From snowy Patagonia to the Atacama desert – definitely a great transformation in scenery. San Pedro de Atacama marked our last stop on our trip through Chile. Our time in San Pedro de Atacama, or, how I would rather call it: the time I lost my lungs to a shit load of dust, but had the best time doing so.  Here we go. 

We got to San Pedro de Atacama after a 30 something hour bus ride from Pucon (you gotta love backpacker life) and were relieved to find our hostel – Backpackers San Pedro – after a short walk. The hostel has a cool dessert, vacation vibe to it, the staff was friendly (at least to us, but heard different as well) and the location was great. Huge downfall was, however, the wifi situation as well as the bathroom situation. Not enough bathrooms and difficulties with warm water really annoyed most of the guests there. Also, they advertise a pool on Hostelworld, which we never saw, and the bar was mostly closed. We were, however, at least allowed to make a fire every once in a while and able to buy beer and wine at the bar, which was good. Still, the hostel could use some pointers to lift up the social level a little bit. Besides that, it’s a fine hostel to stay in, the tours that we booked with them were always good and you get a discount at selected restaurants and bars with your hostel wristband. 

I have to say, the city of San Pedro is truely charming. Wild West meets Chile – that’s the feeling I initially got, when walking through the tiny streets there. Of course, it’s yet another city that serves as gateway to take day trips to Atacama desert or even to leave for the slat flats in Bolivia, which we already did last year. The Main Street of San Pedro basically only consists of restaurants, tour agencies and souvenir shops. If you are searching for the right tour for you, definitely compare some prices and always ask for discount, when you are booking packages of tours. There are approximately 200 agencies in San Pedro, so you’ll definitely find a good deal. We already spoke to backpackers before coming to San Pedro and had an idea of what we wanted to see. In the end, we decided to do Valle de la Luna by bike and without a tour and booked the Geysers, Salar de Tara and Rainbow valley. Good thing is, that lots of tours are only half day tours, so that you still have enough time to chill or plan your next travel steps. 

Tatio Geysers Tour
Our first tour was to the Geysers. We’ve seen the Bolivian Geysers last year, but were told that there were way more on tour Chilean side, so a good reason for us to go. We got picked up at 5:30 am (yes, Backpacker life is not always easy haha) by Whipala expedition and drove for approximately two hours in order to enter the area of Tatio Geysers. The Geysers are located 4.200m above sea level in the Andes mountains and holds around 80 active Geysers, which are best visited early in the morning for sunrise, as the smoke can best be seen then. Be aware – it is freezing cold, when you drive up there. Don’t let the warmth of San Pedro fool you. When we went, it was minus seven degrees, so definitely wear all the warm clother that you have in your backpack (bright side – it does get warmer after sunrise). Our tour guide was really nice, made a really good breakfast in comparison to other tours and took the time to explain the Geysers to us  (which is not always given during tours like that) – so definitely a tour that I would recommend, when being there. Besides the Geysers, you will also stop on a lagoon where you can see flamingos and in a tiny village, where you can visit the church and eat llama meat. This tour is also a half day tour, and you will be back in San Pedro around 1 pm. 

Salar de Tara Tour

Our second tour, we decided to go on the full day tour to Salar de Tara with Flamingo agency. The agency recommended this tour to us rather than doing the salt flats of Atacama, because the Salar is more remote and not so many tourists come there daily. The salt flat is located within Los Flamencos national reserve, close to the boarder point, where Argentina, Bolivia and Chile meet (that is also why your guide will tell you many times to put on a seat belt, because it’s the international highway). We drove approximately an hour until we stopped to have breakfast with a view over breathtaking scenery and vulcanos.

The next stop was at ‘the Monk’ (monjes de pacana), a huge rock formation with the face a monk (obviously due to wind erosion), followed by the view point Salar de Tara. The drive there is already fascinating, but once you stand up there, it’s truely breathtaking. For me, this was even more of a highlight than seeing the Salar from up close, when we had lunch (FAJITAS!!) and walked along the salt flat/ lagoon (even though there are a bunch of flamingos living there, and who doesn’t love flamingos).

Be aware – this tour also goes up to around 4.300 m above sea level, and it sometimes takes some time to adjust to the height. I personally never had any issues, not in Chile, Bolivia or Peru, but finding it harder to breathe. feeling dizzy and headaches are definite signs that the height is getting to you. If that happens, tell the guide, take it slow, drink lots of water, so that your body has the opportunity to adjust. Besides that, I can definitely recommend this tour as well. Even though it is quite a lot of driving, the view is just so worth it and the guide gave its best to explain and answer questions. 

Rainbow Valley

As we didn’t do rainbow mountain in Peru last year (boooho), we thought we would get a tiny taste of it when doing this tour. Let’s just say, it’s definitely not the same. It’s a nice scenery, you will see some llamas and alpacas, but the minerals that change the colors are not as colorful as they are on rainbow mountains and therefore a wave of disappointment came over us. First stop was a sight, where you could look at mural, which was ok, but I would have not wanted to spent so much time there. The second stop was rainbow valley, where we had some time to walk around the area, before having some snacks. As I said, it’s an ok tour, but I would rather spend my money on something else than to do this one. Atacama desert has so much to offer, so pick wisely. 

Valle de la Luna

Definitely the stop I was mthink st looking forwards, as the moon valley (Valle de la Luna) is one of the most anticipated tours in Atacama desert, due to its moon like landscape, it’s different sand and stone formations and their dry salt lakes, which make the driest desert on earth appear as if covered in snow. 

We decided to bike there, as tours can always be a little annoying with just sitting in a van Ing. off to take some pictures. So, we rented bikes from the hostel and made our way to the Valley. It’s approximately 4km from our hostel to the entrance, where you have to pay 3000pesos to enter. When we got out, my bike suddenly made a loud pffffff and my tire broke down (seriously, I didn’t even sit on it haha). Thank god, the guys at the entrance are very helpful and changed the tire (we only had one spare tire with us), so that we could go our way. 5 kilometers later – I have no idea what’s with me and bikes, considering my bike in Peru last year broke down twice as well (and I studied in the Netherlands, so I should be a pro biker) – pffff and the tire was flat again. Believe me, I felt terrible, especially because Monique and Henni were with me and we really wanted to do this tour on that day. I would have probably just went back home and tried again the next day, but thanks to Monique we decided to hitchhike with one of the cars that were visiting the park also. And from finally, after a few failed tries, an elderly French couple took us with them and we were able to see the park plus the sunset after all. There really are kind and amazing people out there. A huge merci to Yves and Dominique for making our day. And thanks, Monique, for pushing us (cute & desperate haha). 

So, the tour itself. There are a bunch of stops, but because we were already behind schedule and rolled with our French saviors, we only stopped at three different sights. Our first stop were the salt mines, where you can walk through tiny tunnels and paths, which make you feel like you are on another planet. Salty spots everywhere, which shimmer like crystals in the sun. But be careful and don’t hit your head in one of the little passages, when climbing around there. 

Our second stop were Las Tres Maria’s, which is a rock formation as a result of extrem erosion (see picture above). Approximately 1 million years old, las tres Maria’s consist of clay, salt, gravel and much more, and is a nice quick stop to take some pictures and appreciate the formations. 

Last stop, and THE spot to watch the sunset, was Dina Mayor. Walk up there and you will have a bear th taking view over rock formations, salt lakes and lots of sand. It’s so impressive and my favorite stop of the day. Bring a jacket if you want to watch the sunset, as it gets freezing cold at night. Sunset is at around 7:30pm, but try not watching th  sunset itself but look on the other side. The change of color over the  mountains and the salt lakes is incredible and so much more interesting then to see the sun go down. 

Valle de la Luna – the moon valley. Definitely worth a visit and definitely a stop this you should make if you want to feel a little bit out of this world. Even though my bike broke down twice, I would still recommend doing the tour (either by bike or by renting your own car) by yourself and not with a tour company. It gives you way more flexibility and you are getting a map at the entrance to guide you around. Luckily, Yves and Dominique brought us back to San Pedro de Atacama (including our bikes), which made this day an even greater one (walking in the freezing cold and in the dark with a broken bike is no fun haha). 

The (happy) end