Saturday Nov. 3
I turned 20 in the desert!
Got to sleep in a little? Had to be ready around up at 7 and ready at 8 for our “tour” to the Termas de Puritama. (Wasn’t a tour so much as a shuttle out to the hot springs and back)
We had a different tour company so our bus was early (I think I prefer late). We drove out to the canyon from the day before and came to a stop. There was a line of cars waiting to enter the springs, which did not open until 9:15. So, we got out of the parked van and I ate some breakfast, admired the cacti and stacked some rocks.
Upon entering the hot springs, we parked and began a short hike down into the canyon. I was amazed, as, it seemed like out of nowhere, the vegetation arose, with 7 separate pools of water (the hot springs) running through. There was a spring at the top and the water just ran down in and out of each pool. It was kind of stunning and really beautiful.
We started in the bottom pool (the coolest) and worked our way up – spending approximately 15 minutes in each pool to maximize the time we had there
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It was so relaxing, just floating in clear, warm, freshwater, surrounded by vegetation. I don’t really know how to chill, so this was a really good way to learn how to take a break.
Upon returning to town, we went to the cheapest restaurant we could find (a Peruvian restaurant away from the center, with $5 lunch). It was good enough – we also had the added bonus of being able to watch Sesame St. in Spanish on a big TV while we were there. Afterward, we still had time to kill, so we got dessert! Susi was sweet and paid for my massive slice of chocolate cake. It was soo good.
At 3, we caught a transfer back to the hostel, rearranged our things really quickly and transferred straight back into town for our tour of Valle de La Luna.
The Valle de La Luna was close to the town, so close that people often biked it. Luckily we were in a nice air-conditioned bus that protected us from the constantly blowing sand. The valley was actual desert – sand, dunes, rocks and all. It was beautiful. We saw a bunch of landmarks in the park and got to hike up one of the dunes, which was pretty cool. The view – you guessed it—incredible.
(Notice Susi and I attempting to do the UC logo and doing it backwards)
We finished the tour by watching the sun set over the mountains, which was cool as well – watching the sun set on my teenage years (just kidding, that was such a bad joke)
However, the night was not over, because we still had to get back to our hostel! The tour dropped us off in the center of town, and was unable to take us to our hostel. Though it was doable, we had very little inclination to walk through the desert in the dark to our hostel. So, after a lot of hassle we found a taxi to take us back to our hostel.
By the time we got back, it was late, but we still needed dinner. As I was cooking dinner, I met Ben, a friendly guy from Germany who was volunteering and travelling around Chile. Even though he hadn’t eaten all day, he offered to share some of his food with us. So I shared some of my cake with him.
