San Pedro de Atacama
When we arrived in San Pedro de Atacama last night we thought what a s..t hole. Not a very ladylike expression, I’m afraid, but I could not comprehend why it should be such an important and overpriced tourist destination. Maybe we were tired and our experiences with Chilean Customs and the police, as mentioned by Dennis yesterday, did not help.
We made sure we got our money’s worth at the buffet breakfast, at our expensive hotel, before walking into town to top up the WiFi on my phone. I now have 10 Gigs valid for a month.
The streets in San Pedro have been deliberately left as dirt and the original adobe buildings preserved to give the impression of a typical Atacama pueblo (village). It does mean that everything is dirty and dusty, however. The streets are full of tour operators selling trips into the desert or to the Salar de Uyuni, or are selling local handicrafts. Typical tourist tat.
As we were about to drive away, the gentleman from the Brazilian Veteran Car Club Dennis had been talking to last night, stuck his head through Poki’s window and presented Dennis with one of their club caps. A lovely gesture.
Before leaving town, we needed to replace our fruit and vegetables which were confiscated yesterday. There were two very nice stalls on the outskirts of town, so we are now restocked. Heading for the supermarket next, we found it closed, it’s Sunday. So, back to one of the stalls for some eggs. We seem to live on fruit and veg. and eggs these days.
Lunar Landscape
Once we left town we were soon in a lunar landscape. Apparently NASA uses this area to practice for space missions, as it is supposed to be a similar landscape to the moon. It is very spectacular and is one of the attractions of San Pedro de Atacama. The others apparently being night sky experiences and trips across the Bolivian border to the Salar de Uyuni.
We are heading towards Calama. Famous for its huge copper mines. It is apparently a grimy place, so we will give it a miss. The road is straight with nothing but dry desert to be seen, but with volcanoes on the horizon. What puzzles us is why there should be so many shrines to accident victims along the roadside. It is a good road surface, it is well signposted and straight, so why so many accidents?
Approaching Calama there are both solar and wind farms. There is certainly plenty of both sun and wind in this environment.
We join highway 25 which is taking us towards Antofagasta. This is the largest city in the Atacama region. It is a fast, dual carriageway with continuing desert scenery all around. The Atacama desert is the driest place on earth, experiencing only 0.03 inches of rain per annum.
It is very difficult to find a place to pull off to camp. There are huge mines everywhere and most of the land, which obviously belongs to the mines, is fenced. There are huge mounds, man made mountains, of tailings. Giant trucks are constantly adding their loads to the pile.
Pampa Union Ruins.
Eventually we see a ruined town with many walls which would provide us with some shelter from the wind and hide us from the road. It is located on the other side of the highway. No problem for Poki to cross the sandy/rocky central reservation, though. Fortunately there is not a lot of traffic.
Pampa Union today is a ghost town lost in the Atacama Desert, a mile high and mid way between the mining centres of Calama and Antofagasta. Founded over a century ago as a medical way station, it quickly became a resting place for nitrate miners on their days off, complete with all the supplies and entertainments that working men required.
2000 permanent inhabitants entertained a floating population of over 15,000. Its peak was achieved speedily in the 1920’s. By the 1930’s depopulation had already begun, with the end of the nitrate boom. By 1954 it was abandoned.
We manage to put the Caranex tent up in the strong wind, anchoring it securely. Once the sun goes down, producing a deep peach coloured sky over the ruins, the wind magically drops away completely. Hopefully, it will be a quiet and peaceful night.
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