The Town of San Pedro and the Atacama Desert
From “To Chile and Back—A Journey to Indescribable Natural Beauty”
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The next morning we boarded the return bus from Valparaiso to Santiago, Terminal Alameda, and from there by another bus to the airport. At the airport, we had plenty of time to enjoy the delicious bites offered at Primeclass Condor Loundge, which I had access to my Dinner's Club Credit Map. This card in Bulgaria is issued only and only by First Investment Bank and allows free access to over 850 salons worldwide. In this travelogue, I will not touch on the topic of credit cards, but I plan to write a detailed article very soon about which are the most profitable cards for people who often travel abroad.
by plane to Calama
Our flight was from 2:15 p.m. And landed in Kalama at 16:20. We traveled for the first time with an airline Sky Airlines and our impression of it is that in terms of comfort and atmosphere it looks a lot like Wizz, but the planes are one idea fewer rows with the last row without a window. The turbulence on these planes was felt much more strongly than with others. As we approached the airport of Kalama, the plane was literally drifting up and down and left and right, and we were a little confused about how exactly it was going to land. The weather was clear, without a gram of clouds, and we were wondering where this turbulence comes from - an inexperienced pilot or from the plane? After we got off the plane and a strong desert wind blew, we realized that the pilot had actually done very well in the available weather conditions. There was no sleeve to take us from the plane to the terminal, nor did a bus come to pick us up. So we walked to the airport's small terminal anyway.
Important!
The town of Calama is located at an elevation of 2,200 meters. The town of San Pedro is at 2,400 meters, and the El Tatio geysers are at 4,360 meters. It is essential to drink plenty of fluids, eat light meals, and avoid overexertion. All of this helps with acclimatization to the high altitude.
From Calama Airport to San Pedro
The possibilities for transfer from Kalama airport to the town of San Pedro are as follows:
- with a private taxi - about 100 USD one-way
- with a mini bus. The price is fixed for all companies and is CLP 12,000 (20 USD) one-way or CLP 20,000 (30 USD). The distance between the two cities is about 120 kilometers and takes an hour and a half.
- by taxi from Kalama airport to the city center, and from there to San Pedro there are quite a bargain intercity buses for 2-3 USD, but the taxi to the center Kalama makes this whole training meaningless, as it will cost a lot of money, and there is no public transport from the airport to the city that is a budget alternative to the taxi.
We chose to drive a mini bus. On the way, we constantly photographed the Martian landscape around and the wasteland. For the first time we were in a real desert. The driver left us right next to the hotel.
THE SAGA OF ACCOMMODATION
Our hotel was called Hostal Lalcketi and I booked it through the site www.booking.com as for 2 We paid $77 overnights. We chose it because it had a small but very cute courtyard, and the rooms were very nice compared to others at the same price. The hotel was a one-story building with several rooms, and as soon as we entered, we were fascinated by the picturesque surroundings around, but that was only the first impression. Then it turned out that the woman who had to check us in did not speak a word in English and claimed that we had to pay on the spot, even though we had already been deducted from the card for the entire amount of the stay in advance. So we lost at least 30 minutes in arguments, until finally she called the person owned by the hotel and he confirmed our version.
All this time we were super thirsty, and since we knew that at such an altitude (2400 meters) he had to drink a lot of water, it became very unpleasant for us that we had to argue about nonsense for so long instead of buying water. Later we had other unpleasant incidents during our short stay like changing the room with absolutely no warning as they had touched and collected all our luggage and transferred it to the other room! Also, the woman (the same woman with English buckle) was doing a problem for the hot water and when we asked her to let it go, as she didn't have it, I don't know if it's saving or anger, but the woman turned on the gas bottle for exactly 1 minute and counted on the warmed for this one One minute of water will be enough for us both to take a bath!
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First impressions of the town of San Pedro
After the saga of check-in at the hotel passed, we went for a walk around the town. I can say with my hand on my heart that the town of San Pedro is one of the most cozy towns I have ever been to. The town is small and all the houses and hotels are on one, maximum two floors. There are only a few streets that are asphalted and the rest are dirt roads or gravel. A very small creek passes through the town. There are also trees that are indispensable and very valuable in the desert. The streets were full of tourists, although it was not the strongest season. The shops were waiting for their visitors. In addition to the standard souvenirs such as fridge magnets and key chains, llama-shaped toys were also sold here, which is a characteristic animal of the Andes region. Many leather goods, clothes and bags made from llama wool were also available.
We passed through the Catholic Church of San Pedro and started looking for a suitable place to have dinner. We spotted a few, and while we were hesitating which restaurant to stay at, we heard music coming from a restaurant nearby. We looked out the window and saw a Chilean orchestra playing. We immediately said to ourselves: this is the place 🙂 There was only one table left, especially for us 🙂 The establishment was a Chilean restaurant (even so it is called in Google Maps) and in addition to various accompanying teams every night, the establishment also has a place where a fire is burning. Our table was right next to the hearth and everything was so romantic and pleasant. The amount of dishes was huge, they served whole mountains on the plates, which in turn compensated for the high prices in the restaurant. Quinoa and/or avocado was present as an ingredient in almost every dish.
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Major Sights in Atacama Desert
San Pedro is a convenient starting point for visiting the following natural attractions in the Atacama Desert:
– Moon Valley (Valle de la Luna.);
- Tatio Geysers (Geyser el tatio);
– Laguna Altiplanikas (Lagunas altiplanicas);
– Salt Lake Atacama (Salar de Atacama);
– Puritama hot springs (Termas de Puritama);
– Salt Lake Tara (Salar de Tara);
– Piedas Rojas (Red Round Rocks)
– Laguna Cejar
What of the listed sights we managed to see, you read in the next post about the Atacama.
To the next travelogue:
Atacama Desert: El Tatio Geysers and Moon Valley
