The first town across the border is San Pedro de Atacama. The town sprang up at the cross-roads between an Argentina-Bolivia-Chile route and the North-South route up Chile. Nowadays its very much a tourist staging post. It´s amazing the difference between the Bolivian side of the border. Chile is very much more developed and is obviously much more afluent. Gone are the bird´s nests of wiring, dodgy drains etc... Prices are now close to European levels, which is a bit of a shock to the wallet after travelling through Peru and especially Bolivia.
The main attraction of the town is the spectacular desert and volcano scenery. The Atacama desert ( most arid in the world supposedly ) starts just south of the town and stretches hundreds of miles into Chile. About 7 miles into the desert ( up a bloody great big hill when you´re on a pushbike ) is a view over the Valley of the Moon. Look at the photo to the left - you can see how it got it´s name !
The other feature that we really enjoyed were the spectacular desert and volcano sunsets. Check this puppy out ! Everywhere you looked on the horizon were the cones of volcanoes. The place is surrounded by them. Hope they stay dormant.
We start a travel marathon shortly. We get a bus from Atacama to Calama, a flight to Santiago, then an overnight bus down to Pucon. Tired already.....
Here´s a sweep of the Valley of the Moon and Atacama
And here´s us cycling down the Valley of the Dead....
