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Saturday, 17. February 2018
Saturday we actually did nothing...
Saturday we actually did nothing...
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Sunday, 18. February 2018
Sunday we drove to the Valle de Luna. Why is it called that? I don't know because it reminded me much more of Mars...
We started with a salt grotto. The entrance was rather unspectacular.
First we walked through a canyon of salt stone.
And upon closer examination you could actually see the salt cristals and the traces left behind by the rain.
Afterwards we came to a longer cave, however, there are no good pictures. We had to duck most of the time and luckily we'd brought our headlamps with us. It was really nice :)
Next we went to a view point from which we had a great 360° view of the dunes and rocks.
The white stuff on the rocks isn't snow, it's salt...
In the background you can again see some of the many vulcanoes which Chile has to offer, a great view :)
After a short lunch break came the rain or better the thunder storm! Have I already mentioned that I don't have a clue as to why the Atacama is named the driest dessert in the world? Well, it sure isn't in 2018!
Shortly after we were asked to leave the park because the park management was affraid that the rain would wash away the roads.
Back in San Pedro the rain was over and we went for a walk around the city.
Here you can see the main street in the tourist quarter. Such a rustic look doesn't only have advantages. After a rain the roads are muddy. Otherwise when the wind is blowing and it does so rather strong in the afternoons, you have dust in your face...
As soon as you get into the living quarters of San Pedro the roads are cobble streets. And this here, my dears, are some of the better houses in San Pedro...
At the outskirts of the city you can see quite different houses, many of which are made from plywood. Also quite often the "yards" are covered in rubish.
Sunday we drove to the Valle de Luna. Why is it called that? I don't know because it reminded me much more of Mars...
We started with a salt grotto. The entrance was rather unspectacular.
First we walked through a canyon of salt stone.
And upon closer examination you could actually see the salt cristals and the traces left behind by the rain.
Afterwards we came to a longer cave, however, there are no good pictures. We had to duck most of the time and luckily we'd brought our headlamps with us. It was really nice :)
Next we went to a view point from which we had a great 360° view of the dunes and rocks.
The white stuff on the rocks isn't snow, it's salt...
In the background you can again see some of the many vulcanoes which Chile has to offer, a great view :)
After a short lunch break came the rain or better the thunder storm! Have I already mentioned that I don't have a clue as to why the Atacama is named the driest dessert in the world? Well, it sure isn't in 2018!
Shortly after we were asked to leave the park because the park management was affraid that the rain would wash away the roads.
Back in San Pedro the rain was over and we went for a walk around the city.
Here you can see the main street in the tourist quarter. Such a rustic look doesn't only have advantages. After a rain the roads are muddy. Otherwise when the wind is blowing and it does so rather strong in the afternoons, you have dust in your face...
As soon as you get into the living quarters of San Pedro the roads are cobble streets. And this here, my dears, are some of the better houses in San Pedro...
At the outskirts of the city you can see quite different houses, many of which are made from plywood. Also quite often the "yards" are covered in rubish.
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Monday, 19. February 2018
Monday we, once again, did nothing... Nothing except to visit the El Tatio geyser on Tuesday.
Monday we, once again, did nothing... Nothing except to visit the El Tatio geyser on Tuesday.
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Tuesday, 20. February 2018
Tuesday, 05:15 a.m. and the alarm went off... Putting on clothes, into the car and off we are to El Tatio National Park which is about 90km away.
It felt like half the town was on its feed and on the way to El Tatio. Some tours even leave at 04:30 a.m.!!! And why do you go there so early? Exactly, so that above 4000m at 07:00 a.m. you can freeze your butt off when the temperatures are freezing cold...
Ok, that's not quite fair. It looks cool to see the steam clouds.
Besides us there were hundereds of otheres who also wanted to see this. As we'd parked our car most tour operators were setting up breakfast buffets, unbelievable, and our stomachs were growling...
The geysers are rather samll, but there are many of them.
The probably biggest of them threw it's water up to 10m high.
As the sun came over the mountains just shortly before 08:00 a.m. we set up our own breakfast table and enjoyed breakfast.
After most of the people had gone the cleaning crew arrived to take care of the left overs :)
Afterwards we went to the thermal springs in the park. However, they weren't that great. The hot, actually scalding hot, water came out of two springs and only very little of it at that. As a result all people croweded into one corner of the pool. The scalding hot water was about a 1 cm layer on top and below it the temperature dropped rapidly. Still, it was quite funny to find a spot where you weren't cold and didn't get boiled...
Tuesday, 05:15 a.m. and the alarm went off... Putting on clothes, into the car and off we are to El Tatio National Park which is about 90km away.
It felt like half the town was on its feed and on the way to El Tatio. Some tours even leave at 04:30 a.m.!!! And why do you go there so early? Exactly, so that above 4000m at 07:00 a.m. you can freeze your butt off when the temperatures are freezing cold...
Ok, that's not quite fair. It looks cool to see the steam clouds.
Besides us there were hundereds of otheres who also wanted to see this. As we'd parked our car most tour operators were setting up breakfast buffets, unbelievable, and our stomachs were growling...
The geysers are rather samll, but there are many of them.
The probably biggest of them threw it's water up to 10m high.
As the sun came over the mountains just shortly before 08:00 a.m. we set up our own breakfast table and enjoyed breakfast.
After most of the people had gone the cleaning crew arrived to take care of the left overs :)
Afterwards we went to the thermal springs in the park. However, they weren't that great. The hot, actually scalding hot, water came out of two springs and only very little of it at that. As a result all people croweded into one corner of the pool. The scalding hot water was about a 1 cm layer on top and below it the temperature dropped rapidly. Still, it was quite funny to find a spot where you weren't cold and didn't get boiled...
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Wednesday, 21. February 2018
Todady we drove to Calama. Here we want to look for a garage to change the clutch. Also we want to meet our contact who'll receive the bearings which Tobi ordered. How long will this take? No one knows! This is our problem currently. We don't know what to do right now. There is not much to see up here and we have to wait for 2-4 weeks... Well, I'll keep you posted :)
Todady we drove to Calama. Here we want to look for a garage to change the clutch. Also we want to meet our contact who'll receive the bearings which Tobi ordered. How long will this take? No one knows! This is our problem currently. We don't know what to do right now. There is not much to see up here and we have to wait for 2-4 weeks... Well, I'll keep you posted :)
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