The Inca built roads, and the greatest of them stretched down the Andes for thousands of kilometres. The Qhapaq Nan, the Andean road system, ran from Colombia to Chile and Argentina, linking farms, forts, storehouses and shrines, and UNESCO listed a large part of it in 2014. In northern Chile, segments of the road cross the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth, and the section near Turi is among the best preserved.
Turi lies on the edge of the high desert, about three thousand metres above sea level, above the Loa river canyon and close to Calama. Above the village is a pukara, a hilltop fortress of dry stone walls, which the Inca used to control the area. The road itself is a simple thing: a strip of cleared ground a few metres wide, edged by lines of stones, running in a straight line across the stony plain. In the desert, with almost no rain or wind erosion, it has survived for five hundred years. You can follow it for kilometres, and the line cuts straight over hills rather than around them.
Calama, the nearest big town, has fuel, workshops and hotels, and San Pedro de Atacama is the popular base to the southeast, with a good choice of places to eat and sleep. The paved road between them is excellent, but side tracks into the desert are often gravel and sand, and they can be rough. Altitude is serious, so take time to acclimatise and drink plenty of water. The sun is fierce, even in winter, and the nights are cold.
Light is the great reward. In the early morning and late afternoon, the stony hills turn rust, gold and violet, and the line of the road shows up clearly, running toward the snow-capped volcanoes on the horizon. The air is thin and dry and the sky is a deep blue. Respect the site by staying on tracks, and do not move stones. The road is a fragile thing, and it deserves the care.