We were coming from Uyuni an just missed the last bus so we bought a ticket for the first bus the next day departing at 5.30 AM for 150 BOB1 each. It takes about 4 hours to reach Ollague which is the border control point into Chile. Everyone has to get off the bus for the Chilean officials to inspect the bus thoroughly. We then unload our bags and the customs officers go through your bags and ask the usual questions. This was one of the strictest land borders I’ve crossed and it took about an hour and a half to get through. The officers are friendly, they just inspect everything and everyone meticulously. From Ollague, the next stop is Calama where some people get off before the bus continues to San Pedro de Atacama. We arrived in San Pedro around 4 PM. The bus drops you off at the main terminal which is a 10-15 minute walk to the town center.
Finding Tours and the Town
San Pedro is very small and you’ll probably just spend most of your time around the town center since the rest seems residential. You can walk the length of the main street Caracoles in about 5 minutes. Nearly all the tour agencies can be found on or off this road. We asked in a couple of places and the pattern seemed to be the bigger your group/more tours you buy, the cheaper the total cost. We ended up getting 3 tours – Piedras Rojas (30,000 CLP), Geysers El Tatio (17,000 CLP), and Laguna Cejar (12,000 CLP) totaling 59,000 CLP each (group of 2). Once that was sorted, we went to grab some food in town before heading back to our hostel to get some rest.
Piedras Rojas Tour
The tour bus picks us up from our hotel at 8 AM and we head to Laguna Chaxa. On the way, we make a quick stop at the highway village of Toconao. We get to Laguna Chaxa at around 10 AM and the entrance ticket costs 2500 CLP. This lake is at the start of the Atacama Salt Flats which the guide gives us some info on and tells us to look out for flamingos. We then have about 20 minutes to walk around the site and we managed to spot a lone flamingo in the middle of the lake. The lake is quite large so a camera with a telephoto lens would be best for close up pictures. This lake also has a mirror effect, similar to the lakes we saw in the Uyuni Salt Flats. Once we’re finished walking around, we head back to the entrance where there is a rest area with tables and chairs. The guide lays out some bread and spreads for us to have breakfast. He also takes out some thermos containers with coffee and hot water to make tea. Once everyone is done with breakfast, we get back on the tour bus and head for the next stop – Lagunas Miscanti y Miñiques. We arrive at Laguna Miscanti first at around 12.45 PM and the entrance ticket for the pair is 3,000 CLP. At this site, there’s a restroom and a viewpoint of the lake. The guide then tells us it’s a 25-30 minute walk to Laguna Miñiques or we can hop back on the tour bus which is going to wait for us there. We opted for the walk and arrived at an elevated viewpoint of the lake. Once everyone arrives, we get back on the tour bus and continue to Piedras Rojas.
We get to Piedras Rojas at around 2 PM and the tour bus pulls over on the side of the highway for us to get some pictures. This first viewpoint is for a panoramic of Piedras Rojas from a distance. We then hope back on and drive past Piedras Rojas on our way to Laguna Tuyajto. The guide tells us we’ll be stopping here on the way back as well. It’s a short drive to the next lake and we arrive at around 2.30 PM. The viewpoint is a little far from the lake and the guide says we can walk down the highway to get a closer view. We spend about 15 minutes here before the tour bus does a U-turn to head back since any further along this road and we’d be in Argentina. On the way back we stop by Piedras Rojas as promised for a closer view. It’s a quick 5-10 minute stop here for pictures before getting back on the tour bus and heading for lunch. Our lunch spot is at a tourist restaurant in Socaire which is about 1-hour 40-minutes away. Following lunch, it’s another hour to get back to San Pedro de Atacama where everyone is dropped off on the main street.
