Just outside San Pedro is the Valle de la Luna, the Valley of the Moon, so called because walking around it you could be on another planet. The rock formations seem to be mostly made of salt, and jut out from the many sand dunes and rocky shelves at irregular angles. One of the big draws is to be here for sunset, to watch the many colours change as the shadows lengthen.
We had some time to kill before the sun went down and decided to take a look at the salt caves. There's a narrow canyon made of scarily pointy rocks which leads to a 60 metre tunnel through the hills. Luckily our ever-prepared guides had brought a torch, and we scrambled through before climbing back overground and walking up a big dune to find a choice spot to watch the sun.
We caught the whole show on top of a long ridge until darkness fell and the winds began to whip up. Feeling clever, we decided to exit by the park's far gate, only to find it locked and chained. We dashed back, admiring the stars that were starting to appear in their thousands, and managed to get out just ahead of a group of cyclists (!) and their support vehicle.
Well, I can honestly say I have never seen anything like the landscape around here in my life. So here's a taster of the first 500 photos I've taken:
Entering the Valley of the Moon.
Stepping into the canyon.
See, it's all made of salt!
Hannah among the rocks.
Twisty.
The walls are closing in.
Into the dark cave.
There was a sky-light half way along.
Underground.
Hannah heads into the light.
The moon above the valley.
See? This place is incredible.
Making our way down.
And then back up this big dune!
It's like a Windows XP wallpaper, Ignacio commented.
More moon.
Hiking up to see the sun.
Getting near the dusty top.
Looking down at the desert.
Expectant.
A desert view.
And another.
And another, as the shadows creep longer.
Last glimmer of sun.
Ignacio and Silvi keep each other warm as the temperature drops.
Colour changes.
The desert does strange things to the mind.
Darkness falls.
Looking from one luna to another.
