Change of plans, seeing the desert

A relatively quick update: our trip from Arica up to Lauca NP proved logistically complicated for the time being, so we jumped right onto another bus and continued south (another long overnighter) to San Pedro de Atacama. What used to be a dusty stop along a cattle route has in the last decade or so grown into a prime tourist trap - an adobe fortress of tour agencies, knicknack shops and cute restaurants serving pizza, salmon, risotto and milkshakes, among other tourist-friendly fare. We wanted to see the world´s highest geyser field aside the Volcan El Tatio, and after plying around town we were forced to accept that the only way to get there was on a tour bus for about $37 apiece. Not wanting to have ventured inland through the desert for nothing, we sprung for it and joined hundreds of other tourists in a 4am caravan to see sunrise at the geysers. It was pretty, but probably not worth it. Gotta hop a bus now for La Serena, but we´ll write more from there.