Chile, Atacama Desert, June-July 2011: Toconao, Fútbol, The World's Shortest Bolivian Vacation, Valle de la Muerte, Sunset at Valle de la Luna
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The church design incorporates Catholic and indigenous elements, as shown by this llama by the main door. |
After lunch with several people from the tour at Inti Sol, I fell asleep at Hostal Terracota, then went back out to catch a local fútbol game. One of the kids joined me. |
Another fútbol fan. |
While I was in Chile, the Copa Americana was going. And especially when there was a match with Chile, everyone stopped to watch. |
I headed back to town, eating at Al Paso on the main street. I hadn't been there in a while. The waitress joked in Spanish, saying, "Where have you been? Have you been eating at other restaurants?" I ordered a shopsui con verduras - yes, that's right, chop suey with vegetables - eating them with spaghetti noodles. Very good. Here, you can order shopsui con verduras and eat them with rice, fried potatoes, or noodles. When I paid, she said, "No eating at other restaurants!! Only here! And bring your friends!" I said, "I must eat at other restaurants. I am going to Salar de Uyuni (in Bolivia) tomorrow. But I will return Thursday!" "And then you will come back and only eat here!" she said, laughing. |
Contact Guinness Book of World Records. This must be the shortest vacation to Bolivia on record. As near as I can tell with my less-than-fluent Spanish skills, I was turned back after 30 minutes at the Bolivian border because: Consequently, this is the only photo of Bolivia in this entire collection. I actually have another one. As I was lining up this photo, a young tourist inexplicably wandered right past me, walking right into frame, and pissed right next to this abandoned bus. I did what any other self-respecting photographer would do with camera in hand; I took the photo. However, I ended up using this photo because shortly after his pee break, the sun came out, making this a considerably more vibrant photo. ~~~~ This was featured in the print version of the LA Times Travel Section Editor's Choice photo on 28 August 2011! |
 Perhaps because the waitress was so funny and insistent, I returned to Al Paso Restaurant to eat, explaining the road closures, miscommunication, and other blundering nonsense. Apparently, these two also love Al Paso Restaurant. If you look closely at the bottom of the menu, you can see "shopsui de verdura". |
This is, as you may have guessed, a photo of us running, hopping, skipping, rolling, jumping, sauntering down the mighty sand dunes of Valle de la Muerte with the awesome desert sky overhead. I enjoyed the cinematic drama of the evening sky and the towering sand dunes, and tried to capture that here. |
Rivers do not thirst Ten second poem, inspired by a poorly translated toilet sign. Thank you.
|
There is a stunning array of things to see and do around San Pedro...at least, if the weather permits. Many of the people in San Pedro were talking about the freaky weather, talking about the sudden rains and snow and winds. "Everywhere the climate is changing. Everywhere in the world there is crazy weather now," Maria at Hostal Terracota had said. And that crazy weather had come to bite me in the behind here in San Pedro. But not this evening. This evening was gorgeous, full of mystery and awe. |
 Cloud cover worthy of a Cecil B. DeMille movie hanging over the majestic colors of Valle de la Luna and the sand dunes below. These were reasons to come to the desert. The openness, the expansiveness, the epic quality of the sky that one only sees in the desert. the first time I saw the sky in the desert, I found it hard to believe that the sky could look so large. |
 Beautiful sunset over Valle de la Luna. |
But beyond sunset, the valley wasn't ready to give up its rich colors. Many of the deepest hues didn't reveal themselves until the sun had long since melted into the mountains. |
More delicious deep hues of the valley. |
At this point, although the sun had set a while ago, the deep tapestries of the desert continued, straining the limits of my camera's low-light abilities. I regret not hauling my tripod up here. I had neglected to do that since I had booked this tour at the last moment, and now I was regretting it. Still, a bit of noise is still better than not taking the photo at all, so I continued shooting and admiring. |
Ken's photos of Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung
San Suu Kyi, as well as photos of Peru, Burma, India, Morocco, China, Thailand,
Ghana, Ecuador, and elsewhere, have appeared in many books, magazines,
websites, and galleries. Visit the
Ken Lee Photography Website. Some of Ken's select photos may be
purchased through his
Imagekind Store. |
Chile, Atacama Desert, June-July 2011
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Eleven Shadows Travel Page
Contact photographer/musician Ken Lee
3 julio, domingo, continued: We wandered the plaza in the Andean village of Toconao, located in the Valle de Jeres near the Salar de Atacama just outside San Pedro. The church of San Lucas was built around 1744, a few years before the bell tower standing in the heart of the plaza, not far from the church.
And two more fútbol fans.
Finally, the game got going. At the break, I believe the team in blue was losing 0-7.
4 julio, lunes: The World's Shortest Trip to Bolivia.
Trying not to let a good day go to waste due to the Bolivian Blunder, I took another tour to Valle de la Muerte and Valle de la Luna. The previous day's sunset had been a flaming red beauty of a sunset, and I was hoping to get some more of that due to some of the clouds.
A sign in the bathroom as you enter Valle de la Luna, letting you know that "water does not drink." That's right.
Epic cloud cover over Valle de la Luna near sunset during my second visit to the Valley of the Moon. This is one of the most popular tours in San Pedro de Atacama, and rightfully so. It's beautiful, colorful, everyone loves a beautiful sunset, and it's nearby. 
