About 480 miles north of Santiago is La Serena, a beautiful coastal beach resort town and 100 kilometers east of that into the Andes is Pisco Elqui - was our destination. Even though Google maps said it would take 9 hours to get there from Santiago, we believed our friends that said 5.5 hours to La Serena.
We left Santiago around 3PM and arrived to our gorgeous B&B in La Serena at 20:58; google was wrong! The last 2 hours were in the dark but thankfully God gave us an enormous silvery full moon; it seemed like it was sitting right on the edge of the mountain peaks just for us.
Road Trip Tip #1: Leave with enough daylight to arrive with light or travel with a full moon.
There are less than 100 street lights in almost 400 miles of Ruta 5.
We stayed at this adorable B&B, El Arbol, and not only were the shared spaces and room comfy and cozy but the energy was positive, relaxed and friendly. Definitely recommend it!
After a bread and butter with instant coffee breakfast, we headed east. Our drive from La Serena into and up to Valle de Elqui was like driving through an autumn rainbow. Deep burgundy leaves, blue and purple mountains, crisp blue skies and endless rows of grapes towards the pot of gold - Pisco Sours!
Other than your occasional tractor and Chilean guaso, there was no traffic from the city to Pisco Elqui. The road winds and climbs around mountain curves, giving us bird's eye views of the lush green valley below. Windows down, we saw Pisco distilleries, a microbrewery and fruit stands selling fresh papayas, persimmons, and avocados. There isn't much between you and the cliffs, so I don't recommend learning to drive stick in these parts!
Avocado trees were planted into the hillsides, I don't know who walks through there plucking down our avocados but thank you! Plus, thanks to Israeli irrigation systems for getting water into the hillside plantations in a valley that receives an average of 4 inches of rain a year!
Our hostel in Pisco Elqui was up from the main square where a white Spanish stucco-style church takes center stage. Although our hostel had gorgeous desert landscaping and bright, cheerful rooms the beds were uncomfortable, hard and squeaky. But for $25 a night with breakfast and a parking spot, we got over the bad night's sleep pretty quick.
The Gabriela Mistral distillery is right in town, across the square from the main church and a block down from the public school. We did the tour to see the production process, learn about the history of Pisco in the valley and of course, taste a few of their Piscos.
I'd say 95% of Chileans drink their Pisco with Coca-Cola. Ugh. I was happy to hear that the distillery does not recommend drinking Pisco with Coke (Piscola). Pisco Sours or Pisco + clear beverage are the best ways to enjoy the liquor.
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| the international amateur astronomer's learning about Mars |
On our first night in town we did a night sky tour to learn about the stars. Northern Chile is one of the best places in the world to observe and study the night sky because of the elevation and dry desert climate. Scientists from around the world and various countries come to this tiny paradise in the Andes. We were lucky enough to go on a tour with Roberto from Turismo Migrantes. He explained nuclear fusion, the size of the universe, the science of seasons and listed off countless facts about star size, light speed, distances between stars and planets and more but I just couldn't process so much science.
It was phenomenal! We saw Saturn, Mars, the Southern Cross and a few constellations!
He did crush one beloved wonder: there are no such thing as shooting stars. What we see are chunks of comets breaking off. As long as I still get to make a wish, right?
The next day was our mud bath day! We hiked with Leo from Turismo Migrantes to mineral hot springs. He's not your typical mountain guide but he was fun to be with! With the strong desert sun shining down, we used the mud as solar protection as we soaked and squirmed - how much more natural and organic can you be?
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| our hot springs hike |
As you know, hot springs are located close to rivers and one of our hot spring pools was separated from the rushing river by only a few centimeters of rock. Imagine a hot tub connected to a pool, but raised a bit higher than the pool. In that narrow, smaller pool, where we accidentally played some footsie, we were sitting right next to a small but powerful waterfall.
Of course I jumped into the freezing rushing water - twice! The shock sent my limbs in all directions - I had no control over where I put my legs. According to Alli, she had never seen me react or move faster to get out of that waterfall!
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| our lunch spot along the highway |
That same night we went with Leo - we were with him from 10AM to 11:30PM - to a family's horse ranch deep into the valley for a night sky horseback ride. Surprisely we survived the harrowing turns going up and around the mountain to get to the ranch. Yup, we mounted our horses in pitch black and slowly wandered along the valley floor toward our star gazing spot.
I stared straight up at the millions of stars and whispered sweet nothings to my shorty Chilean horse. I barely give her directions and of course, she likes to be the leader. So I'm leading the three of us up and away, mesmerized by the peace in the air and completely relaxed on my horse. We got to our viewing spot and the best part of the night - Alli and I started the bonfire because Leo didn't know how to!!
My soul sings when I'm in the mountains, it's when I'm at my calmest and when I feel closest to God. My heart feels kinder and I feel like I'm in a flowing state of meditation. It's the opposite in the city streets and in my car, I'm anxious and stressed. Doesn't that mean I should just move to the mountains, set up a ranch and start homesteading?
We left Pisco Elqui around 10AM so we could enjoy the views and the drive was easy. We were having so much fun chatting, watching the waves crash as we drove by little fishing villages and laughing at ourselves that time flew. We ate our hostel-made avocado sandwiches with some fruit at a beach along the highway and stopped to by jams and grapes at a roadside stand.
Are we still friends after a 1000 kilometer road trip? More than ever! See you in Chicago, Dr. Secco!
