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I could not get a direct bus to San Pedro, so had to go to the next nearest town of Calama first.
The journey was around 20 hours and as I stared out the window I could not believe that there is just mile upon mile of nothing, just rock.
They should build stuff here, there is tons of space, plus I reckon the land would be cheap I thought as I devised my get rich scheme for getting back. Wonder why no one else has thought of it....
The bus made loads of stops at towns on the way up. Sometimes it stopped for fifteen minutes, sometimes it stopped for just a few to let people on.
I had not eaten so was starving, but did not want to run the risk of getting off for food when it was one of the lightning stops.
Consequently when we rolled up in Calama at 7 in the morning I could have eaten a scabby horse. My bus to San Pedro was not until 9 so it gave me chance to get some breakfast.
Sods law it was only a tiny bus station so just had a small snack station, but they did do hotdogs and coffee.
Never really thought of a hotdog for breakfast before, but it hit the spot.
As we drove out through Calama I was so glad I had decided not to stay over, it looked like a bit of a god foresaken place in the middle of nowhere.
I had not really heard good things either about San Pedro. Just that it was expensive, you got food poisoning and to just arrive, book your tour and get out.
It is used as the stepping stone to Bolivia as it is close to the border and the famous salt flats and national parks, so it is the start of the tours that everyone books.
As the bust pulled up in a cloud of smoke and I walked along the dusty street it was not at all as I had imagined or it had been explained to me.
The only way I can really describe it is to take one of those little western towns from a clint eastwood movie and replace the wood buildings with really quaint brick.
I decided that i really liked it and wanted to stay for a few days.
I had booked a really pricey hostel thinking I would only stay for a day, but it was so nice I could not be bothered to look for anywhere cheaper.
I was in a 4 bed dorm and had the nightmare of being on the top bunk. Checking in the same day as me was a nice Chilean girl who was to take the bunk underneath me.
Now usually I am a little self conscious of waking other people up either by snoring or shouting in my sleep, but this time it was me who was awoken in his sleep later that night.
I could hear these groaning noises coming from below.
I was half asleep so wandered if i was dreaming and tried to go back to sleep, but the noise got louder and louder. Sure enough it was the Chilean girl making noises worthy of a porno movie in her sleep. It was like that scene from when Harry met Sally. Funny thing was though, that this was to continue for another three nights.
Well at least for once it was not me making all the noise.
As per usual there are loads of "must see" tours and I wanted to make sure that at least I did something there.
I opted for the geyser tour after speaking to a few people who had already been.
Only issue was it started at half four in the morning. Oh well, you have to be in it to win it I thought as I set the alarm.
As I got on the minibus I was offered a blanket, but being a tough guy I refused it.
The tour guide insisted I took it as we were going to high altitude.
I am so glad she did, it was unbelievably cold and the bus ride was almost two hours.
As we arrived it was just before day break and colder than a witches tit.
I was looking all over for what I had imagined to be these 100 foot geysers shooting up in to the air, but all I could see was a load of steam coming out the rocks.
Must be round the other side I thought.
We had to pay for entrance then jumped back on the bus so I was sure now I was looking at the wrong thing until the bus dropped us off right next to them.
There were loads of other people there as well, so guessed this was it.
Aha, I thought to myself, they only shoot up at certain times, we will see them in a bit.
The tour quide gathered us around and spoke excitedly about how amazing the place was that we were in and started the tour of the geysers.......or shall I say puffs of smoke.......
You have got to be s***ting me. Is this it?
She took us over to the "largest"one which at best managed a six inch spurt of water. I have seen more action in a boiling kettle.
I got up at four in the morning to see a load of steam, I could not believe it.
Everyone else was loving it, so I tried not to be a kill joy.
Then finally the sun came up and gave some warmth as they gave us a bit of breakfast. I could not wait to get back.
Having now experienced this "amazing" tour I decided that i was not doing any of the others, but the one thing I really did want to see was the salt lake which is the same as the Dead Sea where you float in it due to the salt density.
I had always wanted to know what it felt like. There was a tour that left in the afternoon each day, but I had met an Australian couple that had rented a bike and cycled there and said it was a nice day out.
Jessica was also in town, so we decided to rent some bikes and cycle there rather than do a tour. It was a bit of a trek at around 50km round trip, but we could take all day.
We rented the bikes and asked for a map of where to go which seemed straight forward. I did not bother with water and food as I could not be arsed to carry them, plus there will be loads of places on the way and when we get there I said.
Jessica insisted on getting some water so I pulled faces as I waited outside the shop reminding her it was tourist central and that there would be shops everywhere....
That water stop was to prove to be a life saver......
So anyway map in hand we set off and half an hour later were completely confused as how the hell we got out of town. The map we had been given must have been drawn by a three year old on crack.
We asked three different locals all of which gave us three different roads.
Now we were really confused.
We decided to just go for it and ended up on a main road which seemed to head the right way, but it was the middle of nowhere.
We cycled and cycled and cycled and eventually found a sign telling us to turn off. It was an awful sandy rocky dusty road and the sun was now blistering hot. Not a soul in sight, especially not a shop that sold food or water. We had been going for hours and were worried about that even if we did find it, would we then be able to get back before it got dark.
A car passed us and the tourists told us we were not that far away.
I was about a minute off a heart attack. I had not cycled for years, was pretty unfit, had a hangover from the night before and we were also at very high altitude. Oh yes, and not much water!
Anyhow we made it to the lake but I was gutted that there was no shops there either. I was in really deep trouble....me and my assumptions.
We needed to get a grove on so stripped off and jumped in. It was really cold but I was so excited about the experience I did not care.
It is so hard to describe, just like a load of hands pushing you up.
We took our pictures and jessica asked at the gate if there was a quicker way back.
Turned out we had taken a really long route to get there, so good news was there was a quicker way back, bad news it was still 25 km. Even worse news, still no shops.
How we made it I will never know, but we did, and thank goodness jessica had insisted on getting the water earlier on or I reckon I would have been on news at ten.
So another box ticked with the salt lake I decided it was time to leave Chile, and booked my tour in to Bolivia........
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