Alice Newitt

Day 17: Desert Crossing

For once, morning couldn’t come soon enough. We got back into the 4x4s, suddenly much more luxurious than they had seemed the day before, and set off into the desert. Our guide sat in the back of one of the trucks, reclined in the seat in the boot as if on a sofa.

It was remarkable just how much variety there is in a desert. We were never more than half an hour from a lagoon, interesting rock or some wildlife, although how the drivers navigated I’ll never know, because there was barely a road, never mind road signs, and we would go an hour or so without seeing any other vehicles.

That night’s accommodate was more comfortable, but only just. There was hot water, but we had no idea it would last, so my roommate turned on the shower as soon as we got into the room and I hopped into it as soon as she was done. This promptly turned out bathroom into a pond which we had to contend with for the rest of our stay. The night wasn’t much warmer but I was better prepared, going to sleep in the thickest dernier tights I had, with jeans on top, and then a leotard, t-shirt, jumper, scarf and hat. It was just about enough.

Day 18: Desert to San Pedro de Atacama

As we went to sleep the night before, my roommate said, ‘My God, what a miserable place.’ I didn’t wholeheartedly agree, but I also couldn’t possibly imagine living it. It was so remote, so freezing cold, that the still-steaming pancakes that materialised for breakfast seemed like a vision.

As much as I had loved crossing the salt flats and then the desert, even I, the country mouse, had to agree with my roommate and admit that I was ready for Chile. In our journey to the boarder, however, there were lots more things to see, as the landscape turned sandier and more desert-like.

As we approached the Chile border, we encountered military checkpoints more frequently, where the armed guards checked us over and asked what we did for a living. We readied our documents for crossing the border, which involved slipping a boliviano or several into the passport for the Bolivia side, and at the Chilean side, waiting in the van while the officials finished up their table tennis game and TikTok videos.

You will have seen in the above videos that the weather had suddenly changed – gone were the clear blue skies as in came the thick clouds and, unbelievably, flakes of snow.

Along with the weather, there a few other more welcome changes which came with crossing into the most developed country in South America, firstly the road was surfaced in silky smooth asphalt, and secondly, we quickly descended from over 4000m of elevation to a balmy 2,400m.

San Pedro de Atacama, our home for the next two nights, also felt very different to our locations for the previous few nights. Whilst still very sandy, it was much more touristy, the streets lined with bars, travel agencies and currency exchange kiosks. That night, I had a hot shower and got into bed, grateful for clean sheets and sanitation.