Visviri Circuit

August 31 | My GPS Route Map

This route of about 160 miles winds through the altiplano to the border town of Visviri and returns along the old train route. The road climbs over the mountains, at an altitude of over 17,000 feet, and requires navigating through streams, sand patches, and rocky terrain. Visviri lies on the border with both Peru and Bolivia; the quiet town comes alive on Sundays for the Tripartite International Fair where you can buy items like 93 proof Bolivian liquor. The road continues on through the dry, sandy landscape, passing by empty nomadic villages and old railroad stations.

Desert Memories: Journeys Through the Chilean North

"All of us, living in ghost towns though we do not know it.
With the illusion that what we leave behind will not be swept away by the wind, that something will remain against the corrosion of time.
Hand by hand, hand in hand
Gloriously making believe we will outlast the desert"

Ariel Dorfman, Chilean novelist, playwright, poet and human rights activist writes about his journey through northern Chile through San Pedro de Atacama, along the Panamerican highway and the nitrate corridor, and up to Arica. Along the way he stops in Pisagua to remember his close friend Freddy Taberna who was executed there by firing squad after the 1973 military coup. He provides a fascinating picture of this unique landscape, drawing on astronomy, anthropology, geology, politics, and Chilean industrial history, along with his own personal narrative. To know the desert, he explains, you must cross through it. "You can immerse yourself in the sea or be welcomed by a forest, but the desert is incessantly reminding you of distances--between yourself and the rocks, between yourself and the next faraway community, between yourself and your own endurance. The desert does not offer the illusion that you will ever be anything other than an intruder."

Desert Memories: Journeys Through the Chilean North on Amazon.com

Labels: Chile

Gasoline

To truly immerse yourself in the landscape of northern Chile, it is essential to have your own vehicle, ideally one with high clearance and four-wheel drive. Driving in Chile does have its challenges--the distances are vast and the roads are often in poor condition. But then the only way to really comprehend the vast emptiness of the northern desert is to spend several hours driving through it, uninterrupted by signs of civilization. I picked up a Suzuki Gran Vitara at the Calama airport and returned it at the end of my trip in Arica, a few kilometers from the Pervuian border.

The first challenge is to ensure you don't run out of gas, as service stations are few and far between. After leaving Iquique, I fillled up the tank at the entrance to the Panamericana, as I would not pass near another for over 300 kilometers at Arica. San Pedro has only one gas station. Surely they do a brisk business from all the tour groups, I thought, but each morning, when I stopped in to fill up the tank before heading out for the day, the station was closed. On the first day there was a line of cars waiting, and everyone else seemed just as perplexed as I was. Finally, one driver stepped out of his van while the family in the back looked on and demanded to speak to the manager. A few of us followed him in and the manager relented and agreed to sell us gasoline. The whole charade would be repeated each morning over the next few days. I never did figure out why the station was so reluctant to do business; they could name their price and we would have paid it.

In Putre there was no gas station per se, but I'd heard it was possible to buy gas at the corner grocery. I asked for five liters and the shopkeeper retreated to the back room. He returned after what seemed like thirty minutes with a plastic jug and a piece of rubber tubing, which he proceeded to siphon into the gas tank, sucking on the mouth of the jug to get it started. The rental company had insisted the vehicle needed gasoline of grade "95" or higher, but I didn't bother to ask.  

Arica to Putre

August 28 | My GPS Route Data

Driving from the seaside port of Arica to the mountain town of Putre requires an elevation gain of 11,500 feet. Tours from Arica to Lauca National Park make the trip up and back in one day, which can be exhausting. I took my time driving up and stopped along the way. About two thirds of the way up the road passes by an abandoned railroad car painted in brilliant colors. A hippy couple lives here and will serve tea with coca leaves while they espouse their philosophy of living off the land.

Labels: Chile

Iquique to Arica

August 27 | My GPS Route Data

On the way north to Arica I took a detour to Pisagua, first famous as a landing site for Spanish conquistadores, then a key port for mining industry, then a prison and death camp under Pinochet. A hundred years ago this was a bustling town of several thousand that hosted touring opera companies from Milan and stage actress Sarah Bernhardt. Today, however, only about 150 residents remain and the buildings are largely deserted and decaying.

 

The descent from the Panamericana at 3,500 feet down to the water's edge is a perilous ride through canyons and along the cliff's edge. Just before the descent, a burned out car frame lies in front of a sign that says "Accidente! It could have been avoided. We want you to live. A friend forever."

The landscape becomes more dramatic as the Panamericana rides along the edges of enormous valleys and approaches the coastline, finally reaching Arica, Chile's northernmost coastal city. Only a few kilometers from the border, the city here has more in common with Peru than with Chilean capital Santiago. In fact this land once belonged to Peru. The Morro overlooking Arica houses a museum celebrating the Chilean military's capture of Arica from Peru.

Labels: Chile

Los Prisioneros

My soundtrack while driving hundreds of kilometers along the flat, desolate Panamericana was the one CD I had purchased along the way, a tribute album to Los Prisioneros, arguably the most important band in Chilean rock history. The album contains 18 of their songs performed by a variety of contemporary bands, with styles ranging from ska to hip-hop to heavy metal. I was turned on to this album by the staff at Subterraneo record store in Iquique (Latorre 704).

Here's a classic Prisioneros video from the 1980s for the song We Are Sudamerican Rockers

San Pedro to Iquique

300 Miles, Saturday August 25 | My GPS Route Data

After leaving San Pedro early, I stopped in Chiquicamata, site of the largest open mine pit on the planet and the last stop for gasoline for over 170 miles. From here a pockmarked road cuts across 40 miles of brown sandy earth to the Panamericana, the main highway connecting north and south. Unexpectedly, this major artery is a narrow two lane road, patchy in spots, and sometimes diverted onto an unpaved dirt road for miles at a time due to construction. The surrounding landscape is completely devoid of any vegetation or signs of life.

This desolate image contrasts with the history of this region. While hard to imagine now, this corridor was once buzzing with activity, driven by the nitrate mining operations that brought in thousands of workers and their families. Company towns were constructed alongside the higway, with theaters, schools, and housing, but most of these settlements have since been reduced to rubble.

Humberstone, the best preserved nitrate operation and town and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, was built in the 1870s. I happened to visit during the First Biennal of Art in the Desert. Artists had been selected to create installations in Humberstone, including filling the bottom of the old pool with oil drums and painting enormous white letters on the ground that could be read from the air.

Oficina Rica Aventura 1903-1956

The Oficina Rica Aventura had a population of 1,900, including workers and their families. It was one of five operations owned by German industrialist Henry B. Sloman. The town included a 50 bed hospital, bank, theater, billiard hall, library, and soccer fields.

Ex Oficina Iris

Oficina Victoria

Humberstone

Humberstone Theater

Arte en el Desierto

Explanatory Sign

Labels: Chile

Miscanti and Miniques

The trip to the alpine lakes Miscanti and Miniques was 154 miles round trip at an average speed of 18 miles per hour, as much of the route is on a dirt road climbing from 7,800 feet to 13,800 feet.

 

Miscanti and Miniques | GPS Map | My GPS Route Data from San Pedro

View from Toconao Bridge

Labels: Chile

The Moon from the Southern Hemisphere

San Pedro is bustling with tour agencies hawking their services, offering guided trips to salt flats, geysers, flamingo reserves and mountain peaks. One of the more unique offerings is a night time tour of the skies, led by french astronomer Alain Maury and his wife Alejandra. Their home and laboratory in the desert is surrounded by telescopes through which visitors can take a close up look at the moon, planets, and instellar phenomena. Northern Chile is the site of numerous observatories, including the world's largest, because of the clear sky, minimal interference and high altitude.

I took this photo through one of Alain's telescopes, which has been fitted with a camera mount. Note that the orientation of the half moon is horizontal rather than vertical. Those of us who live in the northern hemisphere, Alain explained in a thick french accent, are all walking sidways.

SPACE : San Pedro de Atacama Celestial Explorations 

Valle de la Muerte

A few kilometers from the Valle de la Luna is the Valle de la Muerte (Valley of Death). A trail winds its way between steep cliffs and strange rock formations. Halfway through the trail opens to an enormous sand dune, which attracts a handful of sandboarders. Otherwise the trail is usually empty and eerily silent, particularly in the late afternoon when the rocks turn colors and odd shadows appear and then fade away. A good pair of sunglasses is a necessity in this environment, even in winter, due to the clear skies and the sun's intensity at higher altitudes.

Valle de la Muerte | GPS Map