Hello to all, i hope your well in your respective areas. I have now reached the activity destination of San Pedro de Atacama. We spent a couple of days in Arica, mostly getting burnt on the blindingly hot beach, and wandering aimlessly around town. Yes, effiels cast iron catthedral certaintanly is a feat of engineering, but we only really needed to see it once. Not the three times we did see, each time with the enthusiasm waning more, as we were so bored there waiting for a bus to take us away. It really was dull.
Anyway, i have realised that it is a money safeing idea to travel long journeys over night, thuis removing the cost of a hostel, and saving a day. This all worked out fine on the 9 hour bus journey to Calama, where we went for a connection to San Pedro, aside from the patrols which, as far as i was concerned, were a cruel an unnecessary addition to an otherwise sleep filled journey. TWICE, we stopped in the night, to have our passports checked, and our belongings half heartedly poked, just in case we were hiding something. And this wasnt even a border crossing. Not loving Chilean thouroughness.
We got to San pedro at about 10am yesterday, and it is a big an welcome change from the transitory towns of Tacna and Arica. As the lonely planet puts it, this is the Gringo collecting point of the north, and you can see why. Despite the inflated costs (eating out is similar to costs in England), there is so much to do. Last night, we took the lonar valley tour, which takes five hours, and takes you thourough the immense arid and volcanic terrain of the atacama desert around san pedro. At the end of trip, we climbed a massive sand dune to watch the sun set. Watchiing the sun dye the far volcanoes red was really speacial. And then today, i possibly had the best morning of my life! At 9am, clare and i set out with one of the local tour guides to his horse ranch, and from there trekked off on horse back across the desert, with a couple of sand boards, towards death valley. The trek to the valley through the surrounding canyons was amazing. Not so keen on sand boarding- it looks cool, but its bloody hard work tripsing back up a dune you just boarded down, and we got bored quite quick. THough having the whole dune and death valley to ourselves, after seeing it full of people yesterday felt pretty good! Clare now appreciates the beauty of horse riding too!
So, im off now to go mountain biking! Im surprising myself!
