Atakama Desert Plateau in Chile

It is considered the dryest place on the planet. The most northern part of Chile is like no place other. With the fascination for desert and wide-open vastness and mostly nothing. Then when you have a closer look you'll see it is not that 'nothing'. This 1600km long stretch of land along the pacific coast has a lot of amazing features for you to explore.

Aridity

Representing the northern third of the entire country the desert is squeezed between the Andes mountain range and the Pacific ocean. Hard to believe that this setting can end up being so dry.
Part of the reason why is the altitude. Some areas and mountains easily reaching above 5000 and even 6000 meters above sea level.

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The climate with the daring lack of humidity, rain, and light pollution together create this fascinating dusty, rocky landscape. The region some 100 km outside of Antofagasta going south, which is on average 3,000 m above sea level, has been compared to what we think of Mars being like. This display of otherworldly movie set has been used as a location for filming Mars scenes, mostly known in the television series Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets.