Villa Alota

Wearrive in San Pedro at 9 in teh morning , and we ar now totally in the dessert , everywhere is covered in dust and its not what i expected , but then again i dont acually know what i was execting. We walk to the hostel which is only 15 minutes or so , but already at this time it is absolutely baking. We will certainly be slapping on the suncream here . The hostel seems pretty good, and everyone is really friendly. Sometimes when the hostels are really large like the one in Santiago people seem to keep themeselves to themselves more . We have decided to get down to the plaza after having a shower, and getting a trip booked for today as well as looking at how we are getting out of here. The irony of planning your exit as soon as you get to somewhere is quite strange but really is a necessity . The town is packed again with tour operators all vying for your business, but the advice is to shop around , and its quite shocking at the difference in the prices . After much heckling we manage to get a package deal of the Valley de Lunar , The geysers and our transfer all booked in one go. The bus leaves at 4 tonight, so we have a couple of hours exploring thhe little town as well as putting in some washing . All the buildings are made of cactus wood and adobe , and the roofs out of cactus and llama bladder to hold it all together, The city was founded in 1540 and not a lot has changed since then apart from the doors and the windows. The old church still stands proud in the centre of the town surrounde by its red brick walls and just opposite is an artisan market selling wares from knitted jumpers , wooly hats and sunglasses as well as the local trinkets like ens with little hand knitted llamas on and the infamous cocoa leaves. We purchase some sunglasses as tthey are a necessity here , the sun is so stron and i havent had any since mine blew in the lake at Fitz Roy. We go back to the hostel to drop our bits and pieces off before walking back to town to sit in the square and have a rereshing drink. There are 2 guys playing folk music and tit reallly is so tranquil just sitting here and people watching before going to wait for the bus to moon valley. Th bus picks us up promtly and we head out with a private tour which is a group of Germans so the guide speaks in English for the whole trip . Th e scenery is yet again breathtaking and as we climb to our first viewing point i realise its not a good idea to wear flip flops, we have the opportunity to take a few photos before continuing up the rocky path, just before we rech th summit my flip flop has a blow out , but luckily i manage to repair it, but the havianas are in desperate need of replacement and will be one of my first buys in Bolivia. Sumit reached, flip flop mended and selfies taken we make our way down to the valley. The area is surrounded by volcanoes, Snow capped moutainds and beautiful red rocks, and the contrasting colours are beyon belief. It is a small ride in the bus to the mirador wher we will watch the sun set and we are all handed pisco sours to sip as the sun sets. There is]== rock here called coyote rock which is said to be the rock where the coyote stands to drop his rock on the roadrunner. Mark and I queue for our photos and then head to watch the sunset over the valley. The colours as the sun goes down changes through the spectrum of the rainbow and as im watching a small puff of smoke hangs over the volcanoe in front making it look like its blowing smoke rings . The sunsets so quickly and its back to the bus for the journey back. When the sun goes the temperature drops dramatically and its jumpers on to walk back to the hostal . We have a quick dinner and head to bed as we have a 4am start in the morning but ther is little chance of us getting any sleep as there is a dj in town tonight and a party is being had right outside our window , i eventually drop off just after 12.Read more