Five Weeks in Chile

the bohemian town of San Pedro de Atacama and the tour to Uyuni - Lagunas Verde, Colorado and others; Arbol de Piedra, Salar de Uyuni and Isla Pescada!
Valparaiso - stay in Casa Aventura
Calama and a visit to the enormous mine at Chuquicamata
Antofagasta and the port with the pelicans and the sea lions

Quick Tips:

Don't fly Iberia - worst transatlantic flight ever. Don't worry which tour to Uyuni you take, the all use the same Bolivian drivers (except Colque which has dedicated 4x4s = maybe an advantage but I don't know.)

Best Way To Get Around:

The amazing buses, Pullman, or Tur Bus. Salon Cama is worth it for long distances inside towns, colectivos are the way forward. they seem complex at first, but you'll soon get the hang of them.

Dormitories 8000 pesos ($13US) per night including breakfast. Internet free. Breakfast not great, but the people speak English and are very friendly. Shared, clean bathrooms, nice lounge, TV, etc.

6000 pesos per night ($10US) for a room and breakfast. Shared showers, clean, and hot water. The owner is German, who has a Chilean wife, and they are also tour guides in Valparaiso. You benefit freely from their knowledge, and they are so friendly and helpful!

Clean rooms and beds with lots of blankets!! Really friendly woman with an excellent kitchen at your service. Showers sometimes lack hot water and pressure, but she will sort it out if you ask. Hammocks in the courtyard. 4000 pesos per person per night.

This tour leaves around 3 or 4pm and drives you out to the Valle, some of them via the Caldera de Sel, which is nice, but mainly for the same view as you get arriving in San Pedro.

They drive you through the national park (they are bound to ask you to pay the entry fee of $2 at this point, even if they promised it was included), showing you various sights, such as the "theatre." They get you to the sand dunes about an hour before sunset to allow you to hike up (not far, but the sand keeps slipping) to the ridge for the view at sunset. This is amazing, and running back down the sand dunes at dusk is awesome. It is hot climbing up, but cold once the sun sets, so have a jacket with you. Then they drive you back to San Pedro.

On the way, this tour stops in Toconao, a village with whitewashed houses and a typical church. This is okay, but it’s only really there to make the tour longer. We had an excellent guide, who also stopped on the way to show us typical trees, the place where they will build the new ALMA huge telescope array and other things. However, the highlight of this tour is the sunset at the Salar. The flamingos are amazing, and you are taken out by a guide from the nature reserve who explains flamingos breeding habits (in Spanish only). The sunset over the Andes was the most beautiful I have ever seen. This salt lake is so different from the one in Uyuni, so rough. It is truly amazing.

This tour is incredible, though expensive. All the tours are really similar, changing only perhaps where you stay. We carefully chose one company only to get to the Bolivian border for breakfast (in the coldest place with the scariest toilet) and discover that the Bolivian drivers with the 4x4s just come and collect any old group, so it doesn’t make any difference who you go with. The food was basic but good and our driver only spoke Spanish, but luckily one of the other tour guests could translate.

The first day included a stop at thermal lakes, where I really suggest going for a swim. It’s cold outside (4,000m) but warm in the water. After this we saw the geysers. We saw the Laguna Verde, the Arbol de Piedra and the Dali rocks, and the Laguna Colorada, beside which was the coldest hotel I have ever had the misfortune to stay in. We slept in ski suits, me with my contact lenses so they didn’t freeze into the solution. We had to break the surface of a barrel of water to "flush" the one toilet shared by 20 people. Do not expect electricity or running water!!

We also spent one night in the new salt hotel, which was fantastic. It was an absolutely beautiful hotel, with a shower (yippee!) and cheap beer. The Salar de Uyuni and Isla Pescada were incredible. The drive back after visiting the salt-mining town was horrendous. Our driver had us stay at his sister’s (no doubt to save him money, but that was okay) and then drove almost all night to get us back in time for him to take a new group.

All in all: It was tiring, cold, and far from luxurious, but there were the absolutely amazing views (see photos). If you have more time, take it, but if not, this is the best way to see a lot of a corner of Bolivia in a short time.