You've seen the photos — that impossible blue water, the volcanoes, the vicuñas. What nobody tells you is that getting there involves a mandatory checkpoint town, a Hot Wheels demonstration, and elevation that will humble you fast. Here's everything I wish I'd known (including the part where our rental car nearly ended us).

How to visit Valle de la Luna in Chile's Atacama Desert with a rental car (or without) — tickets, timing, the viewpoints worth your time, and the ones to skip.