Advertisement
Published: February 24th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Puclaro reservoir - Tranque Puclaro
On the way from La Serena to Vicuña.
En el camino de Serena a Vicuña Español más abajo
We both went to Vicuña, a town 90 km from La Serena that's east on the way to the Andes (as if you're driving to Argentina). We stayed there overnight before joining the Nuñes Segovia family for a camping trip a further hour and a half inland to a camping place near a village called Pisco Elqui.
Andy and I headed to Vicuña from La Serena and after dropping our bags at our hostel (such a gorgeous place to stay), we went to visit a Pisco factory. For those of you who don't know, Pisco is pretty much our national drink (although it's yet another subject of intense “debate” between Chileans and Peruvians), it's made from distilled grapes, on its own it tastes pretty lethal, well like any other high percentage spirit, but we use it to make Pisco Sour (Pisco, Lemon or lime juice, egg white and syrup mmmh :p) amongst others beverages.
Anyhow, we had a brutal 45 minute walk each way to the Capel (Number 1 Chilean Brand Pisco) factory in a plus 30 degree heat, we should've got a taxi, but then we would've been pretty lame backpackers (by the time
On the way to the pisco factory - Ida a la fabrica de pisco
Valley and Elqui River behind us.
El valle y rio Elqui atras de nosotros we went to Vicuña I had left my trusty suitcase behind and bought myself a nice new backpack.... that I could hardly carry it was so full!). The factory is pretty well equipped for tours, they give you a tour, give you a (tiny tiny) taster and then try and sell you Pisco by the bucket load! And obviously a range of Pisco t-shirts.
In the evening we had planned to go and see the stars. Elqui Valley is one of the best places in the world to watch stars due to its clear skies, dry air and lack of light pollution. Most observatories are obviously for astronomers, but nearby Vicuña there is an observatory purely for tourists called “Mamalluca” and that's where we went stargazing. We learned the basics about astronomy: about stars, galaxies, constellations and saw them through the telescopes. We hardly took any pictures as they didn't come out well, and most of the time when we were using the telescopes or watching the presentations we weren't allowed to take pictures anyway.
The next day after a lovely breakfast, we checked out of the hostel (barely walking with our backpacks) and were due to travel
Andy
It was actually much hotter than it looks.
Hacia mucho mas calor de lo que aparienta la foto.
to the camping site to meet up with aunt Wilma and family there, but before we took the bus we popped to the square in town and had a sneaky ice cream. It wasn't just Andy and I enjoying the ice cream, a wasp would not leave me alone and I ended up running through the square like a mad cavewoman trying to get away from it but it just kept following me. Andy came to the rescue when he chopped the wasp in half with my ice cream spoon like a true samurai.
After our ice cream we were leaving when we happened to see my aunt driving past, and I desperately flagged her down, as even though there wasn't space for us in the car, there was barely enough space for my backpack (that was making me suffer so much) and also our sleeping bags. After that Andy and I headed off to catch the bus to the camping site in Elqui Valley.
-------------------------------
ESPAÑOL
Los dos nos fuimos a Vicuña y nos quedamos una noche ahí, antes de juntarnos el día con los Nuñes Segovia para acampar cerca de Pisco Elqui.
Andy y yo nos fuimos desde La Serena y después de dejar nuestros bolsos en el hostal (un lugar hermoso - gracias Mónica por el dato!), fuimos a ver la fábrica de Pisco Capel. Hicimos una caminata brutal de como 45 minutos de ida y otros 45 de vuelta en un calor de más de 30 grados, deberíamos haber tomado un taxi, pero seríamos los peores mochileros (cuando llegamos a Vicuña, habia dejado mi maletita en Serena y la remplazé con la mansa mochila que apenas me la podía por lo llena que estaba). La fábrica está muy bien equipada para toures, te dan el tour, una (pequeñisima) muestra de pisco para probar y después te tratan de vender litros y litros de pisco! Y por supuesto las poleritas de Pisco Capel.
En la tarde planeamos ir a ver las estrellas. El Valle de Elqui es uno de los mejores lugares en el mundo para ver las estrellas, por sus cielos despejados, aire seco y poca contaminación de luz. La mayoría de los observatorios son obviamente para los astrónomos, pero cerca de Vicuña hay un observatorio para turistas que se llama “Mamalluca” y ahi fue donde fuimos a ver
las estrellas. Aprendimos lo básico de la astronomía: sobre estrellas, galaxias, constelaciones y las vimos por telescopios. Casi no sacamos fotos porque no salían bien y además no nos dejaban tomar fotos cuando usamos los telescopios y durante la presentación.
El próximo día, dejamos el hostal (casi sin poder caminar por nuestras mochilas tan pesadas) y teníamos que ir al camping a encontrarnos con mi tía Wilma y familia ahí, pero antes de tomar el bus nos fuimos a tomar un heladito artesanal a la plaza. No era solo yo y Andy quienes disfrutábamos del helado, una avispa desgraciá no me dejaba tranquila y terminé corrierndo por la plaza como mujer prehistórica con la avispa siguiendome. El Andy me vino a salvar la vida y mató la avispa cuando la cortó por mitad con mi cucharita de helado como un verdadero samurai.
Después del helado cuando nos ibamos vimos a mi tía manejando cerca de la plaza asi que me puse a saltar como loca para que me viera, porque aunque no haya habido espacio en el auto para nosotros, había espacio para mi mochila que me estaba haciendo sufrir tanto y también para nuestros sacos de dormir.
Después de esto, Andy y yo fuimos a tomar el bus para irnos a acampar en el Valle del Elqui.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.087s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 13; qc: 31; dbt: 0.0372s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb