Valle del Arcoiris....Rainbow Valley
Trip Start
May 20, 2010
1
123
195
Trip End
Sep 05, 2011
Where I stayed
Hostal Campo Base
San Pedro de Atacama, Antofagasta, Chile
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Day : 286
Temperature : 30 degrees
Weather : Hot and sunny
After some kind of mix up at the tour office, we finally got collected and headed off on our tour one and a half hours later than we'd been told. It's at times like this when you really wish that you had a better grasp of the language! However, things were finally sorted out, and we were on our way. We were on this trip with Jenny and John, a Canadian couple who were travelling for six weeks in the region. After driving for about 45 minutes we first stopped at some rocks to view some petroglyphs, ancient rock carvings, estimated to be around four thousand years old. We then headed further into the valleys, driving along the path of the river, with it's wild donkeys watching us pass by, until we reached the Valle del Arcoiris. The valley is stunning. It's hard to believe that rocks can have such amazing colours. Why this tour is not in the LP, or is not more popular is beyond me! We were left to wander around the valley on our own for a couple of hours. The fact that we were the only tourists made the experience even better. Like the Moon Valley there is salt everywhere which is very wierd. Because of the salt and the minerals, the rocks sparkle and glisten. After some time we headed a little further into the valley where we stopped for a snack and some drinks. Once again we were able to explore the area at our leisurem before we finally headed back to San Pedro mid afternoon.
In the evening we met up with Jenny and John for dinner in one of the quaint little restaurants in town. We have also arranged to hire a car with a German couple for a day, giving us the freedom to explore the Salar and the lagoons at our leisure, hopefully avoiding the busy times when all the tours arrive. We have also booked our overland trip to Bolivia in the next couple of days....and finally we have stocked up on paracetamol....on our first day on the trip to Bolivia we will be ascending to 4,500 metres....I'm sure we will have some headaches!
Anyway, not much else to say folks....next stop is the Salar and the lagoons....and hopefully some flamingo piccies.
Comments
Fab Piccs as always ..
But WHEN ARE YOU COMING HOME ! xxxxxxxxxxxx
The emerald coloured rocks look quite strange in the red/brown landscape.
Great pictures as usual. Everything fine here but freezing! Spring flowers are at their best. Take care
hey folks! Yeah the colours were fantastic. San Pedro was fantastic for photos.
Don't want to think about coming home!!!! ha! Too much to see here first!!!!
Missing you all though....when are you coming out to visit us???