The alarms went off at 6:oo am and I could not rouse myself. I didnt sleep as well as I had hoped owing to the arid air drying out my sinuses and the warm temp inside the room. We got up at 7:00, ate, and got on the bikes for the 24 km ride out to Valle De La Luna. Thankfully the road was mainly asphalt, though there were many bumpy sections and I am now a little sore in my girly parts.
The temperature was cool at first, which I enjoyed and slowly heated up as the sun rose. Valle de la Luna is a national reserve (Los Flamencos) composed of interesting rock forms famous for its resemblance to the surface of the moon. It features the Cordillera de la Sal (Salt Mountain chain) that was formed by the horizontal accumulation of thin layes of minerals (sand, clay, and salt), which were subsequently destroyed by movements of the earths crust. There are other strange, glittery, statue-like formations that are the result of intense erosional processes. They are composed of gravel, salt, clay, gems, and quartz and evidently are approx 1 mil years old. The crystals of gem salt were really neat. The landscape was way different than anything I had ever seen.
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| Strange rocks formed by erosional processes |
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| It really does look like the surface of the moon |
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| Sand dunes |
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| Valley de Salar |
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| High Andean volcanoes lurk in the distance |
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| Alexis on the bike ride back to town |
The way back was not as hot as I had anticipated and the views were kind of a surprise. Above all of the strange moon-like topography were the high Andes volcanoes. It was really incredible.
Upon returning to Casa de los Musicos, I immediately fell asleep and am still functioning in groggy, where am I mode. We set up a tour to the Geyesers of Tatio for tomorrow that has a 4:00 am start.
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