The Valley of the Moon

The Valley of the Moon, aka Valle de la Luna, is on the outskirts of San Pedro de Atacama on the edge of the Atacama desert. It is an amazing place.

You go there for the landscape. It's all soft stone which has been eroded and worn away leaving awe inspiring shapes and colours. There is a layer of white over many things, which looks like snow, but it's actually salt.

Spectacular scenery. NASA apparently tested one of the Mars Rover protypes there, which is ironic because the day before we had been at another testing site in Bolivia.


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Cerro Toco volcano in Chile
9:30pm 13th March 2012
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Heading up to Death Valley in Chile
3:20am 14th March 2012
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Looking down into Death Valley in Chile
3:21am 14th March 2012
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This is Death Valley near San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. We were on the other side of that volcano about 6 hours earlier
3:23am 14th March 2012
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The pale layers are ash from volcanic eruptions
3:24am 14th March 2012
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Licancabur and Juriques volcanos
3:25am 14th March 2012
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Sandunes on the edge of the desert
3:26am 14th March 2012
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Walking back down
3:41am 14th March 2012
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Different bands in the rocks
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The ash layers get eroded away faster
3:43am 14th March 2012
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Tina in Valley of the Moon
3:43am 14th March 2012
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Looking out over Valley of the Moon
3:53am 14th March 2012
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The road goes through some spectacular scenery
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This kitty was at the visitors centre
4:06am 14th March 2012
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Jansen in Valley of the Moon
4:39am 14th March 2012
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Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon)
4:40am 14th March 2012
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Edge of a dune and the flats in Valle de la Luna
4:40am 14th March 2012
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Looking along the edge of the dune
4:42am 14th March 2012
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Valley of the Moon
4:46am 14th March 2012
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Resisting the urge to run down the sand dune at Valley of the Moon
4:46am 14th March 2012
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Looking back towards Licancabur
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The ridge you walk up
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You use to be allowed onto the dune, but not any more
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Walking back to the bus at Valley of the Moon
4:59am 14th March 2012
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Glimpse through the different valleys
5:03am 14th March 2012
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Tina, Netsumi and Kei
5:05am 14th March 2012
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The white looks like snow, but its actually salts
5:09am 14th March 2012
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Valle de la Luna
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Valle de la Luna
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One of the eroded hills
5:13am 14th March 2012
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The Three Marys (Although now there are only 2.5 of them)
5:16am 14th March 2012
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Bob's hiding in the scenery
5:20am 14th March 2012
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The gang at the Three Marys
5:21am 14th March 2012
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I was trying to do my superman impression
6:11am 14th March 2012
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It didn't work
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Netsumi got frightenly close to the edge
6:12am 14th March 2012
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We took turns sitting out on the rock (Yes it is a long way down)
6:27am 14th March 2012
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While Tina adopted her usual position
6:31am 14th March 2012
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Looking back over the valley at sunset
6:34am 14th March 2012
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When we arrived we were the first there, but it gets popular at sunset
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