Salar de Uyuni tour day 1
Day 240 – Villa Mar, Bolivia All the pictures here. The agency picked us up at 6:30am at the various hostels we travellers stayed at, then drove us to the border via minibus. The Chilean border post is a vast hangar through which the bus drives; we stop inside, go out, step to the counter,…
Off to Bolivia!
Day 239 – San Pedro de Atacama, Chile Bolivia is confirmed for tomorrow! I had to switch agency because I was the only one wanting to go that day, but as they all offer the same tour… I also had the joys of sending a new parcel home. I wanted to wait for Peru or…
Next: Bolivia
Day 238 – San Pedro de Atacama Have you noticed onboard airplanes how your water bottle majes a pshht sound when you open it, or your inflatable pillow is fuller than on the ground? Well here it’s the same thing. New bottles make a distinct pshht sound, and the ball of the deodorant jumps out…
Moon and Mars Valleys
Day 236 – San Pedro de Atacama, Chile I was supposed to go on the Moon Valley sunset tour last Sunday, but I got a bit sick and the agency agreed to reschedule it to Tuesday. (We got a water blackout the same day, nothing like being sick when there is no running water.) We…
El Tatio geothermal field
Day 233 – San Pedro de Atacama, Chile Today was my first big tour. Painfully aware that waking up an entire dorm at 4am with one’s alarm and then digging around one’s stuff, coming and going, is rather perturbing for other’s sleep, I had all ready in two bags: my clothes for the day and…
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…
San Pedro de Atacama
Day 229 – San Pedro de Atacama, Chile So I’ve finally reached the tourist’s Mecca of Northern Chile, San Pedro de Atacama. For that I missed a bus Monday morning, yesterday, because I hadn’t understood when the lady told me it was leaving from in front of their office, not at the terminal 50m down…
Caldera
Day 227 – Caldera, Chile I’m grateful for my host in Vicuna to have sent me herr in Caldera rather than my original destination, Copiapo. It is nicer to be in a small seaside town than in a bigger, inland one. When I arrived last night, I started planning in my phone my next leg.…
Another transit day
Day 226 – Caldera, Chile I finally learned why I can’t buy bus tickets online. Apparently, foreign credit card don’t really work. That makes me dependant on ticket offices… and sometimes, you van’t buy tickets for destinations that don’t include your location. That mostly means buying your bus at the last minute. With the uncertainty…
Cactii and stargazing
Day 225 – Vicuña, Chile Vicuña is a town dedicated to Gabriela Mistral, a famous Chilean poet who was born here. So the main plaza is named for her, there is a museum dedicated to her, and so on. I will have to find some poem to learn more! Vicuña is also in the centre…