San Pedro de Atacama

We left on Thursday night to go to San Pedro, the first stop on our 10 day trip. Mike and Patrick, the two boys flew, and the 5 girls decided to go by bus. It took 24 hours to finally make it to San Pedro, definitely longer than I ever want to spend on a bus again! We`ve been here for one day now, and the drive was worth every minute. It is town that`s in the middle of the desert, and also surrounded by the Andes. It is too beautiful to describe in words or even pictures! We went on a tour today or some of the big sights here. Tours are usually by van, and there is a tour guide that gives you the history behind the places you visit. We first went to the Valle de la Muerte (valley of the dead). It has this name because there is absolutely no lifeform. It is completely dry, but gorgeous just the same! Next we went to salt mines, where rain and the environment create natural salt crystals. We went through caves to get a better view of how everything forms. Unlike anything i`ve ever seen! We walked by huge sand dunes, like mountains made out of sand, where there were people sand boarding. It`s just like snowboarding on sand and looked so much fun but I don`t think i`m brave enough to try! Finally on our tour we hiked up one of the sand dunes where we could see the Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley), and the amazing sunset. This valley is named becuase it is said to look like the surface of the moon. I`m working on getting my pictures up from this tour but it takes a long time, especially since we`re in the middle of the desert and internet is very fast. One interesting, and kinda scary thing we learned on our tour today is that to this day, San Pedro still performs human sacrifices in the Valle de la Muerte. It is a religious ritual, and the person sacrificed is usually someone elderly who chooses this as their way to go.

We are going on another tour that starts at 4 am, where we get to see the sun rise, then go to a natural spring bath and geysers so i`m so excited and will write more as soon as I can!

Difficult Week!

It`s been awhile since I`ve had a chance to write, but it`s been a pretty hard couple of weeks. I haven`t travelled lately, but there`s been enough excitement, both good and bad, to last me awhile! Last weekend I went out to a club called Huevo with some friends. Bars here close a lot later than those in the states, so when we left at 4 AM, we sat down outside to talk and have a completo (chilean hotdog). There were about 100 people hanging out in the plaza we were in, and a man came up behind me and grabbed my purse. I held onto it tight, so he took out a knife and cut it away. Muggings like that are very common in Valparaìso, but it`s usually the most dangerous crime that happens, so not too bad. I was so mad becuase I usually never carry a purse but for some reason had one with me that night. Also, there were so many people around, but everyone is scared to get involved. It seems like if people teamed up, they could catch people who do things like that! Needless to say, I lost my camera, both id`s, my keys and some money. Wasn`t too fun, but it could have been worse and at least no one was hurt!

As if the week wasn`t stressful enough, two days later, my madre was on a micro (the crazy driving buses here), and it was in a pretty bad accident. Three marines were killed, and my madre had to get stiches in her lip, and a brace on her neck. So much to happen! It makes me a little more nervous to ride the buses, but it`s kinda unavoidable in Valparaìso. I am leaving soon with 7 friends to go on a 10 day trip to northern Chile and Peru so there will be tons of pictures and tons to write!