Leaving Valparaiso and heading off to the Elqui Valley on the advice of a local seemed like a good plan. I hopped onto a bus for the eight hour journey ($CLP 13,000 or $26 USD; buses here are expensive) to La Serena which is a coastal city and the jumping point to the Elqui Valley. I knocked on a few doors, found accommodation and really did not do anything nor do I have much to write about whilst in La Serena. Waking up the following morning I walked to the bus terminal, got a ride, and spent the next three hours climbing the Chilean foothills into the Elqui Valley. The valley is known for its many vineyards providing the fruit for pisco, its clear and pollution free skies for stargazing (many, many observatories on the peaks),
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