Life in a small town

Day 232 – San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

San Pedro de Atacama is a relatively small town -the active centre can be crossed in less than 5 minutes. But it is really concentrated, each house -traditional adobe house- a shop (mini-market or souvenirs), an excursion centre, a restaurant or a hostel. The occasional bank.

In my first hostel, I went to the nearest identified laundry service, where the laundress had the amiability of a prison door. Obviously, cracking a smile wasn’t something that was done. So I was only too happy to change to another service when I switched hostel.

The new hostel is bigger, the room is huge, 4 bunk beds with a big space in the middle. There are even power outlets in reach of the beds! Amazing! Since I’m staying there a week, I’m happy to have a bottom bunk. The breakfast is included, the kitchen maybe smaller but better equipped. The common area, an open courtyard in the middle of the building -another traditional layout here- is big, and more comfortable and welcoming. And showers aren’t limited to sun power schedule. (There is even a toilet paper dispenser in each stall instead of having a common one outside, meaning you have to know exactly how much you will need before going in…!)

One of the main attraction of San Pedro is an excursion to the geyser field (more on that shortly) for the sunrise, which means a very early start. And apparently people don’t know to plan ahead to minimize their noise and to-and-fros in the room. That usually means people getting up at 4am. When you add those getting up on time to leave at 7am, you imagine the joy. Let’s not forget people who don’t hear their alarm and let them ring again and again.

Some mornings are more joyous than others.

I’ll conclude my article by advising you to take a look at the pictures of the church, whose ceiling was made with cactus wood. It was first mentioned in the 17th century, was destroyed and rebuilt several times. It’s an adobe building, and it is interesting to see cactus wood used in its building.

San Pedro de Atacama – Church ceiling