After the hot springs early in the morning we passed the border from Bolivia to Chile. What a change! The gravel road turned into a paved road with guard railing and emergency exits every few hundred meters. Guess, Chile wants to show off a bit here. Unfortunately not only the street standards changed but also the prices for everything: Upwards!

After a good pizza and a beer with Shireen and Lionel (thanks for the beer, Lionel!) Kevin an I spent the evening in one of the bars in San Pedro de Atacama. Sitting with a good glass of wine in a canvas chair watching the stars is not the worst way to end an awesome trip :-)

The next day we biked through the Valle de la Luna. Which is not called Moon Valley for nothing. The landscape looks similar to the one on the moon. Well, not my personal favorite of a beautiful landscape… As we started too early or biked too fast, we were back at the big dune long before sunset. A cool beer and a tasty pizza was much more promising than waiting for hours, so we headed straight back to San Pedro where we enjoyed our last evening.

Then it was time to say goodbye to Kevin. I traveled all my time in Bolivia with him. Which sucked, ’cause traveling with him spoiled my list of travel partners: Claudia, Barbara, Simone, Elli, Claudia… Kevin. Haha, just kidding ;-) Kevin, the time spent with you is one of the best so far on this trip! It was a pleasure to travel with you! Thanks for your awesome company, the talks, the good vibes and the FUN you’ve shared with me. Still having a happy smile on my face thinking back. Keep your great spirit, ’cause I want to enjoy it by the time we meet again. And don’t forget, that there is still some unfinished businesses to be done. Take care, man! Hope to see you soon! Merci beaucoup!

I went to Calama the next day to visit Chuquicamata, one of the worlds biggest open-pit mine. A deep, big hole. A whole city needed to be relocated, because according to international standards and due to the arsenic dust stemming from the mine it was to close to the mine. Geographically not far away from Potosí, the security standards seems to be from another world.

Greets from Chile
Michael