7. Chile - The Elqui Valley

Covering 11 Feb - 21 Feb 2019

Hummingbird - I don't know which species

About an hour or so before our arrival at La Serena after a six or seven hour journey back north from Valparaiso, Bonnie piped up “I don’t remember getting a confirmation from the hotel”.   This is what in traveller’s language is called a heart sink moment.   H and I had our booking but there was no more room at the inn for B and N.  It was evening and we were not located in town.  So Heather and Bonnie went to have a look at the room and the upshot was that the hotel got some mattresses and B and N slept on the floor in our room.  There was no space to spare but fisticuffs did not break out during the night.  Of course, we’ll never let her forget it.  This was a Hostal and they were very flexible and helpful.  How many hotels have you stayed in that would do that ?

It was only a one night stay in La Serena because it was too far in one day to get to our intended destination, the Elqui Valley.   Naturally we caught a bus to our first stop, Vicuna.  We gave the onboard fare collector a $10,000 note (US$15/£12) for a $4,000 fare and she had to go and get change from the driver despite having taken fares from others.  Maybe all she had were coins but no-one here and other places this trip ever has a ‘float’ of change.

we've definitely been connected
 via this system in a few places

Our arrangements for this section are a bit disjointed because we weren’t planning to come this way at first so it was organised after Bonnie and Newt had got all (!) their bookings sorted out. 

The hotel at Vicuna was set among vines because we were staying out of town in a vineyard which also had an astronomical dark sky night presentation on site.  The sky was clear the whole time we were there, day and night, just one tiny cloud on one day which disappeared as we watched it.  We went on the Dark Sky show.  It was a very clear and bright night, we were shown a somewhat unnecessary and baffling film, thankfully accompanied by a glass of their own wine and then some great views through what looked like a big telescope to me.  They also had a radio telescope set up and we listened to Jupiter and the Sun.  Beyond me I’m afraid, it just sounded like a failed attempt to tune into Radio Luxemburg (and how many of you could spell Keynsham - drat. I’ve given it away !).  The whole place had a good relaxing atmosphere and on Valentine’s day we were all given some chocolates and a bottle of wine by the hotel.  Nice touch.

taken with my camera - but through a telescope

Newt, Heather, Bonnie, Dafne, Oscar, Les

This was where we met a lovely friendly Chilean couple from Santiago called Oscar and Dafne.  They offered to take us all to a Pisco distillery as an outing.  They were going and wanted us to enjoy it too.  By the way, Pisco is a local spirit distilled from grapes, praised to the heavens by locals but never drunk neat, always mixed with something.  The plan was that Oscar would drive, we would all be in the car and Dafne would be in the luggage area !  I wasn’t very keen on the Pisco trip and demurred so everyone else went and I had the day to myself.  

Unfortunately, the English language Pisco tour wasn’t until the afternoon so they didn’t wait for it but they did have a good lunch and a Pisco Sour anyway.  Dafne drove back, there’s a zero tolerance to drinking and driving here.  We’ve found a number of Chileans who have been very helpful and friendly but Oscar and Dafne were particularly generous with their time.  For our last night in Vicuna, Heather and I had to move into town (this was expected) before catching a local bus again for an hour or so along the valley to a place called Pisco Elqui.   This was renamed in the early twentieth century to back up Chile’s claim that Pisco was invented here and not in Peru.   Do you think the Peruvians concur ?   Bonnie and Newt were going a little further to Horcon, described as a Hippy Heaven, and Oscar and Dafne insisted on driving them there from Vicuna even though they weren’t going anywhere near it.   

Our accommodation in Pisco Elqui was an Airbnb in an old single storey place with a courtyard garden behind it, then a line of three rooms followed by another grassy area with a swimming pool.  We had one of the three rooms and apart from the regular night-time dog-bark chorus, it was very peaceful.   There were views of the red and bare rocky hills behind which a gloriously bright moon rose every night in a deep deep blue sky.   Our host, Jaime was a really pleasant and friendly man, we guessed in his 60’s.  We had access to the well equipped kitchen and rather grand dining room.

two pictures of that grand dining room

and the rear lobby

one of those inquisitive Alsations

The pool here was great for cooling down because it was hot during the day.  The hotel had two large alsatians which were friendly, inquisitive and good looking dogs – says a non-doggy person.  However, they got what appeared to be very troubled when we got in the pool, running round and round, looking at us and then running around again.  Once we got out they weren’t interested, very strange.

being shepherded in the pool

red grapes drying into raisins

This area is a side valley to the south off the one leading eastwards to the pass at the Argentinian border and is noted as a wine region.  Elqui got narrower as we moved deeper into it and looks quite bizarre, with steep rusty tan bare hillsides and a green flat bottom where the river runs.  Beautiful in an austere way.  The green looks to be mostly vines interspersed with reddish, burgundy coloured areas.  These areas, perhaps fifty yards long and a couple of hundred wide in some places were grapes being transformed by the sun into raisins or currants.   I always get them confused but I can confirm that these were delicious, being not quite completely dried out with a smell on the air which was quite intoxicating.   I’m not even sure if the Elqui valley has a far end outlet so the 
bus service which is very well used and runs every twenty minutes or so must be a lifeline to a lot of people.

two shots of the Elqui Valley

and the third from a walk above our hotel

And the Elqui Valley has one of my favourite manifestations, or is it infestations.  It’s a bit new-agey, tarot, chakra balancing, claims of cures, that sort of thing.  In a moment of idleness, I looked up Chakras on the net.    Apparently we all have some sort of forces running through us, strangely undetectable by science, which manifest themselves in seven particular spots on the body.  There’s a list of the calamities you suffer if these are ‘out of balance’.  After perusing the list I find that my Chakras are completely in balance.  Phew, that’s a relief but on the downside I can’t even get my cynicism cured.

two half-litre cocktails