Sunday, 21 September 2014
I only had a tour booked for 4 pm today, so in the morning I decided to walk about 4 km to a place called Pukara de Quitor. I could've rented a bike and cycled there, but the last time I rode a bike was more than 20 years ago and I wasn't confident enough to ride one now, I cannot afford to fall down and be hurt as there is no one here to take care of me. And besides, I like walking, so I walked about 4 km to this place.
The Pukara de Quitor was a fortress built by the original settlers in San Pedro de Atacama, known as the atacamenos. Nobody is sure when this fortress was built, but it is estimated that it was built some time in the 10th century, in the year 900. It was built mainly for defensive and strategic purposes. The Spaniards then invaded and conquered the atacamenos peoples, and apparently all the native chiefs were beheaded. I walked all the way up to the summit of the fortress, where the view was just gorgeous, one could see all the volcanoes in the region, the entire town of San Pedro, and cliff sides. The entire walk up and down the fortress alone took 2 hours. The walk to and from Pukara de Quitor took me about 1 hour and 15 mins in total. I think I must've walked about 12 km in total. To think that I was actually worried about missing body combat classes in the gym and jogging in the park!
When I came back to the hostel I was quite tired from the walking, and today I drank a lot of water but I still feel dehydrated. Then I had to walk to the agency again for my next tour, which is to the Moon Valley and the Death Valley.
The first place we stopped at were some salt mines, where we had the chance to walk into the salt mines, which were like caves, shaped naturally by water and wind. At some point we had to crawl, the walls were so low, and at some point it was pitch black (luckily I remembered to bring my torch light), and at some point we had to climb upwards to get out of the cave. That was quite fun, I enjoyed this very much. We saw the salt in 3 different stages, one when it is formed on the surface of the rocks, one where it blooms almost like a cauliflower when it comes into contact with water, and one when it has crystallised. Until 1985, the salt mine was actively mined for commercial purposes, but now salt is produced from the sea so the mine is not used anymore. It's funny how when I travel I learn a lot about the country I am in, and it makes me realise that I know so little about my own country, like where do we get our salt from? I don't think we have salt mines in Malaysia, I think we get our salt from the sea but I'm not sure. What kind of a Malaysian am I??
The next stop was the Moon Valley, it is named as such for 2 reasons, one because it resembles the surface of the moon, and two because there are rocks here known as cellulite which is used to make plaster, and cenulite translated into Spanish means lunar or moon. There is also a rock formation nearby which is said to resemble the Colisuem in Rome; it does in a way if you use your imagination. Then we also stopped at a place called Tres Marias, or the 3 Mary's, it is a rock formation with 3 figures said to be that of Mother Mary, although one cannot be seen anymore as a result of erosion. Of the 2 remaining figures that can be seen, one figure is standing up with her hands in prayer, and the other figure is kneeling with her hands outstretched to the heavens. Again, one has to use one's imagination. According to the guide, this rock formation is a result of millions of years of water and wind erosion. There are beautiful sand dunes all around the Moon Valley, and it is intriguing to think that one day these sand dunes could also take the shape of various formations as a result of wind and possibly water erosion.
From here, we stopped at Valle de la Muerte or Death Valley. There are 3 theories as to why it is named the Death Valley. The first is that there is no water here so there can be no life. The second is that the wind is very strong here, about 50 to 70 km per hour, and the legend is that in ancient times people used to walk on the top of the sand dunes with their llamas or horses, and the strong winds blew them to their deaths. The third is that there was a famous priest from Belgium who came to Chile, who could only speak French. He asked a local guide to translate what he spoke into Spanish, and the legend is that when he came to this valley, he remarked that it looked like Mars, and the local guide mis-translated this into Muerte which means death. Here my phone ran out of battery as I had been using my phone to take photos all day. I was sad. Already I am limiting the number of photos I take, and now this.
The last place we went to was a view point on the Salto Mountain Range to watch the sun set. It was really beautiful to watch the sun set over the mountain range, but I could not take any pictures. I guess I will just have to rely on my memory which is the best camera, according to Amma.
We then returned to San Pedro at about 8 pm, and I bought some cookies and drinks for my long journey on the bus tomorrow to Santiago. Then I had dinner and a beer and back to the hostel to update my blogs and finally, to sleep.
I only had a tour booked for 4 pm today, so in the morning I decided to walk about 4 km to a place called Pukara de Quitor. I could've rented a bike and cycled there, but the last time I rode a bike was more than 20 years ago and I wasn't confident enough to ride one now, I cannot afford to fall down and be hurt as there is no one here to take care of me. And besides, I like walking, so I walked about 4 km to this place.
The Pukara de Quitor was a fortress built by the original settlers in San Pedro de Atacama, known as the atacamenos. Nobody is sure when this fortress was built, but it is estimated that it was built some time in the 10th century, in the year 900. It was built mainly for defensive and strategic purposes. The Spaniards then invaded and conquered the atacamenos peoples, and apparently all the native chiefs were beheaded. I walked all the way up to the summit of the fortress, where the view was just gorgeous, one could see all the volcanoes in the region, the entire town of San Pedro, and cliff sides. The entire walk up and down the fortress alone took 2 hours. The walk to and from Pukara de Quitor took me about 1 hour and 15 mins in total. I think I must've walked about 12 km in total. To think that I was actually worried about missing body combat classes in the gym and jogging in the park!
When I came back to the hostel I was quite tired from the walking, and today I drank a lot of water but I still feel dehydrated. Then I had to walk to the agency again for my next tour, which is to the Moon Valley and the Death Valley.
The first place we stopped at were some salt mines, where we had the chance to walk into the salt mines, which were like caves, shaped naturally by water and wind. At some point we had to crawl, the walls were so low, and at some point it was pitch black (luckily I remembered to bring my torch light), and at some point we had to climb upwards to get out of the cave. That was quite fun, I enjoyed this very much. We saw the salt in 3 different stages, one when it is formed on the surface of the rocks, one where it blooms almost like a cauliflower when it comes into contact with water, and one when it has crystallised. Until 1985, the salt mine was actively mined for commercial purposes, but now salt is produced from the sea so the mine is not used anymore. It's funny how when I travel I learn a lot about the country I am in, and it makes me realise that I know so little about my own country, like where do we get our salt from? I don't think we have salt mines in Malaysia, I think we get our salt from the sea but I'm not sure. What kind of a Malaysian am I??
The next stop was the Moon Valley, it is named as such for 2 reasons, one because it resembles the surface of the moon, and two because there are rocks here known as cellulite which is used to make plaster, and cenulite translated into Spanish means lunar or moon. There is also a rock formation nearby which is said to resemble the Colisuem in Rome; it does in a way if you use your imagination. Then we also stopped at a place called Tres Marias, or the 3 Mary's, it is a rock formation with 3 figures said to be that of Mother Mary, although one cannot be seen anymore as a result of erosion. Of the 2 remaining figures that can be seen, one figure is standing up with her hands in prayer, and the other figure is kneeling with her hands outstretched to the heavens. Again, one has to use one's imagination. According to the guide, this rock formation is a result of millions of years of water and wind erosion. There are beautiful sand dunes all around the Moon Valley, and it is intriguing to think that one day these sand dunes could also take the shape of various formations as a result of wind and possibly water erosion.
From here, we stopped at Valle de la Muerte or Death Valley. There are 3 theories as to why it is named the Death Valley. The first is that there is no water here so there can be no life. The second is that the wind is very strong here, about 50 to 70 km per hour, and the legend is that in ancient times people used to walk on the top of the sand dunes with their llamas or horses, and the strong winds blew them to their deaths. The third is that there was a famous priest from Belgium who came to Chile, who could only speak French. He asked a local guide to translate what he spoke into Spanish, and the legend is that when he came to this valley, he remarked that it looked like Mars, and the local guide mis-translated this into Muerte which means death. Here my phone ran out of battery as I had been using my phone to take photos all day. I was sad. Already I am limiting the number of photos I take, and now this.
The last place we went to was a view point on the Salto Mountain Range to watch the sun set. It was really beautiful to watch the sun set over the mountain range, but I could not take any pictures. I guess I will just have to rely on my memory which is the best camera, according to Amma.
We then returned to San Pedro at about 8 pm, and I bought some cookies and drinks for my long journey on the bus tomorrow to Santiago. Then I had dinner and a beer and back to the hostel to update my blogs and finally, to sleep.
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