Veggieburghers Abroad: Valle de la Luna

We learned that the cool salt formations we drove through on our way into town are called the "Cordillera de Sal" (Salt Range) and are on the periphery of an area called Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon). On Sunday we found a tour to the area and kept our fingers crossed that we wouldn't get rained on.

We thought this mud looked a lot like chocolate gelato.

The paths were seriously eroded from the heavy rains

Our guide, Adam

In the valley, salt. On the mountains, snow.
(Someone on our tour asked if the white on the mountains was salt!) :-)

The girls speculating about sliding down the sand slope.... (if it had been allowed, they would had done it in a heartbeat)

This was the most fun: pick up "rocks" from the ground, and then crush them with your bare hands!

There was a storm brewing the whole time we were at the Valle de la Luna. We could see lightning on the next peak over and we felt a few raindrops. The dark storm clouds were rolling in and colliding with the puffy white clouds. Dramatic!

The static electricity in the air made for fun hair as well! :-)

After climbing up and seeing the area from above, we went down to the salty area in the valley. This is an area called the "Tres Marias" (Three Marys") The person who discovered this site believed that the natural rock formations depicted three different prayer stances of Mary. On the left Mary is lying prostrate, the middle "statue" depicts Mary with her hands clasped together in prayer over her head, and the figure on the right is kneeling. Our tour guide pointed out that the site should be renamed the "Two-and-a-half Marys" because in 1996 a careless and ignorant tourist climbed up the figure on the right and knocked the head off. That stone now rests directly in front of the figure on the ground.