13-Mar San Pedro de Atacama

Welcome sign (I still havent figured out what all the symbols mean) and high Andean volcanoes

Pepper tree in the plaza

I arrived in San Pedro de Atacama at 9:00 am, after a 12-hour, hot bus ride. For some reason or another, the driver turned off the AC and put on the heat.  I asked twice for air.  Hence, I arrived groggy and hazy.  We set about finding a hostel when we encountered a whimsical local hombre on a bicycle clad in a brightly colored striped cardigan and rust-colored corderoys.  Miguel had a hostel, Casa de Los Musicos, that was ten minutes away.  I liked him instantly.  We followed him to the Casa and the interior matched his vibrant personality.  For $5mil ($11 USD) we could sleep in the dorm and for 7.5 mil we could sleep in a big room with 2 queen size beds.  We chose the queens.  Miguel put on music from his favorite Bolivian guitarist and offered us coffee and smoke.  I gladly accepted the coffee, and turned down the herbs from the garden (Im not just saying this because my family is reading this- too early for me!).  Yes, San P de A is the opposite of Copiapo which was devoid of culture.

Miguel and his wife Bridgette (from France) were full of good suggestions on what to see and do.  San P de A has a lot more to offer than I thought.  I had pictured vast salt flats, but there are reddish craggy ridges that are over shadowed by the high Volcanoes of the Andes.  We decided to take a siesta since it was hot, we had little sleep, and I was acclimating to arid desert at 2400m.  So we spent the mid afternoon updating blogs, then rented Bicycles at the suggestion of Miguel and rode 6km to Rio de Diablo.  It was a hot, dusty ride.  The river was not the blue, beautiful swimming hole we were anticipating, but rather a narrow muddy creek.  I was disappointed bc a swim would have been really, really nice, but the scenery was amazing.

Thankfully, the heat had abated somewhat for our return voyage. We returned to the Casa to find Miguel playing some strange Peruvian instrument and singing classics such as Smoke on the Water and Suzy Q. How fun.   I could not get the hot water to work in the shower back at Casa de los Musicos and settled for soaping up in one end of the shower stall before quickly rinsing off.  Alas.  We had dinner with Miguel and Bridgette and retired early.  The plan for tomorrow was to get up early and bike to Valle de la Luna.