Chile - Atacama - Valley of the Moon and more ...

San Pedro the Atacama is a small village of maybe 1000 people. However, it is quite amazing how many tourists you can find in such a tiny place. Pretty much all of the buildings as well as the road are made of Adobe. After a while the red dust really became annoying, it was everywhere. Especially when the wind picked up it was dusty as hell.

On my second day I ventured out to explore the ruins of Quitoro. It was about a 8 km hike round trip. Of course I underestimated the sun and paid dearly with a terrible sun burn .... will I ever learn :-)

"Pukara de Quitor" an pre-Inca fortress. Built in the 12th century and strategically placed on the side of a hill protected by a gorge over the river, the Quitor Pukara is an old Inca fortress that was taken over by Spaniards in 1540. It was built with large and small stones kept together by mud used as mortar. Despite the construction, the Pukara had to be restored for the first time in 1981. Since then, it was restored once again in 1992 by initiative of a Spanish organization.

From the ruins of the fortress there is a strenuous hike up to the mountain top where there is an old tomb grave (see above) and from there you can hike up another hill from which you have incredible 360 degree views.

A different view of the ruins.

The dirt roads of Atacama, quit charming at the beginning.

The "Death Valley", it was hot, the sun was scorching .... but the reason for the name of the valley was a little different. The legend says that old people of Atacama that felt death approaching went into this valley to die. However, no remains have been found until recently. At an unknown location close by archeologists are excavating a large burial site.

Sand and rocks ....

The huge sand dune is being used for sand boarding.

We also visited this huge gorge on our way to the "valley of the moon".

Valley of the Moon is a fantastic moon landscape that is a part of the Cordillera de la Sal (Salt Mountain Range) belonging to the Los Flamencos National Reserve. It is a small depression of salt ground, 1,650 feet (500 m) in diameter, that exhibits odd sculptural shapes. These are the result of a sequence of transformations on the earth's crust caused by the folding of the watery ground underneath the salt lake. Because of its lack of humidity, there is no life here, which has turned it into one of the most inhospitable places on the planet.

A huge sand dune in the "Valley of the Moon", we were there to watch the sunset and some folks hiked up the dune for a beter view.

Impressions of the "Valley of the Moon".

The sunset .....

The sunset changed the color of the rocks to a deep red.