El Valle de la Luna

One of the most impressive sights I have beheld was Moon Valley.



We got lucky that rain several days before we came drew salt to the surface of almost every surface. Although warned to take it easy due to the high altitude and the fact that many people get sick when going there, Katie and I opted to join my friends Sana and Marco on a bike ride. Not just a bike ride...a several-hour ride through the desert. Not just any desert...the Atacama desert, which happens to be the driest in the world.



Luckily it didn´t kill us.



We then spent the morning hiking in several parts of the park other than Moon Valley itself. Later that day we took a tour to see the famous sunset at Valle de la Luna as well as several surrounding areas such as Death Valley, where lots of people sandboard on the dunes. We unfortunately didn´t have time to do that as well.



Death Valley above, and La Duna Principal (the main dune) of Moon Valley as we made our way across to watch the sun set.









Just as the sun went down on our west, a nearly-full moon rose from behind the Andean volcanoes on our east, causing a dramatic effect as both were visible for several minutes.





It was a great way to start La Atacama.