Just deserts

The road from Paraguay to Chile runs through the pampas of Argentina and up the Andes into Chile.

Who knew? Not me, sure as hell.

There´s a gigantic stretch of desert that runs through most of northern Chile into southern Peru.

This desert spans much of the Andes, and the altiplano, or mountain plains, from Bolivia and Argentina west to the sea.

Sand and heat. More sand and heat. And the sun is strongest down here in the late afternoon.

Actually, Wiki says it´s two deserts -- the Sechura desert in Peru and the Atacama desert in Chile. According to NASA, National Geographic and other sources, Wiki says, the Atacama is the driest desert in the world.

I had the obviously enviable please of riding a bus from Salta, Argentina, to Calama, Chile. The run crosses the pampas of Argentina until it begins climbing the Andes.

Rocks! After hours of sand, rocks were a welcome sight.

It was actually pretty awesome. Hours and hours of sand, sand dunes, sand mountains. Then some rocks.

Occasionally, dusty little towns pop up -- and when the bus stops, three or four people pile in selling drinks, empanadas, ice cream and fruit.

The view screamed photos, but they´re tough to take from a bus.

After passing all this, I got to Calama, a small town with a plaza and cheap beer and food. Otherwise, there´s not much to mention about it -- except that it´s the launching pad for the ride to Iquique, and the beach.