I recovered from my Peruvian Plague just in time for an eight hour trip into Chile. After a six hour bus trip and an ill-fated attempt to take a train, we ended up taking a two hour ride across the border in an old gas guzzling Oldsmobile “taxi”. I wish we had a picture to show you of this, but remember your friend’s huge car that could fit 10 of you when you were a teen? That was what we took, only there were 6 of us crammed in.
The border town of Arica, Chile ended up being a really great desert town to hang out in for a few days. It was right on the beach so I could burn up any remains of Peruvian germs in my system. It was here we met a great couple from the UK to hang out with. Pete and Anna were heading in the same direction as us, so we decided to all travel together for a week.
We took a ten hour overnight bus to the next town, where we planned to rent a truck to explore the geysers and salt lakes as none of us were really tour people. During the night, we were awakened for a 1am passport check and a 5am vegetable check. After our bags were checked for contraband bananas, it was hard to get to sleep again. I spent most of the rest of the trip complaining to Sean about my lack of sleep, making sure he was lacking, too.
We arrived in the town of Calama at 7am, with the plan of waiting out our time with some much needed coffee until the car rental opened at 9am. There were literally no cafes or restaurants open, so we talked our way into a hotel buffet breakfast with free wireless to spend our time. We confirmed online that the cost of the truck should be about $350 for four days. When we got to the car rental, they had no trucks, nor did any other rental agency in the next two towns. But we could return the next night to rent a truck for $700. WHAT!!!! A little off the mark from the internet wouldn’t you say? So we opted for a bus and planned to book some tours to see the sights in the next town.
The town of San Pedro de Aatacama is dropped in the midst of some of the most amazing scenery. Our first tour from San Pedro took us to “Salar de Atacama” the salt flats and salt lakes of the region. This is one of three salt lakes in the world, and it was full of flamingos. The landscape looked like snow that had yet to be plowed, but thankfully not as cold.
Our second tour got us up at the ungodly hour of 4am. We were going to 12000 feet to visit the Tatio Geysers. The geysers are most active in the morning, hence the bleary eyed wakeup call. As we traveled the bus got colder and colder. Ice formed inside the windows as I began to add layers of clothes. Does this bus have heat? I am always cold anyway, and this cold was trying my cold tolerance. I thought it could not get much worse, until we got out of the bus.
The guide told us it was -6 Celsius, but the geysers were not as active because it was not that cold. What? I had never been so cold in my entire life! I was wearing two pairs of pants, 3 shirts, one sweatshirt, one rain jacket, a hat, a scarf, and a scowl. We were putting our feet into the thermal blasts of the geysers to try to stay warm (do not try this one at home). Once the sun came up and the warmth kicked in (barely) I could finally enjoy the beauty of the geysers.
Our last tour took us to two valleys with the goal of watching the sun set over the dunes. The setting was so beautiful and quiet, and if you stood still you could actually here the rocks crackling from the quartz and salt. As we sat with our new friends on top of a ridge enjoying the view, I thought to myself Chile is a good place to chill with good company.
P.S. Happy Birthdays to Kim and Erin back at home!
mike said:
This reminds me of one of those Seinfeld episodes.
Jerry: I don’t understand, I made a reservation, do you have my reservation?
Agent: Yes, we do, unfortunately we ran out of cars.
Jerry: But the reservation keeps the car here. That’s why you have the reservation.
Agent: I know why we have reservations.
Jerry: I don’t think you do. If you did, I’d have a car. See, you know how to take the reservation you just don’t know how to *hold* the reservation and that’s really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody can just take them.