was exceptional because it was very homey and had a cool vibe, with campfires at night and such.
The hostel itself was pretty dusty, but that was expected in the driest desert in the world. I liked how you had to walk outside to go to the toilet, which most would think is a massive inconvenience, but, in the middle of the night it got you outside to go and check out the stars. The kitchen space was good, and used gas, which is always nice, and it had some nice living areas where you could converse with other people. I will admit, this place is not for everyone, but of all the hostels I have stayed in all over the world, it is in my top 5 favorites.
You can pitch your tent for a nominal rate.
On our first day in the Atacama, we walked around town a little bit to get some bearings. I looked up online what to do in the area, and a blog talked about biking the Valle de la Luna. Biking after sitting on about 20 hours of bus sounded very tempting to both my dad and I, so after going to the supermarket for some breakfast, where we met another backpacker who would join us for the day, we rented bikes for 6,000 CLP, (about $11 US), and were off to the valley.
Church in San Pedro, with its famous cactus ceiling.
Valle de la Luna is situated about 15 kms to the southwest of San Pedro. Biking is definitely the way to see Valle de la Luna. Tours come ripping through the area at about 3 PM and spend a mere 3 hours there before heading back to San Pedro, skipping a lot of the cool sites along the way. Biking allowed us to take our time and really enjoy the sites along the way. It is not far, if memory is correct, we rode about 35-40 kms that day, which really is not much. Regardless, I recommend the visit, and in the morning it is really nice because you have the place to yourself before the tour convoy comes along. Bring a handkerchief for the end of the day when the dust from all the tour companies gets kicked up (it is all dirt roads to get there). Memory is lapsing a bit on all of the names of the individual sites, so apologies if the photo does not have a name associated with it.
Dad in the saddle.
Old mine at the end of the road.
Nice view on the way out.
Bus stop on the way back into town.
Sunset.
I was really into the Namib desert when I was there some 6 weeks before this trip, so going to the Atacama seemed to be a great destination. Within 2 months, I visited the oldest desert (Namib) in the world, and the driest desert (Atacama) in the world, which seems pretty darn cool while looking back on it.
Our accommodations for our stay in San Pedro de Atacama were in a hostel called Aji Verde. It was a newer hostel in the area. The hostel was great, depending on your opinions on a good hostel. I thought Aji Verde was exceptional because it was very homey and had a cool vibe, with campfires at night and such.
The hostel itself was pretty dusty, but that was expected in the driest desert in the world. I liked how you had to walk outside to go to the toilet, which most would think is a massive inconvenience, but, in the middle of the night it got you outside to go and check out the stars. The kitchen space was good, and used gas, which is always nice, and it had some nice living areas where you could converse with other people. I will admit, this place is not for everyone, but of all the hostels I have stayed in all over the world, it is in my top 5 favorites.
You can pitch your tent for a nominal rate.
On our first day in the Atacama, we walked around town a little bit to get some bearings. I looked up online what to do in the area, and a blog talked about biking the Valle de la Luna. Biking after sitting on about 20 hours of bus sounded very tempting to both my dad and I, so after going to the supermarket for some breakfast, where we met another backpacker who would join us for the day, we rented bikes for 6,000 CLP, (about $11 US), and were off to the valley.
Church in San Pedro, with its famous cactus ceiling.
Valle de la Luna is situated about 15 kms to the southwest of San Pedro. Biking is definitely the way to see Valle de la Luna. Tours come ripping through the area at about 3 PM and spend a mere 3 hours there before heading back to San Pedro, skipping a lot of the cool sites along the way. Biking allowed us to take our time and really enjoy the sites along the way. It is not far, if memory is correct, we rode about 35-40 kms that day, which really is not much. Regardless, I recommend the visit, and in the morning it is really nice because you have the place to yourself before the tour convoy comes along. Bring a handkerchief for the end of the day when the dust from all the tour companies gets kicked up (it is all dirt roads to get there). Memory is lapsing a bit on all of the names of the individual sites, so apologies if the photo does not have a name associated with it.
Dad in the saddle.
Old mine at the end of the road.
Nice view on the way out.
Bus stop on the way back into town.
Sunset.
May 16, 2015, 5:37 pm
#20
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Day #2 took us for an early morning ride to the flamingos and lagoons, with a few stops along the way at towns. We took a tour for this one, since it would not have been possible to bike it in a day. The tour felt rushed a bit, since it was only done as a half day tour instead of a full day, but it did provide an easy way to see what we wanted to see. Just a heads up, no tour company pays for your entrance to the national parks, so you have to pay for that as well. Most tours seem to operate half day gigs, meaning you can do one thing in the morning and one thing in the afternoon.
Our first stop after being picked up was 15 minutes in a town located to the southeast of San Pedro. This town was unique in the sense that all of the buildings were made from stone rather than the traditional adobe in the area. At sunrise, it was nice to walk around and check out. We also saw an alpaca and the loom that turns the fur into a usable thread.
Church
Next up was the Los Flamencos National Reserve. It was freezing here, but the saltwater lagoons provide a place to see some of the Andean flamingos, which are really cool to see in the wild. This is also where we ate the provided breakfast with the tour, as well as the view of the nearby live volcano (whose name I forgot). I personally loved the flamingos. They were some of the coolest things to see in the wild. Better yet, in a salt lagoon in the middle of nowhere.
Volcano from the lagoon.
After lunch it was about a 45 minute drive from the valley floor to the highland lagoons, which was very pleasant as well. I have a thing for mountains, so it was cool to see some of these high altiplano lakes with a few mountains thrown in. As a word of caution, the lakes are really high, like 13k feet. So be prepared to not be able to breathe, even if you were in the mountains skiing a week ago.
Vicunas.
On the other side of this guy was Bolivia.
After the lagoons, it was back to San Pedro, with a scenic stop for some pictures on the way. I would really recommend going so see some of the lagoons. It was my favorite part about the entire trip to San Pedro, and seemed to be a good value to me. I would much rather have rented a car though and just done it on our own, but that is me. You do learn a touch more which in a guided group.
Terraces enroute to San Pedro.
Once we were dropped off in San Pedro, we went to TchiTchi Chicken, where you could get a whole rotisserie breast and plate of fries for 2,500 CLP, (about $4.50). This has to be the best deal in town, since most other things, including the grocery store, seemed to be rather expensive. We ate here every day until we left again, that’s just how good it was!
For the third day, we went to El Tatio Geysers. We booked a tour as a group of 5, which provided a nice 20% discount, so ask around before you go to book the tour. Staying in the hostel provides the opportunity to do things like this, which is always nice.
To get to El Tatio, it is a 2 hour drive to the north on dirt roads, and requires an early morning departure, of about 4 AM. The reason that you want the early departure is so that you can see the steam from the geysers in the brisk morning temperatures (a bit below freezing).
The geysers were cool, and the steam was cool to see, but honestly, I thought it was a touch overated. Granted, I have Yellowstone 8 hours from my house, so that might have been why. There are no geysers here the way I think of geysers, but they are moreso pools that let off some steam and provide some cool pictures, and eggs cooked via geyser pools.
Ice.
Old geothermal electric generator.
After the geysers, we went and sat in a 40 C stream. This was anice touch, but once again, I have been to better hotsprings. Some cool photos though!
The frosty banks of the mighty hot spring.
A quick stop at a village on the way back.
The tour gets you back around 1 PM, so you have the rest of the day free to do what you please, which meant more chicken for us and watching a wonderful sunset, again. In the evening we would go out and walk away from town a bit so we could check out the stars. It is well worth it, since there are hardly ever clouds there. We had the opportunity to go to a desert party, but coupled with the early wake up it was not going to happen for us. A desert party is a gathering of people, in the middle of nowhere, to drink beverages and have fun. It is illegal, so you have to know someone to go.
Our final day was spent just hanging out and roaming around San Pedro. In the evening, we caught the bus back to Calama, where we transferred to a bus that took us to Caldera.
One thing that I wish we did was a star talk. Apparently a guy goes out into the middle of nowhere and just talks about stars with you for a couple hours, and lets you look through them on one of his telescopes. Everyone we talked to said it was really worthwhile. Another thing I would have liked to do was the ALMA Space Center Tour. Basically there are a bunch of telescopes up on a mountain and you can go and check them out now, something that just opened to a limited number of tourists.
Regardless of what you do in Chile, you have to go to San Pedro. It truly is a special place, and it is really cool to explore. If we had more time, we would have taken one of the 3-4 day trips over to Bolivia via the Uyuni salt flats, but we had to head back south since we had a round trip from Santiago.
The big bad streets of San Pedro de Atacama.
Next Up: From the Far North to the Medium South: San Pedro to Pucon
Our first stop after being picked up was 15 minutes in a town located to the southeast of San Pedro. This town was unique in the sense that all of the buildings were made from stone rather than the traditional adobe in the area. At sunrise, it was nice to walk around and check out. We also saw an alpaca and the loom that turns the fur into a usable thread.
Church
Next up was the Los Flamencos National Reserve. It was freezing here, but the saltwater lagoons provide a place to see some of the Andean flamingos, which are really cool to see in the wild. This is also where we ate the provided breakfast with the tour, as well as the view of the nearby live volcano (whose name I forgot). I personally loved the flamingos. They were some of the coolest things to see in the wild. Better yet, in a salt lagoon in the middle of nowhere.
Volcano from the lagoon.
After lunch it was about a 45 minute drive from the valley floor to the highland lagoons, which was very pleasant as well. I have a thing for mountains, so it was cool to see some of these high altiplano lakes with a few mountains thrown in. As a word of caution, the lakes are really high, like 13k feet. So be prepared to not be able to breathe, even if you were in the mountains skiing a week ago.
Vicunas.
On the other side of this guy was Bolivia.
After the lagoons, it was back to San Pedro, with a scenic stop for some pictures on the way. I would really recommend going so see some of the lagoons. It was my favorite part about the entire trip to San Pedro, and seemed to be a good value to me. I would much rather have rented a car though and just done it on our own, but that is me. You do learn a touch more which in a guided group.
Terraces enroute to San Pedro.
Once we were dropped off in San Pedro, we went to TchiTchi Chicken, where you could get a whole rotisserie breast and plate of fries for 2,500 CLP, (about $4.50). This has to be the best deal in town, since most other things, including the grocery store, seemed to be rather expensive. We ate here every day until we left again, that’s just how good it was!
For the third day, we went to El Tatio Geysers. We booked a tour as a group of 5, which provided a nice 20% discount, so ask around before you go to book the tour. Staying in the hostel provides the opportunity to do things like this, which is always nice.
To get to El Tatio, it is a 2 hour drive to the north on dirt roads, and requires an early morning departure, of about 4 AM. The reason that you want the early departure is so that you can see the steam from the geysers in the brisk morning temperatures (a bit below freezing).
The geysers were cool, and the steam was cool to see, but honestly, I thought it was a touch overated. Granted, I have Yellowstone 8 hours from my house, so that might have been why. There are no geysers here the way I think of geysers, but they are moreso pools that let off some steam and provide some cool pictures, and eggs cooked via geyser pools.
Ice.
Old geothermal electric generator.
After the geysers, we went and sat in a 40 C stream. This was anice touch, but once again, I have been to better hotsprings. Some cool photos though!
The frosty banks of the mighty hot spring.
A quick stop at a village on the way back.
The tour gets you back around 1 PM, so you have the rest of the day free to do what you please, which meant more chicken for us and watching a wonderful sunset, again. In the evening we would go out and walk away from town a bit so we could check out the stars. It is well worth it, since there are hardly ever clouds there. We had the opportunity to go to a desert party, but coupled with the early wake up it was not going to happen for us. A desert party is a gathering of people, in the middle of nowhere, to drink beverages and have fun. It is illegal, so you have to know someone to go.
Our final day was spent just hanging out and roaming around San Pedro. In the evening, we caught the bus back to Calama, where we transferred to a bus that took us to Caldera.
One thing that I wish we did was a star talk. Apparently a guy goes out into the middle of nowhere and just talks about stars with you for a couple hours, and lets you look through them on one of his telescopes. Everyone we talked to said it was really worthwhile. Another thing I would have liked to do was the ALMA Space Center Tour. Basically there are a bunch of telescopes up on a mountain and you can go and check them out now, something that just opened to a limited number of tourists.
Regardless of what you do in Chile, you have to go to San Pedro. It truly is a special place, and it is really cool to explore. If we had more time, we would have taken one of the 3-4 day trips over to Bolivia via the Uyuni salt flats, but we had to head back south since we had a round trip from Santiago.
The big bad streets of San Pedro de Atacama.
Next Up: From the Far North to the Medium South: San Pedro to Pucon
Last edited by AJCU; May 16, 2015 at 5:52 pm Reason: Formatting.
May 16, 2015, 5:40 pm
#21
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Also I think you mean from Portillo down to the valley floor!
