Valle de la Luna, Chile

Moon walking and desert biking.

It doesn't take a linguist or even a third form latin class to translate this one. Nor does it take a genius to figure out what wonders the Valley of the Moon might have in store.

We chose to attack this lunar landscape by bike and at a meagre 3500 pesos ($7) for a half day, it definitely was one of the cheaper activities on offer. Armed with spare tyres, pumps, locks and headlamps (definitely the most comprehensive rental bike kit I've ever been supplied with) we hit the road. Actually, we almost hit the kerb, then a wall and narrowly missed an unsuspecting pedestrian as the rocky road and a general lack of practice turned our departure into somewhat of a scene. Crossing a river with this skill set was a recipe for wet feet and that's exactly what Cat got. I bounced through only narrowly missing the same demise and still accept no responsibilty for her misfortune. It was the shortest route. I'm sure.

Our first stop was an old fort which offered good views of San Pedro. It had historical significance as the stronghold of the region and had hosted many conflicts between various indigenous tribes, the Inca and the Spanish. What it didn't host was legible english or much intrigue so it was a brief stop at that.

Onward to the moon we went, struggling to keep pace with the awesome distractions on offer. Unique and vast desert landscapes littered our route and it took us some time to cover a measly 20km (especially at some 3000m). The last 5 km to the caves was gravel and the old pelvic bones took a beating (despite again recieving some reasonable quality bikes). Whinging about the heat proved nothing but ironic, given the fact that it was a) winter and b) freezing for the other 18 hours of the day. Yet that didn't stop us. The caves were nothing to rave about so we remounted and continued up a steep and sandy road. For once (and I have to make a point of it) Cat did more complaining than I. Hot, tired and battling a very steep and sandy road brought out the worst in her of which I recorded with stills. Lucky for all of us that I have spared the audio. No doubt that in writing this I've put my foot in it and will have all my future tantrums subject to recording. So be it.

It was the top of that hill (or shortly after - as I will surely be corrected) that the real moonscapes came to life. The rock formations were unique and the sand dunes pristine. It took a short walk up to the mirador for the real awe to set in. Fractured rock faces, wind sculpted rock towers and a dusting of salt made the foreground. In the middle was more unusual geology extending into vast desert. At the very back was an almost endless view of the Cordillera de los Andes; 20+ visible snow capped peaks. It wouldn't even take a soft spot for rocks to get you worked up about this. Then there was the sun and the sky which, by now were setting and turning pink, respectively. You committed readers will have read some pretty colourful descriptions of our top sunsets but this, I think (or at least at the time) was the best of the best.

And then the cold hit. It's easy to forget the sun is the sole source of heat in this frigid climate. When it goes, the temperature plummets almost instantly. I mean plummets. In the space of 10 or 15 minutes it dropped (and I'm guessing) from a 'feels like' 20°C to 5°C. I went from shorts and a jumper to jacket, gloves and beanie and was still freezing. Cat, as you would expect, disappeared under layers like a fox down a rabbit hole.

We descended in the dark and gingerly remounted our bikes, under escort from the rangers as the last ones out of the park. It was dark. Blackout dark, except for the increasingly numerous stars. Riding a sandy and gravel road with a head torch no brighter than a wet match proved difficult. In fact, I think our downhill pace matched that of the uphill - caution indeed, the operative word.

Caution saw us taking an eternity to return to San Pedro. If cold and cranky is a thing, we were headed that way - held back only by how good the sunset had been. A very bland pasta and tomato was dinner that night and tea and chocolate in bed was the ending we couldn't have bettered. Next time I think motorised transport will win, but what fun is having fun if you're always having fun?Read more