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The sun rose over the Atacama desert on our way in to Calama, where we caught the next bus for a further 1 and a half hours on to San Pedro de Atacama. Alighting the bus in San Pedro we walked through the hot dusty streets looking for our preferred hostal - Corvatsch. San Pedro is a well known tourist town of half a dozen streets and one storey buildings shuttered to the afternoon heat and dust. After finding our hostal and settling in we chatted over lunch with two couples: one English (Phil + Tiffany) and one Australian. With a tip off for bike hire we decided to hire wo bikes and cycle to the Valle de la Luna (15km) for the sunset and moon rise.
The first bike hire place (tip off) was closed so we had to find an alternative supplier which was accomplished and we set off around 3'ish. The roads were mostly dusty tracks with one paved section on the main Calama - San Pedro highway. The saddle was quite uncomfortable so we had to stop for frequent breaks to give our backsides a rest. We arrived at the valley around 5 and climbed a huge sand dune to get to our vantage point to watch the setting sun bathe the distant mountains in a red glow and the full moon rise above the same peaks a spectacular display from Mother Nature. We ate at a local restaurant after the tiring moonlit journey home.
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