San Pedro de Atacama & Atacama Desert, Chile
I got to San Pedro by flying from Santiago to Calama. Whilst waiting for my transfer between Calama and San Pedro, I’ve made friends with Tian. We quickly realized that our itineraries align perfectly for the following five or six days, and we spent them together.
Atacama is the world’s driest non-polar desert. And it turns out there’s loads to do in it! San Pedro is not much of a town in itself. The main street, Caracoles, is full of tour operators, money exchanges and other various tourist related businesses. It’s so dry around there that I tasted the dust every time a car passed me by.
When I planned to spend 2 days in San Pedro and see the main highlights around there, I failed to account for altitude in San Pedro (2400m) and the places I wanted to visit (4300m). I was quickly informed that my plan was too ambitious, and I should take a day to simply rest – which turned out to be a very wise piece of advice. I was gutted to miss Piedras Rojas though.
Tian and I ended up renting bikes on day one (i.e. our rest day), and cycling to Valle de la Luna. Apart from a few steep but luckily not very big hills, it was a really nice way to explore the area. Valley of the Moon is frequently described as an otherworldly looking place, and I could certainly see why.
As we entered the valley we were quickly dwarfed by the impressive rock formations. There are also large salt deposits, which make the red and yellow sands shimmer in the sunlight. But the main thing reminding you that you’re definitely still on Earth is the gorgeous backdrop of the Andes and its snowy peaks. I could not get enough of the contrasting view.
On day two we took a tour to Geyser Del Taito. This included an awfully early wake up, and a freezing cold journey to our destination which we were trying to reach before sunrise. El Teito is the third largest geyser field in the world. Our reward was seeing many bubbling pools of water, and the geothermal formations spraying water around like miniature volcanoes. Incredibly tall steam columns surrounded the whole area when we arrived. As the sun rose and the first rays of light fell onto us, the steam disappeared almost immediately!
The temperature difference before and after sunrise was apparent extremely fast, and I finally understood why we needed to be there early. On the way back we stopped at a few scenic places, and saw a few flamingos and vicuñas. I love watching wildlife!
After two days in San Pedro, we both took a 3 day tour to Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia.
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
Crossing the border between Chile and Bolivia and entering the protected Eduardo Avaroa Reserve was an interesting experience, which involved lots of waiting around, some very poorly implemented electronic systems, and some more waiting around. But it was all worth it!
The first day was marked by seeing some beautiful lagunas – Laguna Blanca and Laguna Azul. It also included a stop in Termas de Polques, naturally hot pools with a beautiful view of the Salar.
However, the main highlight was definitely visiting Laguna Colorada, the home to thousands and thousands of flamingos. I loved watching these beautiful creatures, and could have easily spent the whole day just doing so.
Day two was the least interesting one of the tour, and mostly felt like constant driving, interrupted only by desert scenery and llamas. However, we ended up sleeping in a salt hotel, which I thought was pretty cool.
In the evening, we were told about yet another early wake up on the next day. With a few grumbles, I went to sleep early again. Little did I know I was about to see the most mesmerizing sunrise of my life!
We finally hit the seemingly endless salt flat which gets flooded by water every rainy season. This creates a surreal mirror effect. If anything ever comes close to perfection it’s a moment of stillness in Salar de Uyuni, when the wind quiets down, and everything seems just like the most delicate painting, enveloping you in its beauty.
I was incredibly lucky to see this as it’s already the start of the dry season. I didn’t think I’d mind missing out on it (the hexagonal shapes in dry seasons seemed interesting too), but it’s honestly more impressive in person than on the photos – and I mean even the good ones not taken by me.
After this magical experience, I spent a night in the town of Uyuni as I was trying to avoid a late night bus. In the morning I was heading to Potosí.
Potosí, Bolivia
The city of Potosí was really just a single night pit stop for me. I wish I could have done it more justice! The first impression was that it’s incredibly hectic and chaotic. Even getting a taxi took me and one more fellow traveler some serious effort and waiting – this never happens!
One cannot mention Potosí without mentioning Cerro Rico, dubbed as “the mountain that eats men”. Cerro Rico is a mine that made Potosí bigger than Paris or London back in its glory, and its silver (and a lot of injustice and suffering) bankrolled the entire Spanish empire. Over time the easily accessible rich deposits of silver have been depleted, and whilst it’s still used for some silver mining, it now also focuses on tin and zinc.
I was in two minds about this tour, as there’s really no other way to call it than poverty tourism. At best, it’s a grey area. The mine is not sanitized for tourists at all, which quickly became apparent when signing the disclaimer acknowledging all the risks I was taking.
I felt many things during this visit. It was very powerful and raw to see the harsh working conditions, and the young age of some of the miners. It was educational to hear from our guide and speak to the few miners who didn’t mind our presence. It was surprisingly exhausting to constantly walk bent over and trying not to bang our heads on something. It was somewhat anxiety-inducing to be crawling through spaces barely large enough for us to fit in, realizing that if anything at all happens, we’ll be buried alive (a third of the group aborted the tour due to this). And it was sad to learn about this place’s past, but also the present.
After a day in the Potosí mine the next morning I took another bus to Sucre.
Sucre, Bolivia
Ahhh… Sucre. How does one not fall in love with The White City.
Sucre felt very different from the rest of Bolivia I encountered. It was a lot more relaxed and easy going (the traffic was still very busy, but a little less), it offered the perfect wind down after 3 days in a car and a visit to the mine. There were many great cafes and restaurants. It felt full of international visitors, lots of whom came here to learn Spanish. I’d almost describe it as European. There were also many museums, I especially enjoyed the Museum of Indigenous Art with its incredible textiles from Jalq’a and Tarabuco cultures.
Apart from relaxing, my main activities included a hiking tour to the Maragua Crater. We got to walk along an old Inca Path, see the beautiful formations in the crater itself (the colors, and shapes of everything here were stunning), and be amazed at Niñu Mayu, the preserved dinosaur footprints.
And because there’s no such thing as seeing too many dinosaur footprints, I also went to Parque Cretácico, with a massive cliff called Cal Orck’o covered by over 5000 prints. They were only discovered in 1994 due to the construction of a cement factory. It felt genuinely humbling to think of their age, and knowing that now that they’ve been uncovered their existence is probably about as fleeting as ours due to deterioration by the elements.
I spent four nights in Sucre, and afterwards moved on to La Paz.
La Paz, Bolivia
Yet another pit stop! Unfortunately, I’ve had to rush through Bolivia due to already having booked my Machu Picchu hike, and La Paz was another victim of this.
La Paz feels a lot more authentic than Sucre (maybe it just absorbed the tourists less noticeably), with its hustle and bustle, roads full of mini buses and taxis and various markets. It also seemed there’s loads of things to do around here, and I really loved my hostel! Leaving after just a day was hard, and there were multiple things I wanted to do and couldn’t (Death Road, Valle de las Animas, …)
I spent my day visiting the Witch Market, which I’d describe as nice but overhyped. I followed this by sheltering from rain in a lovely vegan restaurant called La Vida, and subsequently visited the Coca Museum. I finished my day by riding around on Mi Teleférico, the cable car (used as a regular means of transport by the locals) which goes all the way across the city and offers incredible views of La Paz and the mountains it’s nestled in.
My next stop was Copacabana. And no, not the beach in Brazil. The Bolivian town on the beautiful Lake Titicaca.
Copacabana, Bolivia
When I said Sucre was relaxed, Copacabana definitely beat it. Mostly because it feels very small, and there’s basically just one thing going on – the deep blue lake. I spent two laid back days around it. I visited the Floating Islands first, where I sat on one of the floating platforms soaking in all the sun. Whilst most of my trip has been quite sunny, the evenings and nights are still very cold, and I’ve been making good use of my puffy jacket.
The main highlight of my stay was the visit to Isla del Sol. I decided to take a morning ferry to the north of the island, and hike towards the southern port to take a ferry back in the evening. The island has no roads on it, and looks very charming even from afar. The trail I took was well maintained and only had a few people on it. I was rewarded by incredible views of the lake and farming terraces. I also visited some beautiful Inca ruins. Such a lovely day!
However, today is my last day here, and I’ve got two very long bus journeys to look forward to (Copacabana – Puno and Puno – Cusco). Crossing the borders is never too much fun (although usually an experience), and I should arrive in Cusco at 5am the next day. I bet no one envies me this one. But Machu Picchu awaits!
