Valle de la Luna - Moon Valley

Ischigualasto Provincial Park 

Known as the Valley of the Moon, Valle de la Luna, the park is composed of landscapes from another planet.

Although the organization of the tours would undoubtedly appreciate a greater professionalism, as it is a bit messy, the truth is that for @tripticity_ _ it is well worth a little patience if you are looking for beautiful scenery.

We entered the San Juan province from neighboring La Rioja after midday

By the time we arrived, conveniently, the 2:30 pm tour was available. It is a three and a half hour tour of the park in each visitor's private vehicle, forming a caravan.

The guide accompanies the circuit and at each stop offers a scientific explanation of the characteristics of the natural park.

Ischigualasto is a word of Diaguita origin, which means place where there is no life or place of death.

The first stop was at Valle Pintado. There you can clearly appreciate the different eras of our planet, as a result of the geological phenomenon that occurred when the Pacific plates collided with the current American continent.

Then we continue to the "Cancha de Bochas". Stones of a perfect circumferential form surprise the visitors. 

Next we approached the other geoform called the Submarine, the favorite of @tripticity_. It is a curious geological structure that simulates the profile of a submersible. Alejandro, our guide, told us that years ago, during a windy day when the zonda wind was shaking the region, one of the towers of the Submarino collapsed and shattered. One of the towers is still preserved, so it remains one of the stars of the park, until the day the phenomenon happens again and the Submarine disappears forever. Something logical considering the erosion process to which these silhouettes are subjected. 

We continue to the Dr. William Sill Site Museum, where dinosaur fossils are exhibited and the work of paleontologists and biologists is explained.

At the end you will visit the famous Mushroom, the most famous geoform that is the advertising image of Ischigualasto.

On the way back to the starting point, there was time for several postcards, towards the area of the reddish walls that surround the Valle de la Luna. 

The park is very far from the capital city of the province, about three hundred kilometers away. We wanted to take the night tour, which only takes place four days a month, when there is full moon. Therefore, we had to look for lodging in the small towns closest to the park. We opted for the Los Arrieros, cabins in Baldes del Rosario. Basic and modest, but very decent, it offers hot water and heating. 

At about eight in the evening, we returned to the park after a twenty-five minute drive from our lodge.

To our surprise, despite having made the reservation via WhatsApp, following the official indications, a long line was waiting for us outdoors in the freezing September night. Unexpectedly, it turned out that we were assigned the fifth shift of the check-in caravan, scheduled for 9:45 pm. In order to wait more comfortably, we went to treat ourselves to a cup of tea in the cafeteria. But twenty minutes later, Alejandro, our guide, came in to check if we were going on the night tour, since the last tandem of cars was about to leave. We explained to him that there was still a long time to go before the appointed time, but he replied that they had gone ahead of schedule. We quickly ran to our vehicle and got to the back of the line. 

We drove for half an hour, riding in the dust until we reached a point where we parked and began the one and a half hour walk in the quasi-Martian landscape, guided by the moonlight. 

The images are unreal, subtle, of extraordinary beauty. But the tour is scheduled for a minimum of fifty people per caravan. The amount of people complicates the tour because the silence that exploring this amazing landscape demands is lost. In addition, there was only one guide for the whole group, so the hustle and bustle was unmanageable and hindered what could have been an absolutely memorable excursion. And, to make matters worse, the guide, while making the stops at strategic places, told us about his very personal and not at all scientific beliefs, mixing the characteristics of Ischigualasto with mystical and esoteric beliefs without any basis whatsoever. Moments of those in which discretion is valued.

The crowded group was so cold and bored that the refreshment at the end, with wine and empanadas, lasted a breath.

Beyond those calamities, @tripticity_ was left with the grayish and fantastic landscapes of the night hike.

With the caveats made, it is recommended for anyone visiting San Juan. Also, from the exit of the park to the city, a modern and very beautiful road along the new scenic route 150 offers a nice ride through tunnels and across colorful mountains.