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Valle de Elqui
P.I.S.C.O....P.I.S.C.O
P...Pretty tasty
I...Intoxicating
S...Sour grapes
C...Chile's finest
O...Ooooooooo
P.I.S.C.O....P.I.S.C.O etc
We caught a bus to the Elqui Valley to see the lovely scenery, the home of the famous Chilean Pisco which, for some reason, makes us break into a 70s song with adapted words. It sounded good after a Pisco Sour or two.
We stayed in a pretty village called Vicuña which is surrounded by vineyards. Opting for the cheapest guesthouse we found ourselves a very cold room (what is central heating?) around a colourful courtyard. It is doubtful that we will be invited back though - Pete pulled the sink off the wall...
Vicuña and its surroundings are overlooked by mountains and it is here that we spotted our first snow-topped Ande. Deciding it was about time we stretched our legs again we started walking up Vicuña's nearby hill (definitely not classed as an Andean peak). At halfway up the views were nice, we could even see a pisco distillery. Hilltop...pisco distillery...hilltop...pisco distillery. Easy peasy choice...
Arriving at the distillery we had an interesting free tour and enjoyed one (measly) taster before spending a few pesos in
Moon and Venus
We know it all now??? the giftshop. We did find out that the company do export Pisco to the UK so we expect to be making many Pisco Sours in our life ahead. Yum yum.
Star Gazing
This area of Chile is famed for its many international observatories - the night skies are wonderfully clear. The professional observatories are only open to the public in the daytime (far more serious matters are worked on at night) but close to Vicuña is Mamalluca Observatory where amateur astrologists explain the night sky to keen tourists.
We were first taken up to the telescope and took it in turns to see Venus, Saturn (the rings were so clear), nebulas, star clusters and a giant scorpion in the sky. We were stunned at how many stars were visible. We were then shown a presentation on what we had been looking at and are still in awe of the size of the universe! A great evening, three pounds fifty well spent.
Visiting Pisco
We couldn't consume the stuff so regularly without visiting the place where it originated. Another picturesque village complete with distillery, nice restaurants and surrounded by more grape vines. You could
easily think you were in rural Spain or Greece. We spent a leisurely day here watching the countryside world pass by - including cows, many dogs and a real cowboy with horse and spurs.
We both love desserts, let's go to the Atacama
We weren't too excited about the 18 hour overnight bus ride to San Pedro de Atacama but, on boarding the coach, we were delighted to find fully reclining seats. Within less than an hour they had brought around a food goody box. It wasn't going to be so bad after all.
Finding accommodation in San Pedro De Atacama couldn't have been easier - we took up the offer from the first person who approached us and followed him to a hostel. San Pedro is a gorgeous little village right in the middle of desert. The buildings are all one story made of adobe and the streets are dusty and full of dogs. Very wild West. Its a very touristy place as a gateway to the Atacama and other local natural wonders.
Tour 1: Valle de La Luna
The first evening we went on a tour to the Valle de la
Star Gazing
No-where better to look to the skies than the middle of Chile - completely different to Santiago where we could not even see the sky for the smog. Luna (Moon Valley). We forgot to check the guide was english speaking - he wasn't - so we tested our spanish and made up the rest. The landscapes were amazing. So dry, red and extensive. After visiting a couple of sites we headed to the main attaction which is a massive sand dune which you walk along the top of to a viewpoint ready for sunset. The views and colours were fantastic and the other few hundred tourists there didn't bother us too much.
Tour 2: Altiplano Lakes, Flamingoes and a Baby Lama
This time we booked onto a tour with an english speaking guide. This was a whole day trip taking us south and upwards to beautiful lakes at 4000m. The altitude was a taster of what was to come in the next week and made us realise that all of our clothes were going to come in useful - it was freezing! On the way to the altiplano high lakes we stopped at Chaxa Lake to see the strange salt formations and spot a few flamingoes. We then reached two high lakes and had a little walk around although we definitely were all affected by
Peaceful Pisco Elqui
They love the drink so much they named a town after it. the temperature and thin air. Brrrrrrrr. On the way back to San Pedro we made a couple of other stops, the best being at a shop where they had a 6 month old lama out the back. Very cute.
Never been offered a job wearing my long-johns before...
With the exciting/grim (?) reality that we will have to head home in a couple of months I (Ang) have been doing a little job hunting. Luckily a school agreed to interview me over the phone here in the Atacama. Bit of a strange experience!! I threw on my best clothes (and all my other ones too including thermals) and phoned the school from a call centre. Luckily the connection was good and they gave me the job, very exciting. Can't imagine a more geographical place to be employed as a geography teacher! No more worries about being unemployed when we get back, just the homeless status to work on now!
Tour 3: To Bolivia
Our original plan for Chile involved going south rather than north. However, as always, the plans changed and we find ourselves very close to the Bolivian border and being lured by
Gabriela Mistral
The Elqui Valley loves its famous local Poet, though her story is rather a sad and tragic one, and so are her poems (We´ve been told!) the amazing geography of SW Bolivia.
A few tour agencies in San Pedro offer 3 day jeep trips to Bolivia. There are many mixed reviews about the companies and it seems quite hit and miss dependent on the driver you end up with. With reports of drunken drivers, jeeps breaking down and running out of petrol, and dirty hostels we did a little research at the local tourist information centre for the most positive-sounding company. We decided on Estrella Del Sur agency - a decision we were not to regret...
To Be Continued...
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Dennis Barlow
non-member comment
Fantastic photos
Can't wait to see the next batch. I have a feeling a lot of these will become posters when you return!