7/29/15: Salar de Tara and trip to Iquique

Today was another long day! I woke up for an 8 am day tour to Salar de Tara, and was not disappointed. We were able to see a good amount, and the views were incredible! One of our first stops was a frozen river with a mountain range behind it. We had a simple breakfast there before moving on to another, wider part of the river that looked more like a lake. It was so cold that the whole area had frozen over - our tour guide said the lake was between 2-6 meters deep! It was solid enough to be able to stand on, and it was awesome!

Along the rest of the way, we saw some breathtaking sights - from the mountain that marks the intersection of the borders of Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile; to a rock that looks like a native shaman; to write rock formations. 

Our last stop was the Salt Flat itself. Much different from the one in Uyuni because this was a lot smaller and was not completely dry. It actually had a good amount of wildlife surrounding it, and had a cool rock formation right next to it!

I also felt a little better on this tour because I was not the only one who preferred English translations - there was another girl who was traveling alone at the time who preferred them as well! 

I'm really bummed that I didn't have the best camera, but the views really were great! I'm really happy I went - even if I was pretty tired during the times when we were on the bus. 

I wasn't sure how I was going to get to my next city because I'd never taken a bus in Chile - it looks like it works very similarly to Peru and Bolivia, though, which is definitely good news. I bought a bus ticket to the city of Calama (there are no direct buses out of SPdA) about 1.5 hours away. The buses reminded me of the ones in Peru - a lot more modern, comfortable, and designed to be higher-class. The buses in Bolivia are a lot older and typically have more broken seat tilters or things like that. This one not only had air conditioning, padded seats, and a bathroom, the seats also had USB chargers! Bless.

I arrived in Calama at around 6:40, and the only bus to Iquique left for the night left at 11:00 pm because the bus ride is only 5 hours. I passed the time by walking around the city a little bit - it's nice! They don't have much since it's a small town, but the main plaza was alive and full of foliage. The adjoining church was another sight to see, and I'm beginning to see a trend in the churches in Chile. Unlike the ones in Peru or Bolivia, Chilean churches aren't that extravagant - they tend to be one room, with paintings or statues on the sides instead of the full displays of saints that are the norm in Peru and Bolivia.