Maybe Chile wasn't that bad after all

Chile, Chile, Chile...Oh Chile. It is funny how I miss Chile now that we are in Peru. I guess I didn't realize just how easy Chile was...maybe it has a bit to do with my "leaving one country for a new one" ritual, but it might be that we actually found a little gem in Chile that we loved called San Pedro de Atacama that made us take a shine to Chile. I think that if we had loads more money and heaps more time, Chile might have grown on us a bit more...like a mole, but not a gross one that needs removing, but more like a Cindy Crawford mole.
We arrived in San Pedro de Atacama in the middle of the night and it was a tiny bit scary, only because there was 1 taxi who left and was not to return and the roads, buildings, walls, ground, plants...everything...was the colour of sand; so when we tried to walk around in the dark, it was like roaming around a burnt orange maze in the pitch black. Luckily, I heard another traveller talking about the hostel we were staying in and he too was staying there and he called Mario, the hostel owner, and in a few short moments we were loaded up into a rickety van heading off to the hostel for the night. The bunk beds were the most comfortable we have experienced thus far and the whole hostel had a sort of pueblo feel...it was made up of several buildings connected through the open area in the centre that was filled with plants, hammocks, tables and chairs and millions of cats everywhere.
What we didn't realize, as it was midnight, was that we were literally in the middle of the desert and nowhere. It was freezing that night, but hot hot hot the next day. We got ourselves organized in the morning (this includes doing our needs, eating our breakfast, packing our lunch and scheduling our day - sometimes emailing or skypeing - sometimes racing to purchase a bus ticket somewhere) and off we went to the desert to hike through the dunes of El Valle de Muerte: translation - Death Valley oooooo...ohhhhh...aaaahhhh. I think the only way to succomb to the Valley is if you do not stay on the marked paths or don't bring water, 2 things we would NOT be doing. It took us about 2 hours to just find the right path though and we got super frustrated on several occassions during this process, but once we found it we were on our way. We had a tight schedule, as we were due at the bus station for our overnight ride to the tippy top of Chile before crossing the border into Peru the following day.
Now, I have never actually walked through the desert before, but I have seen many a television programme that shows people hallucinating mirages of water pools and looking dizzy and unwell, but this was not our experience at all. The hike began on a path surrounded by rock formations that look like piles of hardened sand...oranges, beiges, yellowa, whites, the entire desert colour pallet laid out in front of us. Eventually, the path transformed from a rock-like surface to one of slippery burning sand. Now walking on sand is just not a sexy or easy thing to do...no one looks good walking on sand, especially uphill. You always slip just a tiny bit backwards while hiking uphill on a snady surface so it takes double the energy and double the time. This certainly sucked my energy out of me and left me super drained, but Al was full of energy so I made her run up and down all of the sand dunes so I could capture some snaps...what a good sport.
At one point, we turned around to take in the view and we were literally surrounded by piles and piles of glistening sand with a series of snow covered mountains surrounding the entire desert. What a sight to see...boiling and thirsty with sand granules on our eyelashes looking up at icey cold mountain ranges...kind of oxymoronic in a way.
It is hard to describe the views, as there were so many varying terrains throughout. We made our way to the bitter end of the path, which led out to a strip of abandoned highway where we found a hint of shade and sat down to eat a peach from the local market we visited that morning and reflect on how we...or I...misjudged Chile. I wonder how many more hidden little gems there are in this country...I bet there are dozens.
We made our way back to the town that despite being over run with tourists, somehow maintains its' "middle of nowhere" feel. There are a series of little shops and markets and 1 really old white stucco church in the middle of the town. We rounded out our evening with a perusal of the town, some picture taking and some pack lunch making for our overnight bus ride to the tip of Chile and the bottom of Peru. We have perfected the art of preparing ourselves for these marathon bus rides and should actually write a how to guide...now that sounds like a good blog.