Heading south to La Serena and Pisco Elqui

Japanese garden and the ducks

Funnily, while travelling in Colombia and Ecuador we never listened to our iPods on the busses. As soon as they were stolen, we were craving all of our missing music. At least in Bolivia they had the Andean flutes, which drove you mad for hours on end, but it was something. In Chile, there is nothing, no scary movies, no lady screeching through the speakers. The 12 hour bus rides through the middle of nowhere become hard, laborious journeys through pure boredom. 

This was the case when we travelled to La Serena. The respite came when we actually arrived to La Serena, a somewhat green city with a beautiful main street. Hostel Aji Verde was our choice of lodging as we decided that an HI hostel would have the right atmosphere for New Years. The hostel proved to be amazing. The staff working there were fellow travelers, who were working here and there or just taking stock of their journey so far. The city is very pretty, however the hostel is located a solid 45min walk from the beach. There is a nice Japanese garden in La Serena, big, green and lots of fish. 

Vicuña 

Vicuna

La Serena is a nice break from the desert tombs of further north, however it still doesnt offer enough to do during the day. We decided to head off to Vicuña, a 2hr bus ride east of the city. Our experience in Vicuña taught us a number of things. We found that the information that one obtains at an information center really depends on the person that is serving you. On our first excursion to the information office the lady behind the counter was more than useless, however the following day the guy behind the counter was a wealth of information.

We camped at a really cozy little place just off the main plaza. The camping ground was at the back of what appeared to be a fruit orchard. Our tent was surrounded on all sides by apple, nectarine and plum trees. It was one of our cheapest campsites and we managed to pig out on plums all day. We had two reasons for going to Vicuña, the first was to check out a pisco distillery and the other to visit the observatory. On the urging of the information office we visited the distillery owned by Capel, the major pisco producer in Chile. For me, the tour itself was delaying the inevitable, the tasting session. The tour guide, while knowledge Im sure, was not too kind towards the foreigners on that tour, mainly me, who did not understand the rapid fire Chilean accent. So I was lost as to what was going on the entire time. When the tasting session did arrive, a finger size cup of pisco was offered to those that wanted it. For a major distributor, it was pretty stingy.

The operation within the plant was very interesting, from the process of crushing the grapes, to the packaging, we go to see the entire operation. Apparently the grapes around the Valle Elqui region are far too sweet to be made into wine. As such, they are crushed and fermented until the alcoholic percentage hits the 90% mark. From there to obtain the desired alcohol level, water is added to the selected batch. In order to give it colour, some portion of the pisco will spend its time in the wooden barrels. We did learn one interesting tid bit. Peru and Chile both claim that they were the ones to develop Pisco and as such own the rights to it. Our guide told us that Peru actually tried to claim Pisco as there own through the legal system. To counter any claims, the town of Elqui, was renamed to Pisco Elqui simply to ensure a happy grey line. 

Our next trip was to the Mamalluka observatory located on a hill overlooking the town. Claiming the clearest skies in the world, this part of Chile is prime real estate for stargazing. The tour included laser shows and educational videos about the southern hemisphere. Our guide explained all of the constellations and how they could be identified. It was an amazing tour. Its cheaper to do it from Vicuña where the going rate is CH8000 with all the transportation rather then the CH16000 charged through the hostel in La Serena. We couldnt be in the area and not visit Pisco Elqui. It appears that it is clearly geared towards wealthy tourists. The town is tiny, with lots of over priced campsites all around and really not that much to do. One of the highlights of the entire journey into the Valle Elqui was that we got to try artisanal empanadas. These things were like calzones, however with amazing fillings and big enough for a proper meal. 

New Years 

Making Pisco Sours and eating fish ceviche characterized the first part of the night. It was a delicious event celebrated with 7 or so other people. Once again, everyone was from different parts of the world making the night even more memorable. Towards 11pm ish we decided to head towards the beach. We decided to catch the bus however it ended up taking us to the wrong part of the beach, about 40 minutes in the wrong direction but thankfully towards music. This part of the beach had a stage with live music and allot of people crowding together, singing and dancing.

 The Brazilians in our group explained their New Years traditions to us. First of all we had to jump over 7 waves. Of course everyone was a little bit tipsy so the jumping turned into a mad water thrashing frenzy. Those that wore jeans did not fare well that night. Dripping and cold but not caring, the next stage was to eat 12 grapes in the last 12 seconds of the year. A tasty event followed by fireworks. We hadnt realized that the bus had taken us far out out of town so instead of catching it again we decided to walk the 30 minutes back to the hostel. Unfortunately for us, the 30 minutes quickly turned into an hour and than an hour and a half. An epic walk but an awesome crowd to do it with.