San Pedro de Atacama

Right off the bat, I should say I didn't do the desert as well as I could have. I had some issues.
First problem: money. I came to Chile with a credit card, a temporary debit card I knew would expire in a month, some dollars, some pesos, and some travelers cheques. Dad was going to send my new debit card, but that fell through. Mom was going to visit at the end and bring some more cash, but that also fell through. So I arrived with the cash I had and quickly realized that it wouldn't last me, but most places in San Pedro don't take cards.
Second problem: San Pedro de Atacama is touristy to the point of uncomfortable for me. It consists entirely of tourist agencies that all offer the same excursions, “artesan” shops that all sell the same souvenirs, and restaurants that all sell basically the same overpriced food. And a church. That's it.

Almost anywhere, I can wander aimlessly and feel engaged in my surroundings and completely safe. Not here. Walking around my first night was the first time that I felt at all like a potential target, because the divide between local and outsider is so blatant. The locals in the North are much more native-looking than in the South (even if that isn't politically correct) so foreigners are just a lot more obvious. The streets are all very small and very identical, with the church as the only landmark. If I wandered like I did in Santiago, Pucón, Puerto Varas, or Frutillar, I would look incredibly lost. In addition, all of the sights to see are outside of the city itself, and there is no public transportation, hence tour overload.
Third problem: organized tours really aren't my style, but that is really all there is to do. In order to see the unique landscapes, you have to fork over a bunch of money for package deals. When you book all of your tours at the same office, you can get a discount, but only when you use cash. Bummer.
All that being said, I still did some really cool stuff.
I went to the largest salt flat in Chile, Salar de Atacama, to watch the sun set over Laguna Chaxa in La Reserva Nacional Los Flamencos. The changing light was magical.





Lumped in with that tour was a visit to Toconao, an oasis in the desert that used to be famous for ancient irrigation systems and now is famous for hordes of tourists coming to look at its gardens and old church.
I went to Laguna Cejar, which has a higher salt concentration than the Dead Sea, so you float.

Unfortunately, that tour was hours of driving with obnoxious Spaniards who wouldn't shut up about the included pisco sour, and a short amount of time in the surprisingly frigid water. Definitely could have skipped that one.
I went sand-boarding on the dunes of Valle de la Muerte. That activity alone made the trip to the desert. It was a total blast, and I was a total natural.

I was going to do skiing, but just like on the volcano, I didn't want to hike up in the ski boots. For boarding, I hiked up in my sneakers and didn't care about falling in the sand, so I got hella good hella quick.
Afterwards, the sandboarding folks went to Valle de la Luna to watch another sunset over another crazy landscape.


Because I wanted to fit in everything I could, I then went to a star-gazing tour at an observatory a bit outside the city. It was led by a French guy who really likes to hear himself talk, thinks he is absolutely hilarious, and probably wants to extend the tour as long as possible to justify the cost. He explained a bunch of stuff that Dad had already taught me in Joshua Tree, made stupid jokes about how to seduce women by pointing to constellations, then finally let us look in some telescopes. Both a plus and a minus: the moon was out. This meant less stars, but a really awesome view of the moon.

I went on the Geyser del Tatio tour, which left at 4:00am. I had been warned by Lonely Planet, the tourist agency, and other tourists that it is really really cold, but nothing can adequately prepare you for -15ºC. They claim that there is more condensation of the vapor rising from the geyser fields when it is really cold, but I didn't see a difference between when we got there before sunrise and when we left. I was wearing 2 hats, a scarf, 6 layers on top, 3 pairs of pants, ski socks, and toe-warmers. I was miserable, thinking to myself, “I can't believe I paid to be here.” I just wanted to leave. There was the option to go in a hotspring, but you actually have to be insane to voluntarily get wet in that temperature.


Eventually we left and stopped at a tiny village and a wetlands, before a surprise hike through a cactus gorge. By this time, it is mid-day in the desert, which means hot hot hot. I left all of my layers in the van and was left scrambling over rocks in a tank top, leggings and cowboy boots. Not very practical.


Overall I'm glad I went, because I got to see a completely different region of Chile and the sand-boarding was just that much fun. But, unlike Pucón, I never want to go back. It just really wasn't my style of travel. In the South, I took public buses from quaint towns to National Parks and spent my days as I pleased. In the desert, I spent too much, had too little control, and saw a bit of the exploitation of the native Chileans.

All of the pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2065495&id=1055040014&l=a82fbe21a8