A few hours is enough for Calama itself: walk the Plaza 23 de Marzo, look at the cathedral, visit the open-air archaeological museum in Parque El Loa, and you have covered what the town offers. The reason most people stop here is what surrounds it — the lunar emptiness of the Atacama, the towering Chuquicamata mine to the north, and the desert oasis of San Pedro de Atacama 100 km east.