Llegada Cansada

After a 16 hour bus ride, meeting 2 very kind seat mates and getting up only once to pee, I arrived to San Pedro De Atacama.  The Atacama is a desert, dry and crisp, perfect for viewing the dormant volcanoes and for getting sweet sunburns.

I arrived in the morning and only with the help of my second seat mate, Sergio (who was a familiar spastic musician character),  was I able to find my way to a hostel.  Sergio, his friends and I had tea and breakfast and chatted about different cultures.  I later decided to explore the town which consists of 7 streets.  The roads are made of dirt and if you don´t know the people you pass it´s because they are tourists.  I realized suddenly as I was exploring that I didn´t want to be constricted by the hostel environment.  I promptly found a couchsurfer to help me out.

Miguel was his name.  A sweet man who lent me his bike and got me a sweet deal on my tour excursion.  We watched Final Destination 4 (because it´s the best one) on his 3d tv, drank Chilean wine and ate candy.  Him and his cat Trini live alone and have a precious relationship.

Although I was quite tired I was convinced by Miguel that I should take the Valle De Luna tour through his tour agency.  I complied.  It was eye-opening to be the ¨tourist¨character that I have not yet been on this trip.  Not a manner of traveling that I necessarily enjoy, but none-the-less a nice way to see the sites that I probably wouldn´t have seen.

These were the other people on the tour.  Turns out safari hats are really popular amongst tourists.