Though Lonely Planet describes Calama as a “shithole”, the Chilean mining town is one of my favorite stops in all of South America. I arrived late last night and unnecessarily walked briskly to my hotel. I say unnecessarily because the town was perfectly safe, orderly, and pleasant.
There’s a lot of money here because of the copper mine. Like any boom town based on oil or minerals, you’ve got lots of overpriced yet austere looking hotels, and a skewed male to female population ratio. Continue reading