San Pedro de Atacama 1

I got into town in the late morning. There are no taxis in San Pedro only your two feet, so I started hoofing it to find a place to stay. It was hard to find a place to stay because this town is full of tourists. I finally found a place which cost about 16 dollars a night, which is a lot for someone on a budget, but I was afraid that I would not find a place. It was a dorm style hostal with six people in a room. It was comfortable, but a little tight.

After I got settled, I went to look around town and to book tours out in the desert. I found a place which offered me three tours over three days for 70 dollars, which I thought was a pretty good deal. The three tours included a trip to Valle de Luna, valley of the moon, Laguna Altiplanicas, Altiplanic Lagoons, and Geysers del Tatio, Tatio Geysers.

After booking the tours, I went out to explore the village. I found a really nice resaurant that had pasta for fairly cheap and I had lunch there. It was quite good for both the budget and my stomach.

After the lunch, I explored the local church and the town some more. The tour for Valle de Luna left at three in the afternoon. The views were spectacular. We saw the valley of the Moon which really did look like the moon, then we saw the Valley of Death. This valley was named valley of death because literally nothing can live there. After this we went back to the valley of the moon where we saw salt mines and the three marys, which are rock formations which supposedly look like the three marys from catholic tradition, but it really was not that clear. The salt mines were great. After a hot day in the sun, you could hear the salt rocks expanding in the coolness of the evening. It was really quite odd. After the salt mines we went to the great dune, a huge pile of sand. We climbed up and watched the sunset over the mountains and the valley. It was truly spectacular to see the colors change across the horizon. From the top of the dune, we could see a rock formation which was called the ampitheater, because it looked like an ampitheater. Our guide said that legend has it that Pink Floyd would play there someday. I doubt it.

After the visit we returned to San Pedro, but on our way, we could see the moon just peak above the horizon opposite the sun. It was truly fantastic. I do not know if you have ever seen people watch a solar eclipse either in person or on tv, but typically everyone gets very excited as the sun passes passed the moon and when it breaks free from behind it, people start clapping and yelling. This is what it was like when the moon peaked above the ridge. It was spectacular.

Another important note for this journey are the people I met on the tour. I met a couple from Holland and it just so happens that they love America, Americans, and politics. What an amazing match. The man works as a debate coach for political candidates all over Europe. He works with the Christian Democrat Party in Holland, which sponsors Christian Democrat Parties in newly formed or developing democracies in Eastern Europe. It was really interesting to hear about his work. His friend, he told me, works as the highest advisor to the Dutch Prime Minister. He said that if I came to the Netherlands, he would put together a three week program for me about debate techniques, Dutch politics, and he would try and introduce me to many people and places in the Hauge --- the dutch center of politics, as well as the center for the International Court of Justice. What a great opportunity.

We also talked, on the trip, about American politics, my goals, etc. We talked about the state of the world and suprising to both of us, we saw the world in a very positive light. We discussed the role of positive thinking, goal making, and creating your life. It was really interesting. He gave me some really good advice about creating the life that I want. After the tour they offered to take me to dinner. They took me out to a really nice restaurant where they ordered a great bottle of Chilean Syrah wine. I had a lasagna, without mean, type dish that was excellent and fresh.

During dinner we discussed wine, politics, Belgium, ballet, orchestra, and tennis. It was great. After dinner they asked me how old I was and I told them twenty. They were amazed at how young I was. It was so nice to meet them and talk with them. I hope that someday soon I can take them up on their offer to visit Amsterdam and Holland.

After dinner, I returned to my hostal to go to sleep.