San Pedro de Atacama: Day 1

San Pedro de Atacama is a small town, it is an oasis in the middle of a vast desert. The amount it thrives on tourism was apparent the moment I stepped off the bus and the throngs of salesman flocked to me offering places to stay and tours to partake of. It was a little overwhelming and there were so many options which were all essentially the same (and pricey) that it was hard to know how to make an intelligent decision on anything. I chose to do a Moon Valley tour, which left just a few hours after my arrival. It was a great tour, with incredible views of the surrounding salt-laden desert as well as the moonscape of the Moon Valley and surroundings. The next day I visited a local geyser field, and then the following day the wonderful high altitude lakes and salt flats.
Moon Valley tour:

Valle de Elqui

Valle de Elqui is known for its magnificent stargazing as well as the "positive magnetic energy produced by the minerals which are contained in the surrounding mountains." It is sunny and cloudless 330 days a year here, and is a great place for growing fruits such as grapes for the infamous pisco drink. The first day I would spend in El Jarrito, which is right next to the principal village in the area, Pisco Elqui, where I would spend the second night. The scale of the valley and surrounding mountains is impressive, and the mountains appear to change color throughout the day as the sun hits them at different angles and illuminates different types of rocks etc. Of course, as luck would have it it was cloudy one of the two days I was there.
The first night I stayed in an historic mansion which had been remodeled to perform its new role as a guest house:

At night I witnessed the moon slowly rising over the mountain range, its rays shining over each individual peak until it would illuminate the valley, with a healthy dose of stars and a smattering of clouds which appeared to be very close. It was a wonderful and very memorable sight.
The next day I spent with a French, Brussel, and Mexican, who spoke English the whole time, which is not what I was looking for but it was okay.
More pictures of Elqui Valley:

Day 36: La Serena, Chile

La Serena is a nice little colonial town, I was essentially just passing through there on my way to/from the Elqui Valley. I ended up staying at a very nice and extremely welcoming hostel, and having fun with a bunch of vacationing Chileans from Santiago. There really weren't very many sites of interest to see; the museum I tried to visit was closed for the Semana Santa, and the Japanese garden I attempted to stroll through closed just as I arrived.
It was a cloudy/rainy day anyway.
While stopping for a connection for a couple hours in La Serena on my way back from Elqui Valley (and headed to San Pedro de Atacama), I had an exquisite grilled fish lunch.

Viña del Mar, Chile

I took a quick commuter train from Valparaiso to Vina del Mar:

Vina del Mar, sister city to Valparaiso, is its complete opposite. Clean, orderly, corporate, tourist friendly, this place is a beach resort. I happened to be there during Semana Santa, which is a week-long Easter celebration in Latin America. Somehow I was able to find a cheap and nice place to stay. The beach is very nice, and you don't feel the tourist vibe so much there. For some reason, the majority of bars seem to be devoted to karaoke.