Sunday 1st to Wednesday 4th October 2006: CHILE, Calama

On our bus ride over the Andes from Salta to Calama (climbing over 4,000 metres above sea level) we witnessed some truly remarkable scenery which almost made up for our uneventful time in Calama!

Our purpose for visiting Calama was to take the slow train (16 hours) to Uyuni in south-west Bolivia. But unlike Salta where we enjoyed our time there; our stay in Calama was incredibly dull and we couldn´t wait to leave! This mining town is set in the lunar landscape of north Chile at 2,265 metres above sea level and has a strangess to it which we find hard to describe. They have all the mods cons (nice cars, cable tv, internet cafes) yet it was lacking in entertainment as there was nothing to do or see! Eating was also difficult (no wonderful Brasilain or Argentina cuisine here!) as Calama lacked in restaurants and cafes. Instead there were a plethora of hotdog shops selling questionable looking and tasting hotdogs, however, the locals seemed to love them and these places seemed to be the local `hangout´! We later found out that there is no record of rainfall in Calama´s post colonisation (that´s hundreds of years of no rain!) which may account for the strangeness of the place!

Wednesday 4th arrived (which was also Celina`s birthday - the dullest birthday ever!) and at 11pm it was time to take the train to Uyuni when we were finally able to say goodbye to Calama!

Stunning scenery crossing over the Andes into Chile from Argentina

Mountain of 7 colours