Blogs from Pisco Elqui, Coquimbo Region, Chile, South America - page 3

We took a day trip outside of La Serena in the Elqui Valley and fell in love. The valley is home to some of Chile's most famous Pisco vineyards. Pisco is a liquor distilled from grapes and belongs to the brandy family of beverages. We spent much of the day in Pisco Elqui but also walked to Monte Grande along the highway. Each town is very small but all have a great, arty vibe and are very clean. We had lunch in a little place that serves, of course, Pisco Sour, the drink of Chile, but also other variations with fresh fruit blended with Pisco. I had the papaya sour and we agreed it was amazing. Perhaps the valley was also so great because the sun came out all day Sunday and it got quite warm. ... read more

Español más abajo After getting our bus from Vicuña we arrived in the sweltering heat of Elqui Valley. I still had my massive backpack on (Carla managed to dump hers off into her aunt's car in Vicuña) but luckily the walk to the camp site was all downhill from the main road. We arrived and saw Carla's aunt, uncle and Seba just getting ready to start setting up camp. Carla and I didn't have to buy a tent as aunt Wilma gave us one for Christmas, when we got it out and started setting it up we started to wonder not only where we were gonna put our stuff in the tent, but where we were going to fit ourselves inside the tent. The measurements they claimed on the pack were nowhere near the real measurements. ... read more

We have arrived safely in Chile and into the Elqui Valley. There is no internet here at our hotel so I will have to wait a while until I can post this. But before I tell you about the valley and the places in it let me tell you about our trip over the high pass from Argentina to Chile. Brian is a very good driver and fearless on dirt and gravel roads and drives them all like a rally driver but even he was tired and stress be the end of this trip. A real “white knuckle drive” . It is very long for one thing over 200kms and most of it is not sealed. For another it is through harsh barren mountain rising steeply to almost 5000 metres or about 16,000 ft. The road ... read more

The small town of Pisco Elqui used to be called La Union until they decided to change the name to promote its local product - Pisco! We had a wonderfully relaxing few days in a small cabaña and made good use of the swimming pool too. So, after the disappointment of the beach, we finally got to do some serious work on our tans. The only problem we had was when we ran out of our Nivea sun cream and had to resort to a national brand. It had a carrot extract in it which gave it (and us) a lovely orange tint, not to mention an odd smell!! Also, the Factor 12 part of it was questionable as we both caught more sun than we bargained for! The night sky was incredibly clear as we ... read more

In a narrow country, there are only two directions to chose from - north or south. Since it's still snow covered in the lake district and beyond, north seemed like the sensible choice so off we went to La Serena, 7 hours north of Valparaiso. At least on a 7 hour bus trip, you get to see some great scenery, unlike flying, so the trip passed reasonably quickly. Chilean buses are mercifully closer to Argentinean standards than to Bolivian or Peruvian ones! La Serena is a major seaside resort in the summer, but it was fairly quiet being off season. Arriving early evening, again food was high on the list of priorities and having seen a pizzeria recommended, that with red wine was on our minds. Sadly, the waiter elected to keep the fact that they ... read more