Into Chile, San Pedro de Atacama - チリ〜サンペドロ・デ・アタカマ

8月17日 - Aug. 17
ボリビア＆チリの国境を越えチリのサンペドロへ。サンペドロはアタカマ砂漠にある小さな町。かわいくてヒッピータウンって感じの町。ほぼ旅行者のために発展した町という印象。
この日は風が強く砂混じりの風がびゅーびゅー飛んでくる(>_<)
そんな中ホステルを探し回り、アルゼンチン・サルタへのバスチケットを予約しに行き、町を少しぶらぶら。

At the main plaza in San Pedro

As usuall, dogs rule the town

After passing through an immigration checkpoint, we arrived in San Pedro around noon. There were a few people greeting travelers and offering tours and hostels at the bus stop. There are loads of brand new hostels, most featuring bars and hammock slung court yards. We chose one and dropped our stuff.

Right away we felt like we had crossed into another country. The people were taller, thinner and lighter skinned. We had left the squat, bowler-hatted ladies of Bolivia behind and moved into a more Latin flavored country of westernized people who talk with their hands. The other indicator was in the bathroom. The first restroom we encountered had all of the following: a locking door, a toilet seat, toilet paper, running water AND soap. These things were all in short supply in Bolivia - but why stop there, I'm pretty sure that bathroom had electricity and a mirror too..

There is also a serious hippy vibe on display at every turn in San Pedro. There were dreadlocks and Thai pants on everyone. The main attractions are mountain biking and sand-boarding, but we signed up for tours of the moon valley and the stars.

夕飯はバスチケットを買ったツアーオフィスのオランダ人のおばちゃんが勧めてたレストランへ。そこでは毎日ライブミュージックが聴けるしおばちゃん家はキッチンがないから毎日そこで食べているそう・・♪
行って正解！とても雰囲気があってゆっくりできました(^^)しかもエクアドル人のリカルドっていうウェイターの子が日本語話せたし！日本語話せる南米の人に初めて会った・・！！どうやら前日本人の彼女がいて、彼女はスペイン語を全く話せなかったから彼女との会話だけで日本語を学んだらしい。久しぶりで日本語忘れちゃったみたいだから答えがたまにスペイン語になってたけど・・(^^;)だからそれをスペイン語がわかるサラが英語に通訳、みたいに(日→スペ→英)とトリプル通訳になってた・・(´Д` )
すると途中でオランダ人のおばちゃんが来てうちらのテーブルで夕飯を食べ(メニューにないものをキッチンに作らせ・・)、食べ終ると空いたお皿を片づけたり暖炉に薪入れたり・・半分レストランの従業員になってるし(´Д` )！
久しぶりにビールをたくさん飲み、チリの音楽を聞きながら長く楽しい夜を過ごせました★

8月18日 - Aug. 18
朝〜昼はネットカフェ行ったりしてゆっくり過ごし、午後3時からMoon Valley(=月の谷)という町の外にある砂漠地帯へのツアーに参加。
町の外はほんと砂漠と低木が生えた乾燥した赤茶色の山々があるだけ。太陽がギラギラと照っているけど超乾燥しているので汗は出ずとも喉は乾く。。日本とは真逆な気候地帯。
ツアーは月の谷の色々な見所へ連れて行ってくれるもの。最後は夕日が見れる景色のいい所で締めくくる。
月は見れなかったけど夕陽色に染まる綺麗な山の景色を見ることができました。

Carved by underground river

Walking on Mars!

Desert!

At sunset time

The mountains turning red by sunset

 The moon valley tour started around 3:00 in the afternoon. We joined a group and loaded into an e-class van for a walking tour of river carved canyons and gigantic sand dunes. We finished the tour at a lookout to watch the sunset trow colors on the foothills of the Andes. It was pretty cool.

夜は9時から天体観測のツアーに参加予定だったけど、昼強烈な太陽光にずっと晒されたせいか、乾燥していて夜は寒くなるせいか、それともボリビア→チリのバスで真後ろの席に風邪を引いてくしゃみ・咳をしていたブラジル人の人がいたせいか、喉が痛くなり熱が出て参加できず。。(´Д`;)マイクは行けたけど。
でも翌日ツアーを申し込んだオランダ人のおばちゃんが全額返金してくれた！普通に返ってこないと思ったけど・・！良い人(T_T)

そんなこんなで夜は無理せず早めに床に着きました(_ _)zzz

Kaori started to run out of energy by the time we got back into town. She was running a small fever and after some soup decided to sit out the star tour. So I went with our Uyuni friend, Sarah.

We met the tour leader at the office where we bought the tickets. He was a tall, friendly guy with a scarf. The two of us jumped in his truck and he drove us to the hotel he and his wife owned. We met two others by a Bon fire and then headed down the drive to the observatory for the tour.

The owner and an assistant showed us the visible sky and explained some of the constellations of the southern hemisphere. I had a plastic cup of red wine and learned how to find polar south from the southern cross. Then we used two telescopes to look at planets, nebula and various clusters in different stages of their evolution. The tour leaders didn't have an easy time explaining all of this to us in English, but we got the idea. It was enjoyable. Over hot tea, the owner of the hotel told us that he just started astronomy as a hobby. The elevation and clear skies of the Atacama desert just begged him to buy a telescope and learn more. Now ten years in, he has a $12,000 telescope that can find any object in the sky with the touch of a button.

The next morning, we boarded a 12-hour bus to Salta, Argentina