Day 25 – Friday, February 20, 2026

The last two days have been so full of experiences in San Pedro de has - I feel that I have fully maxed out whatever the place to offer - and it has been a truly memorable experience. Right now, it is end of DAY 25, let ne tell you what I have been up to - and I will write about these in smaller blogs. So, let's see I have visited the Valley of the Moon by bike, then encountered one of the largest thunderstorms ever. We could call it Valley of Lightning. I went to a geyser, saw unbelievable lagunas full of wild life, went up a huge inclines of a to over 4,800 meters. On Friday (yesterday) morning, I woke up in my so-so accommodation a bit outside San Pedro, then took a look at my ca - it was covered by dried sand after driving through that flood. I had arrived in darkness - it was cool to see the garden of the hotel full of a plant called altafa. Them I took the bike out of the car and start a discovering the surroundings on two wheels. We are in the border area of Chile; Bolivia and Argentina and there are mountains. From the town itself,not less than two volcanoes can be seen - one of them even buffing smoke. I was deeply impressed just after riding 2 kilometers. San Pedro is quite touristy, every second house is a hostel, there are countless restaurants, bars ans shops. There was even a cafe playing live jazz music. I had a croissant there.with a single dhot of espresso - and paid €7. I was in no particular hurry I was enjoying the place, had small-talk with some locals and then went to a tourist office. I have heard of sight called the Valley of the Moon, but as I do not really prefer planning ahead, I thought it was just a stretch of a road next to the highway. Wrong. Valley of the Moon is an iconic gem of Chile, and is a protected and well-managed national reserve, featuring otherworldly rock formations. an online ticket was necessary, which the guys in the bureau helped get - but there was an issue. Bikes can be ridden only between 9 and 11 o'clock and it was 10 45 by the time I bought the ticket. The entrance was 5 km awa, which meant I had just 15 minutes to reach the spot. I rode like a madnan and got there at 10:59. TBC.

So I reached the Valley of the Moon in time and what I thought would be a quick visit turned out to be an almost full-day program. The road is 22 km in one direction, with multiple stops you ehere you have a can hike of about an hour. Ladies and gentlemen I completed the full menu and was truly amazed. To make my visit even more dramatic , I listened orpOrff'sCarmina Burana during the hike. O Fortuna! Incredible what Mother Nature has created - sand dunes, rocks sculptured by millenia of wind - and apparently, even water. It really felt otherworldly- even though I have not yet been to the moon, I trust we can say it was a lunar landsxspe. Having biked 44 kilometerd and hiked some 5 gurther in deep sand, I was up for treat. I found a friendly bistro, where I had a doup and a pork dish. To my surprise, the soup looked and tasted exactly like an Hungarian dish, called tarkonyos raguleves, a creamy meat soup with tarragon. I told this to the friendly waitress and we both had a good laugh. While I was enjoying my lunch/dinner, a weird phenomenon happened. A skygotssonly overcast and a huge sand storm gcame out of nowhere. It seems to have surprised even the locals, as they all ran and grabbed their phones to tsle a video of the event just like I did. As I was shooting, a layer of sand covered my cell. This lasted about 20 minutes and what followed was even less preferable; a strong rainfall dropped on us. The power went out at the restaurant. San Pedro was unprepared for this event , its streets which, to my surpriseare, are just dirt roads, wete flooded - even the following day you haf to navigate around deep water holes. The rain stopped for a while, but the storm did not; gigantic lightning bolts illuminated the sky. I went out to a hill above Ssn Pedro to gaze at this phenomenon. Going back to the hotel , there were even larger lightning bolts and it started raining again. The powet at my accommodation went out as wel, and one lightning struck so close to the place that i almost fell out of bed...I admit, it was a bit scary... What a day!