Halocene
Im writing this post a day and a half after and I can not believe the events and the things we have already seen. This will definitely not be a dull trip.
Our quick city trip was over and we were ready to go by 430 am. Yes, we are crazy and booked a 750 flight. Arriving at the airport super quick with our lovely taxi driver I got the unsettled flying feeling again. When we arrived at the desk the lady asked if we would like to move to the earlier flight since there was space. Sweet! No waiting around for two hours. We accepted right away and once we were handed the boarding passes the old our flight loaded in five minute.
Oh course! We ran to security only to find a long line. We showed the security our passes and were let through. What luck today!
The flight seemed very long even though it was only two hours. Touchdown and we are in the northern part of Chile. The mini van ride from Calama to San Pedro was a desert. Along the way we passed many cool rock formations and most notably Valle de la Luna!
Once arriving in San Pedro we checked into the coolest hotel. I don't think I could've imagined anything better to make us feel like we were in the desert in chile! The clay buildings had different symbols etched into them with straw roofs.
After settling in we went to the town to explore. Immediately walking outside we were greeted with a view of Lincancabur Volcanoe. Towering above the skyline the Volcano had a snowy capped top. I tried to picture the Incas dragging a 15 year old virgin to the top and sacrificing her every year. It's surreal to look at iconic symbols such as these and know that these events truly did occur on the same grounds that I walk.
San Pedro is a sleepy town of shops and tour places. No one tries to hustle you to buy items or join their tours. Instead, the Chilean shop owners snooze around in the shop. Such a difference to the constant begging of shop owners in south east Asia. I much rather prefer this. The day was spent shopping for little knickknack sand souvenirs. You can find practically anything in these little artisan shops. I'm now the proud owner of a Chilean flute, purse, and llama sweater with matching hat!
We ate a delicious pizza lunch and tried the local red beer. The town was pretty dead since almost everyone was out doing some type of nature activity. I had run across a pair of handmade boots that I fell in love with. During lunch I decided that was the one splurge item I needed to have from the trip. However, being that we are in a 2500 meter altitude town and a sleepy one we discovered most shops closed for a nap. These people have it right!
Later that day we relaxed eating ice cream and people watching as the tour groups came back in. The shop opened up and I took another look at the boots. They were gorgeous. Handcrafted from leather and hand woven with knitted prints they screamed Andes mountain boots. The artist who made the boots had his name engraved into the thick rubber sole. After trying them on again and loving the unique orangish brown leather I begged Santa for a gift this Christmas!! They are now safely packed in my moms suitcase after we ate one of the bags of popcorn to make room! I can't wait until Christmas!
We topped off the day with a star gazing tour outside of the city. A group of about 25 piled onto a mini bus and head straight out into the desert away from the little town's lights. Immediately out of the window I could see the stars over head. As we got further and further away the bus turned off his lights and followed a low light emitting torch lit path. We got off the bus and were hit with the freezing cold desert temperatures.
Our guides for the evening were a Swiss couple who loved to study the sky. They came here because it is one of the best places to view the stars. Next, they build the ultimate observation house and started giving tours. After giving us blankets to wrap ourselves in we started the first part of the tour with the naked eye viewing.
With all of the lights off I turned my eyes to the sky. Oh my god! I was blown away. Right there was the Milky Way. I'm talking straight out of national geographic night sky photography in real life in front of my eyes. I had to catch my breath. How small our planet is co,pared to this. How small we are! To think that our small Halocene time period is not even a speck of dust in the grand scheme of things. This view hammered that point into your brain.
Our guide pointed out all different things to us using a cool laser. We found the southern cross, located the southern axis point, zodiac signs and more. It never occurred to me that in the north we would not be able to see some of the sky and they would not be able to see ours. People in this region never see the North Star! We were pointed out to view two other galaxies that are only viewable from here. Also, we learned about the black clouds that make up shapes in front of the stars in the Milky Way. The most notable being the llama which the incas named long ago. She explained that since it takes so many years for light to travel we were seeing the same sky the Incas saw long ago!
We also were able to observe Mars, Venus, and Saturn with our plain eyesight. Next we were guided through a series of super duty telescopes to see up close. A group of backpackers and I stayed out with the guide to learn some astro photography tips! The pictures turned out pretty good and the group the braved the cold had some good laughs.
The evening ended by drinking hot chocolate inside under a glass rood!
