On Monday I said farewell and returned to Santiago to take a bus north. The journey takes 24 hours and goes via La Serena, Antofogasta, amongst other places before finally arriving in Calama, about 100km from San Pedro. The town I was trying to reach. What started as a small sniffle on boarding the bus metamorphosised into some fully blown fever, head cold and bad chest, making the journey absolute hell (although it’s a little better now).

Once in Calama I checked into the second hostel I found, the first only having a room that looked like a set piece from “Psycho” . Call me fussy, but I find it hard to get a decent night sleep on a bed saturated in blood. I slept. I woke. I took a pus to San Pedro.

As with most of the town in north Chile San Pedro is in the middle of the Atacama desert, the driest in the world. There are places here where rain has never been recorded. The journey from Calama to San Pedro cuts through the Atacama with a beautiful backdrop of the Andes. The 6000m peaks seem to jump out of the flat barren land and the sight is quite spectacular.

San Pedro is small. Very Small. Picture a few white old houses, some cobbled streets and the odd cactus and your are there. Its very close to the Bolivian border (which is why Im here) and also to some of the strange geology of the lower Andes. Vast lunar landscapes, sometimes with a blanket of crisp white salt, and alien looking rocks surround the area in a national park known as “Valle de la Luna” which I need not translate. I took a 4X4 around some of the best bits before returning to the hostel.

So im in the hostel talking to a Swiss couple when some locals invite us to a party. “Sure” we say, thinking a bar, someone’s house, whatever. We hop in the back of a pick-up truck with about 10 others and set off. The purpose of the vehicle was a bit of a mystery at first, you can drive across San Pedro in under a minute downs its narrow cobbled streets. 20mins later the town is out of sight and we are off road in the middle of the Atacama desert, the sky looks fantastic, its freezing cold and we are headed god knows where. The truck stops. Someone has carted a generator, stereo, gallons of Pisco and Cola (Piscola) into the middle of the desert, lit a big fire, and invited town (about 100). It was quite a surreal and special evening, despite the cold and the fact we couldn’t leave until we were taken. We got back around 4 and went to bed.

Tomorrow the same couple and myself are taking a 4X4 over to Uyuni in Bolivia, it will take 3 days with a hired driver and go via geysers, salt plains and other curiosities. Parts of the drive are at 4500 and so Soroche (Altitude Sickness) is always a concern but a careful diet and the local coco leaf tea should make all well. See you in Bolivia. Here are a few snaps.

Summit of Volcan Villarica - Pucon



Inside the volcano - Pucon



With Pablo - Vina del Mar



A few pictures of the Valle du la Luna and the geography of the surrounding area.