Santiago to San Pedro de Atacama

South America is a big continent. I’m not stupid. I know this. And yet, the journey from Santiago to San Pedro de Atacama, a small, but booming town in the Atacama desert close to the northern border with Bolivia, surprised me – 23 and a half hours the scheduled duration. In actual fact, it was over 25 hours.

The thought of a Bus Eireann journey of this duration frightens the life out of me, not least for the fact that my final destination would probably be somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. Mainly however, its the uncomfortable seats, the lack of air conditioning in the summer and heat in winter, the total lack of any leg room, the poor suspension and the fact that very often, the buses are just plain smelly!

Chile may not be among the booming economies of the world, but boy do the Chileans know how to do long haul bus travel. We travelled with a company called Tur Bus, probably well known to anyone who has back packed in Chile. They offer 3 levels of comfort (Semi Cama, Cama and Premium). For premium, think BA first class air travel and you’re close enough. We, however, being on a budget opted for the Semi Cama version. We were provided with reclining seats, foot rests, fleece blankets (which provide a stunning light show after dark thanks to the static!), a pillow, 2 snacks throughout the journey and a constant stream of TV entertainment. I’ve now seen 27 Dresses, Hellboy and Tombraider 2, ok, so they were in Spanish, which I don’t speak, at all, but still, its the thought that counts! I can tell you this for sure though, 24 hours on a bus passes much faster with a few creature comforts.

Arriving at San Pedro de Atacama, the place looks uninspiring, the surrounding country side is bleak and desolate. The same scenery that the Atacama desert had provided since daybreak, some 9-10 hours previously. Scarcely a tree in sight, much less a cloud. With parts of the desert having recorded no rainfall in over 50 years, it is not surprising.

The hostel owner, Roberto, true to his word despite the hour and a half delay in our arrival is there to greet us and quickly shepherds us away from the crowd of hostel hawkers and into his waiting van and onwards to the hostel. Formalities completed, we check into our small but perfectly adequate room and ready ourselves to head into the town for some much needed sustenance.

Some fellow travellers offered useful advice on getting to town and where to go. We commenced the short walk into town and I was amused to see a stunning full sized artificial surface football pitch, this in the town which for the previous few hours has had no power or running water due to a power outage, and which on a good day only has power until midnight. It is somewhat reminiscent of the elaborate gold leafed temples and stupas in India and Thailand, where people have scarcely enough to eat and yet such wealth is so evident around them.

Having said that, San Pedro de Atacama is becoming a wealthy little town, due in no small part to the booming tourist trade there. A quick stroll through the town, (which is a revelation – in stunning spanish colonial style (or so I am told), it really does feel like you’ve stepped back in time, except for the multitudes of tourists wandering round with baseball caps, bum bags and town maps) reveals scores of tourist operators, each aiming to tempt the tourists to join them on a tour of the desert, the Valle de la Luna, the Geysers del Tatio and Salar de Atacama, the incredible salt lake. Today, we opt instead to book onto a tour with a company called Space Observations (www.spaceobs.com) for an opportunity to travel out into the desert, beyond the lights of town, to observe the southern skies. Chile’s and particularly the Atacama desert’s notoriously clear skies provide the perfect location for not just tourists like us, but budding and indeed highly qualified and recognised astronomers to observe what lies beyond our reach.

So tonight, we headed off. Leaving the hostel, wrapped up with many layers and armed with a torch which will hopefully take us to where we need to go and then back again. Who knows what awaits us!