Ground Control to Señor Tim

A train trip I took from Denver to Salt Lake City last year made me feel like I was on another planet. The landscapes in Utah are out of this world.

Northern Chile feels like another dimension. After saying goodbye to my friends in Calama, I took an eight-hour bus ride through the Atacama Desert towards Arica, a city on the coast near the Peruvian border. I’ve run out of words to describe the things I am seeing. Everything is just surreal and mind-blowing.

I might as well have been Major Tom, except I wasn’t “floating in a tin can far above the world,” I was gazing out the windows of my nearly empty double decker bus, dashing from side to side to take pictures.

The Atacama is the driest desert on earth, yet you can find water there. Mostly, though, you will be surrounded by brown sand, rocks, a few shrubs, and a thin layer of dust coating everything, including you. It doesn’t sound pretty, but it absolutely is.

According to Wikipedia, “The area has been used as an experimentation site for Mars expedition simulations due to its similarities to the Martian environment.” I can see why.

Inland (and up) three hours from Arica lies the mountain town of Putre. The first thing I noticed after stepping off the bus was the altitude. It was not easy to breathe at 3,500 meters (11,483 feet). I managed, but the effects of the altitude stayed with me throughout my three days there. Luckily, my hostel had plenty of coca leaf tea which is known for helping with altitude sickness.

From Putre, I was able to tour the Parque Nacional Lauca and see even more mind-blowing sites. Vicuñas, alpacas, llamas, and half rabbit/half rat animals called vizcachas were just about everywhere, roaming freely and eating the desert shrubs. Volcanos, some snow-covered and others barren, reflected in desert lakes and pools of water.

The areas we visited were even higher than Putre: 4600 meters or over 15,000 feet! For comparison, that’s 2700 feet higher than Mt. Fuji which I climbed last year. Luckily, my hiking on this day was limited to brief excursions from the car.

Our last stop was a wonderfully soothing set of thermal baths which I had all to myself. Plenty of time to soak in the hot water and catch my breath.

Click on the images below to get a sense of the national park and a few scenes from Putre.

Well, “I think my spaceship knows which way to go.” Next stop Arequipa, Peru (after several long bus rides and a border crossing).