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San Pedro and Atacama DesertNov 10, 2005
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Roadside salt
San Pedro Church
Another lunch
Crossing the border from Argentina to Chile was not the normal sign-out, sign-in and drive through like normal...All our bags had to be taken out of the truck, shoes disinfected and bags searched (very loose sense of the word!). No fruit was allowed over the border. So we all passed the inspection and were allowed through, however, the truck did not!! The appropriate paperwork hadn't been faxed through, and being a Saturday evening meant waiting until opening hours on Monday morning.
So San Pedro, a bohemian oasis, and the most expensive place we are going to visit with London-priced drinks!! Although from the outside it looked a relatively poor, basic community, with simple single-storey buildings, inside was very different with beautiful artwork and pricey, quality shops.
Bonfire night was celebrated in an alternative fashion, with a performance art display...4 pictures were shown on an overhead projector and a lady, dressed in black and painted with spots, danced with batons of fire to resemble the images. Luckily no sparks and bangs!
Without the truck we made our own way to walk through the rock canyon, Valley of Death and clamber through the salt caves. Just prior to sunset we climbed Valle de Luna sand-dune, (Moon Valley) to watch the changing colours of the rock and sand as the sun went down - beautiful, but you can see the pictures!
