We have been traveling around Argentina for 4 weeks, from Bariloche in southern Patagonia, Buenos Aires, and lastly in the fantastic Salta area all the way up north. Now we are concluding our journey by taking a bus from Salta city to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile.
Read about Argentina here: category/argentina
The bus to Chile departs from the bus terminal in Salta at one o’clock in the night. In principle, there are supposed to be three companies operating the route to San Pedro de Atacama, but only one company, Andesmar, seems to be doing it in practice.
The bus is half full, and we doze behind drawn curtains, unable to see any of the scenic road we’re traveling, Ruta 52 over a pass at 4170 meters. But we’ve driven there before, something you can read about here: Salta and Jujuy
We wake up just before we reach the Jama border station, a little before 8 o’clock. The sun is low and makes the salt lake on the left sparkle. On the other side, we have a volcano with a snow-capped peak over 5000 meters.
The Border
At the border station, we find ourselves in a long queue. Nothing is happening. I strike up a conversation with an English-speaking Argentine who can tell me that the border is closed because it has snowed on the Chilean side. The bus driver says we have to wait until the snow has melted or has been cleared away. The last time it happened, he says, the snowplow broke down, and it took a looong time.
Luckily, we have plenty of food and water and must take it as it comes. The station is at an altitude of 4200 meters, but fortunately, we hardly notice the altitude. You get acclimatized over time. Already after a couple of hours, things start to happen. We are ushered into the border station where there is controlled chaos since so many cars have piled up, and now everyone has to go through the system.
First, there is a queue for Argentine emigration. Fortunately, the ever-present bus driver is on hand and directs us to the right queue. The line moves quickly, and then it’s into a new queue for Chilean immigration, which also goes reasonably quickly.
The driver is back in place; now we have to retrieve all luggage and line up in the customs queue. We are all on the same bus, and he probably wants to get going as soon as possible.
3 hours after arrival, we move over to Chile and into the Atacama Desert. The desert is a barren stone desert. We pass salt lakes where there are some green spots where llamas graze. Around us are snow-capped, cone-shaped mountains.
San Pedro de Atacama
After a few hours, we turn into San Pedro. Suddenly there are green trees around us, in the midst of the brown-gray desert. Water from melting snow and rain in the mountains is pushed up here in the middle of the plain, creating an oasis that has become a small town.
Atacama can offer many exciting activities, so the town has become a huge tourist destination. The center is characterized by well-maintained one-story colonial-style buildings and is nice to look at in that regard. But, my goodness, there are so many tourists milling around the streets.
All the original is gone and taken over by the tourist industry. Souvenir shops, tour operators, kiosks, restaurants line the streets. The only things breaking the monotony are a bank and a pharmacy. The majority of tourists are young people seeking experiences in the desert and social action. As the evening progresses, the restaurants fill up. Music plays, and the atmosphere is lively. Interestingly enough, most restaurants require you to order food; you can’t just sit down for a drink.
Geysers
We limited ourselves to a trip to the so-called geysers. At 4:30 am, we were picked up outside the hostel by a minibus and transported 1.5 hours up into the mountains, to a volcanic area with hot springs and geysers. There, we strolled around among steaming pools for a while in minus 2 degrees Celsius at an altitude of 4200 meters while waiting for the sun to rise and warm us up. Snow-capped volcanoes all around, a throng of people.
And the sunrise was beautiful up there. The sunlight played in the steam from the springs, and the down jacket could eventually be taken off. The guide said it dropped to minus 25 degrees in winter, but no precipitation.
The geysers themselves weren’t much to speak of. The largest one spouted under a meter high. According to the guide, this varied depending on the amount of precipitation. If you’ve been to Iceland, you might be disappointed, but the surroundings were spectacular.
On the way back, we stopped for breakfast in the “green,” and it was the best breakfast we had in 4 weeks in Argentina and Chile. Fresh bread and scrambled eggs aren’t something you see much of otherwise.
After lunch, there was a musical interlude with the obligatory El Condor Pasa on the pan flute.
On the way back, we saw a rabbit.
If I were to do the journey again, I would probably skip Chile and stay in Argentina. You can find much nicer places than San Pedro there. On the other hand, the desert and the mountains where spectacular.
We traveled home via Santiago. The city was a bustling mass of people in 32-degree heat. The price level in Chile is 50-100% higher than in Argentina.
But of course, we only saw a tiny fraction of Chile.
It’s wise to book tickets well in advance online. Buses fill up quickly. Link to Andesmar: andesmar.com/en
Read all about our Argentina journey here: category/argentina
