Elqui Magic

We rented a little Toyota Yaris in Valparaiso and set out north to La Serena...about 4 hours up the coast.  Traveling the main highway was easy and fast - the posted speed limit is 120 km/h, but it seems like just a suggestion to all the other drivers...including Jeff. 

La Serena is another pretty city on the ocean with beaches and lots of condos on the water.  We spent only a couple of hours here.  We toured around the main city square, had lunch, and although our original plan was to spend a day and night here, we continued on to our next planned stop.  We were ready to leave the city and the crowded beaches and head for the mountains!  That's the beauty of not having all of your accommodations planned ahead of time - it's nice to be able to change plans on the fly. 

From La Serena, we headed east into the interior about 100 km.  Driving on a paved, twisty, 2 lane road, we made our way through a beautiful valley towards the Andes mountains.  We passed people riding donkeys and horses, little palapas set up on the side of the road selling fresh squeezed juices, and many small villages.  Unlike the main highways, these quieter roads do not have great road signs, and we found ourselves backtracking on a few occasions.  Our detours were not long though....upon taking the wrong turn at an unmarked Y in the road, it was quickly obvious that the 1-laned, dirt goat trail we were on, wasn't the right choice! 

At a dead end of sorts, in the middle of a narrow, steep valley, we arrived at Pisco Elqui....a remote, tiny, quaint village that felt like the middle of nowhere.  The green valley was a vivid contrast to the dry desert landscape all around.   With the towering Andes as a backdrop, the scenery literally took our breath away!

the main drag

our mountain refuge :)

their happy place

 
The area has a reputation for having one of the most beautiful, starry skies in the world.  We read that the sun shines 320 days a year here!  Isn't that unbelievable?!!  Our trusty travel book said that there are 4 different observatories in the area and that there is almost no other place on earth with such a clear sky full of stars as the Elqui Valley.   WOW!!!  It sure didn't disappoint and it was pretty cool to gaze upon a different sky full of stars than the Northern Hemisphere.   It was (sigh)... magical!

Thanks to the perfect weather conditions, the valley is the heart of the best 'pisco' (grape brandy) production in Chile.   I tried one at a local hostel - it sure was SOUR, and packed a punch!! 

sampling the national drink ... the 'Pisco Sour' (well named)

An excerpt from Stella's journal: 
It's really gorgeous here.  And the mountains are really, really big!  They are definitely bigger than ours.  And the views are amazing!!  The village was really nice, and the cabin we stayed in was cool - it had a loft that Max and I slept in.  It was very comfy!  There are so many cute dogs here.  They just live on the streets with no owners, and it is very sad to see them.   And some cats too.  I love traveling - it is so much fun! 

sharing her granola bar ... she'd help every dog if she could

leaving the valley ... a place we'll never forget!