San Pedro de Atacama

Driving out to the Salar De Atacama, a travel companion of mine was busily prattling away, daring me to pay attention to him and not to the surreal landscapes buzzing past. I politely nodded – agreeing to what I couldn't say – and nonchalantly turned back to the colors. San Pedro is a place that demands quiet devotion and rewards silent reverence.

Where to begin in detailing the justified hyperbole?

Perhaps El Taito – the highest geyser field in the world at 4300 metres. Watching dawn arrive in azure waves over perfectly-coned volcanoes, side-stepping geysers firing clouds of steam that dance and fade into the cold, blue and emerging sky and listening to the agitated earth burble and gurble, think dozens of restless teapots, is a treasurable experience.

It's the first I traveled to northern Chile, and what better to do to San Pedro de Atacama. Landscapes of diverse and contrasting colors envelop you in a way that makes you want to return. Northern Chile has its charm and the words to describe it are few. PHI