Atacama desert is considered to be the driest place on planet Earth. It is a very cool and arid region of over 1000 km in length. The reason for its dryness is because it lies in a basin that from every side is limited by a mountain range and all the rainclouds usually do not make it over the mountains even if Atacama is so close to the ocean. What's more, in Atacama's region once there used to be a giant lake with saltwater but when the high Andes grew higher due to earth movements it basically dried off leaving a pefectly flat surface covered with a layer of salt - a salar. A similar situation happened in the most famous salar in South America - Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. This is not even a bit of a proper scientific explaination, but I get the general idea.
Atacama desert is the dryest desert in the world. Attracting tourists from all over the world it currently stands as one of the biggest chilean attractions, people come here just to see at least one of its wonders.
And in the middle of it lies the small town of San Pedro. A small settlement that stole my heart.
Hello Chile! A brand new continent. A brand new culture. Yet another absolutely different reality to encounter. Chile is a particularly interesting country in this area, because it is slightly different than the rest of Latin America. It is the most developed and the richest country of the continent, with the most stable economy and it is also most likely to be the safect (well, until recently when massive riots had place in the capital literally two weeks after our departure). Spanish the language spoken in Chile with a quirky, fast-paced accent. Chileans speaking english is not a common occurance, sadly, so I think that a basic knowledge of spanish made our stay much more enjoyable.
Chile's uniqueness is due to it's geography. Deserts, Andes, Islands, Antarctica. Chile has it all. I don't think there is such another country in the World. It is basically shaped in a line that stretches on the Pacific Coast through the entire continent, from the border with Peru all the way down to Cape Horn in the south. From the east the border runs along the Andes. Chile has a coastline of 4,3000 km! So because of that it has nearly all climate zones within its borders. It is a real treat for nature lovers with two specially attractive destinations - the Atacama desert and Patagonia.
I like re-visiting places. I already have my personal thoughts about it after the previous visit, and because of that I am taking it slower with sightseeing, with less rush and travel adrenaline. See some sights that I might have missed for the first time. I had my flight to Santiago from Barcelona, so it was fairly obvious that I wouldn't miss an opportunity of spending some time in the capital of Catalunya just before the departure. I have been there nearly 5 years ago, after all! I actually flew in to Valencia and then took a bus to Barcelona.
Fallas? Paella? This can only mean Valencia! Even though I visited this gorgeous city not even close to the time of Fallas (the celebration of fire, essentially the most known festival that takes place in Spain) I still enjoyed my stay very much and would happily place Valencia among my top places in Spain.
It is worthy to mention that it is the 3rd biggest spanish city after Madrid and Barcelona. Located on the south-east of the coast by the Mediterrenian Sea. Valencia simply bursts with life and positive energy making it a very attractive place to be for students, artists, tourists and possibly for its habitants too etc.
