San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Travelling in Latin America is always exciting. In one moment we are seeing Mayan ruins, in another we are checking colonial cities and after that we could end up in the jungle or in a desert.

Valle de La Luna

We crossed by land from Peru to Chile. It was an overnight bus trip very long, not so comfortable and tiring. We arrived to San Pedro de Atacama in the early morning with no hotel reservation and carrying a backpack. In these moments I'm grateful for travelling light.

San Pedro de Atacama 

It was really hard to find decent and affordable accommodation, specially if you are on a budget. Atacama is a fancy destination with a very few budget options. After going from side to side of this tinny village we found a place to spend the next night.

San Pedro de Atacama

San Pedro de Atacama

We tried to explore as much as we could since we only had one day there which might not be enough. We wanted to go to the Valle de La Luna.

We inquired about tours in the several tour agencies across the village (there is plenty of competition and the packages are very similar) and we found a small tour of less than 10 people including the guide that was also the driver.

Valle de La Luna

The Valle de La Luna is gorgeous. It's clear that this area doesn't see water for a long time now. Apparently it's one of the driest and oldest places on earth. And  the range of colors and textures look somewhat similar to the surface of the moon. 

Valle de La Luna

Our guide showed us some spots around, we did some short treks and in the end of the visit he took us to a nice spot to see the sunset. It was really cool but a bit freezing. The temperatures drop quickly. 

Rui got sick at night. But thankfully the guide gave us some little cactus leaves that are used to make tea. That saved his life... OK, he was not that bad and the tea wasn't that great.

Landscape along the Paso de Jama Border

Our next destination was Bolivia but since the road that goes from Atacama to Bolivia is in really bad shape, I guess that at that time it wasn't completely paved, it was more practical to go first to Argentina and from there get another bus to Bolivia. A small detour. In the next morning we headed off to Argentina. 

Landscape along the Paso de Jama Border

 We would cross the Paso de Jama border. This is a mountain pass through the Andes at an elevation of more than 4,000 mt (about 14,000 ft) at the border. 
We were pleasantly surprised by the beautiful landscapes across the border.

Landscape along the Paso de Jama Border