San Pedro de Atacama - day cuatro

After 3 nights in a tent we thought we would upgrade ourselves and check into the private room at Aji Verde instead. We were pretty happy to discover that not only did we get a nice warm, spacious room to ourselves, but also an ensuite! What luxury. The room is one if the coolest we have stayed in with a bamboo roof, a stone bed and stone shower so well worth the extra 12,000 pesos. 

Having done the tour thing the day before we decided that going solo was best for us to go check out the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon). The ride this time had a few more hills which wasn't much fun, but we saw plenty of beautiful sights out in the valley. Unsurprisingly, its name is a clue as to its resemblance to the surface of the moon with sand, clay and salt combining to create a huge variety of fascinating formations. As the brochure touts, it's "an experience outside this world". 

Since we had had yet another late start we though we had better head back to San Pedro before we lost all the light. We literally had the shadows chasing us as we made the 10km trip back into town, and we were glad we left when we did as we were not dressed for the cooler temperatures. We did have to have a second stop off for more photos at the cutest bus stop for another photo op as the colours were so hard to resist!

A few nights prior I had had some serious trouble sleeping. It happened after our first bike ride when my knees had developed this dull ache that intensified massively that night. After some codeine in the middle of the night I finally managed to get some sleep but found it returned the next day after the drugs had worn off. I was somewhat perplexed as to what it was as it didn't feel like it was the result of the ride but some kind of deep tissue ache. Anyway, after some consultation with Dr Google I was interested to discover that it was most likely severe dehydration that was causing it. This was surprising for me as I usually get a headache the minute I'm not hydrated enough and having not had any headaches I thought I was keeping on top of my hydration levels. But I'm pleased to say, after drinking a bucketload of water to see if it would help, I haven't had any aches return, even after another ride. So it seems I need to be far more diligent with my water intake. Damn desert just sucks you dry!