New Years Day
No chance for much of a lie-in today as we had a flight to catch to Santiago. We packed up our wet gear and set off walking to the bus station, setting a good pace as we didn’t realise until too late that taxis don’t run on New Years Day! We made the bus and the plane, arriving in Santiago around 9pm. It turned out there was no food to be had at the hotel or in the neighbourhood so we made do with beer and chips which was all the hotel could manage!
[simage=3279,200,n,left,] Santiago to San Pedro de Atacama and Valle de la Luna
A 5 am start and a plane ride to Calama, followed by an efficient bus to our hostel in San Pedro saw us arrive at lunchtime. We headed into town for a proper meal and some cold refreshments while we considered our plans for the next few days. We decided to take the 4 pm tour to the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon) where we spent several hours looking around the desert, with the highlight being walking through a steep-sided, deep canyon. We watched the sunset from a viewpoint overlooking all the strange rock formations before heading back to town. After a quick dinner and pisco sour it was off to bed ready for our 3.45am wake up call!
[simage=3290,200,n,left,] Tatio Geysers
Up at 3.45 for a 4am pickup then a 2 hour drive to the Tatio Geysers at 4000m. We felt fine this altitude, and enjoyed a few hours looking around the geyser site in beautiful surroundings, including a good breakfast laid on by the tour company. We should have brought swimming things so only had a paddle in the hot springs. In the way back we stopped at a traditional village where Andy enjoyed having his picture taken with a baby llama. Llama are undoubtedly one of the coolest domestic animals ever bred!
We were back in town for lunch, then spent the hot part of the afternoon back at the hostel drying out camping gear which took about 30 mins in the hot sun.
Another early dinner and night saw us prepare for another early start and our assault on Volcan Laskar, 5600m
[simage=3319,200,n,left,] Volcan Laskar
A 5.30am start felt like a lie-in after yesterday, and we were more awake for the 2 hour drive to the trailhead. We stopped for breakfast by a high altitude lake (Lago Lejia) complete with flamingos before the final drive to 4900m where we left the truck and set off on foot. It was raining lightly on the way up and everything was in cloud. Our guide Carlos was great, and gave us some tips for high altitude hiking – move slowly, breath deeply, and drink lots. It’s only 700m, how hard can it be??? 3 hours later, after a hard walk, we reached the crater rim at 5500m. We donned (completely useless) masks due to the volcanic fumes, and found out that this is where treks usually stop. We were in a col between 2 peaks and it was hard to know which was higher. Carlos agreed to take us up to one of them, saying the other was dangerous. We hoped it was the higher one we were setting off to, as by this point the altitude was getting to us. Gill got left behind on the final ascent and finally made it, after considering giving up after every 3rd step! After struggling to the 5,600 m summit (in 4 hours total) we enjoyed the amazing views as the clouds were clearing and we could see everything, including the nearby volcanoes of Aguas Calientes and Volcan Pili. Gill perked up on the way back but Andy was suffering from dehydration. We finally made it back to the car after a 2 hour descent. On the way back to town Carlos stopped several times to look at plants, Vicuña, and take pictures of the views, and have some drinks and snacks. He was a great guide who was really enthusiastic about the countryside We both had splitting headaches and retired to our room for the rest of the evening. So much for a relaxed dinner out on our last night out! Although this hike was the hardest thing either of us ever did, it was definitely the highlight of the desert trip for the staggering scenery and solitude compared to the other users we visited on the more popular tours.
Going home
We spent our last morning pottering around the town and drinking coffee in the sun. Then it was time to start the long journey, 2 hours by bus, 4 plane rides and a 9 hour layover in Miami due to the failure of American Airlines to book seats for us on our original itinerary.
An amazing trip to Chile – we’ll be back!
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Grant Bruce
Andy,
Great blog – some amazing photos – definitely whetted my appetite to do something similar