San Pedro de Atacama (Day 2)

The mornings in the Atacama desert are really nice because it is the perfect temperature to sit outside with a cup of tea and read. I am the early riser in the group, so I always get some chill time in the morning. We decided in the morning to rent bikes and make a trip out to Laguna Cejar, which is a salt lake in the middle of nowhere. After packing our lunches we rented some really nice bikes (only costed $10 for the day), and headed out for our hour and a half bike ride to the lakes.

It was surprisingly not too hot, and the ride was really flat. 

Below is out first look at Laguna Cejar, which was a stunning sight in the middle of nowhere! The water was a shocking blue, and the salt made it look unreal. We weren't permitted to swim in this lake because the salt would cut our feet. 

Next we went to the lake right next to Laguna Cejar that's called Laguna Piedra. You CAN swim in this one, and it was incredibly fun! There's so much salt in the water that your body floats really easily! We felt like we had floaty tools! Swimming was like nothing cause you could move so fast. Shockingly, the water was really cold! I couldn't tell what they were saying, but I think the guides said that the water is cold because of the minerals in the water!

No hands. No feet. 

Certain areas were deep, while you could just walk up on others. So strange!

When drying off from the lakes your skin would turn white, because of all the salt resting on your skin. It felt gross! Our towels were crispy and so were our swim suits! 

We biked back to the hostel where the rest of the gang hung out for the day, but Kaylin and I went on another great ride to this canyon area on the other side of San Pedro. It was stunning and reminded me a lot of Utah! We caught the sunset, and spotted the little church out in the distance that a lot of people bike to. We didn't have enough time to bike to it, but we decided to go biking again the next day and make it there. 

It was a perfect end to a fun day! It was so fun to be outdoors ALL day, and be so active while seeing beautiful scenery. One more day to go in the Atacama desert. Hasta mañana!