San Pedro De Atacama 10th August - 13th August 2006 We are up early and it's a quick breakfast of standard bread and jam before we jump in a taxi and head off to the bus station. It must be said that the bus stations in Argentina and Chile have been very well set up and it's obviously the best way to get around. Bus journeys up to 30 or 40 hours are available but on this occasion we will just be on the bus for 7hrs, crossing the Andes for the third time. On the way we pass the scene of the protest we had to walk through a couple of days ago, all seems very quiet now. The crossing over the Andes takes us up to 4200m above sea level (ASL) and the views from the top are once more mind boggling, it's quite hard to imagine coming from a country where the highest mountain is about 900m ASL. How can we be so high and still have mountains and volcanoes towering above us. Amy wins at scrabble by 4 points. We stop just before the border crossing for lunch before continuing downhill for about 2 hrs into the little village of San Pedro (2400m ASL). The scenery around us is of course desert like and pretty barren and we both start getting headaches which is an early sign of altitude sickness. After walking into San Pedro we are hassled for accommodation and choose the guy spouting the soon to become immortal lines "It's a brand new hostel" which can usually be translated to "It's a not yet quite finished hostel". Thankfully on this occasion it's pretty much finished and we immediately crash into bed with terrible headaches, it's 5pm. After waking slightly to have a few biscuits and a drink of water we crash back to bed again. Needless to say we wake pretty early on the Friday with a huge appetite. After wandering around the main square (which takes all of about 1 minute) we find a little café and our hunger is quenched. We book some tours for the afternoon and the following day and then hire bikes to cycle up to a site of old ruins (pre inca I think). As we climb ever so slightly out of town the scenery around San Pedro unveils itself once more and we can spot at least 10 volcanoes running North to South along the Andean range. We head back into town and jump on a tour bus to the "Valley of the Moon" and stop at some awesome viewpoints along the way. In the distance we can see the salt flats and in the foreground we can see several vertical rock formations rising jaggedly from the already undulating terrain. Apparently this is caused by two mountain ranges slowly coming together and squashing the valley between them (something to do with the Andean and Pacific tectonic plates), causing the rock to jut out at almost impossible angles. We then take a walk through the valley with some crazy scenery all around. Stu climbs up a ridiculously high sand dune and is pretty out of breath getting up there. We watch the sunset over the valley and surrounding volcanoes and it's certainly not the best we have seen. Dinner is ok, Stu incorrectly decides to go for the lamb which turns out to be more bone and fat than meat, plus it's freezing at night at this altitude. We retire to bed as it's probably the warmest place in the village. The following day we are up at a stupid hour to be picked up at 7am for a tour to the salt lakes and the altiplano. We drive straight to the salt lakes and it's all pretty bizarre with grey and white salt crystals covering the ground to a depth of 150m. We see 2 types of flamingo (Chilian and 1 other) feeding themselves in the lake nearby. Amy manages to get a picture of a small group flying overhead and they look like pink arrows as they are so skinny. We have breakfast and after visiting a small little village we then head up to a height of 4400m to the altiplano, the views (needless to say) are stunning. We have a (slow) walk through the park and stop for a rest overlooking two beautiful lakes with volcanoes in the immediate background. At this altitude it's pretty hard to gain enough oxygen and we feel really out of breath and our hearts are pounding like crazy just from walking a few steps. We have a picnic (the French tourists in our group generally crowd the table like a plague of locusts) overlooking the lake and then it's time for a long and bumpy ride down. We stop for another walk through a little oasis and it's nothing like Stu imagined, I mean, where is the poolside bar with topless ladies serving free beer?? Talk about disappointed and sorry to ruin it all for you, I felt just like I did when I found out that Father Christmas wasn't real or that Spurs were no longer the greatest team in Europe. Really sad. In the evening we head out to a local restaurant and have chicken Teriyaki rounded off by some cake and it's all pretty good. The following day we check out of our hostel and update the internet. San Pedro, despite being a little touristy town, is yet another of the highlights of our trip with some truly outstanding scenery. Thankfully the altitude sickness headaches all but disappeared after a few days and we are ready for a few days rest in Iquique. All the best to everyone. Lots of Love Stu & Amy.