When I imagined my time in Chile I expected green Patagonia, glaciers and rivers. I expected to fall in love with lushness and penguins. I did not expect to fall in love with the desert. But then again I did not expect to find a desert quite so breathtaking. Nor did I expect to find the capital of this desert so funky.

Chile is home to the gorgeous Atacama Desert. In the heart of the spectacular scenery of the Atacama desert lies San Pedro – a city that seems hardly big enough to absorb the hordes of travelers that arrive from all over the globe.

San Pedro is little more than a handful of picturesque adobe streets clustering around a pretty tree-lined plaza and postcard-perfect church. However, the last decade has seen a proliferation of guesthouses, upscale resorts, restaurants, internet cafes and tour agencies wedging their way into its dusty streets, and turning the town into a kind of highland adobe-Disneyland.

The city suffers from the classic drawbacks of any tourist honey pot: high costs, irritating restaurant touts and lackadaisical tour agencies. However, the town has an addictively relaxed atmosphere and an enormous array of tours that can hook travelers for weeks. And at the end of every trip, there’s the comfort of a creamy cappuccino, a posh meal and a soft bed waiting in San Pedro. Oh and an excellent vegan meal at the wonderful Cafe Negro if you’re into that (like me).

There is no where else quite like San Pedro and I would go so far as to label it as an absolute must see for any Chilean adventure. There is something for everyone in this town. For adventurists, it is the opportunity to do high-altitude climbing, sandboarding, and mountain biking. For sightseers, it is the volcano-lined horizon, the salt-shaken valleys, the clear blue salt lakes teeming with flamingos, and the steam-spitting geysers. And for pleasure seekers, it is simply soaking in the beautiful Atacama sun and landscapes while moving to the San Pedro pace: nice and slow.