Valle de Elqui

Man, last weekend was great! 15 or th 16 kids in our ND group (+2 others from Marquette) traveled 7 hours North to the Elqui Valley. I left late Thursday night, taking an overnight bus to La Serena, a colonial beach town that is the closest major city to the valley. After arriving at 4:45 in the morning, I explored La Serena a little bit while we waited for the first bus of the morning (7:00) into Vicuña, a small town about an hour inland. Vicuña is a really pretty town, very quiet (at least for the winter off-season), and also the birthplace of Nobel prize winner Gabriela Mistral. After stashing our backpacks in a hostel, we set of for our first day. We visited the simple museum honoring Gabriela, walked around the town a little bit, then headed to the Capel distillery. Capel is one of the main brands of pisco here in Chile (remember, pisco is the traditional Chilean liquor made from grapes).The tour was really interesting, as we got to tour each stage of the production factory from fermentation to bottling. In addition to making the discount Capel brand, the distillery also produces the upmarket Alto del Carmen brand and many already mixed cocktails. After a very informative tour, and a requisite stop in the sampling room, we headed out to lunch. We ate at an incredible solar restaurant, where everything from the bread to the rice to the goat meat to the dessert was cooked using solar ovens that focused the suns light. Absolutely delicious and incredible to see the process. See the picture above for the ovens

After doing a little bit of hiking, and grilling up an awesome asado (BBQ) at our hostel, we headed up to the observatory for our night tour. The Elqui Valley is well known around the world by astronomers because it has one of the clearest night skies anywhere. I didn't know what to make of this beforehand, but let me tell you, this is 100% true! Instead of just seeing single stars, with the naked eye we could actually make up clusters of starts that appear as huge clouds. And this was all before looking through a telescope. The telescopes at this observatory (a tourist observatory, not actually used by scientists) were the biggest I've ever seen at a whopping 40 cm in diameter. Even more incredible is the fact that nearby you can find telescopes with diameters as big as 8 meters, yet these are actually used by real scientists, not easily impressed gringo tourists. We had tons of chances to gaze through the telescope, getting great images of stars, planets, and moons.

The next day, myself and two friends, Tom and Shu, travelled another hour inland to Pisco Elqui (renamed such to honor another of the biggest Chilean brands of pisco that is produced here). From here, after loosing and then finding my cellphone again (!), we started hiking even more up the valley. The scenery here was amazing. Despite being so dry, the valley is dominated by grape vines. Often, even the hills are planted, with vines growing at seemingly 45* angles! The farther up the valley we went, the narrower the valley got. After stopping at a panaderia (bread shop) for lunch, and actually eating in the owners own kitchen, we continued our trek upwards. Eventually, we made it all the way to Alcohuaz, our goal, some 15 km from Pisco Elqui, only to find that there weren't any public buses available to take us back. Hitchhiking it is! After starting a little tentatively, we figured it out. After catching a series of 3 rides (one of which was the open trailer behind an old rickety tractor! Check my facebook for an awesome video), we made it down. In the process, we even developed a hitchhiking theory: First of all, with three guys, you have limited options. The vehicle must have a bed or a trailer that is outside and separate from the driver/other passengers. Secondly, the vehicle must be built before about 1995. We tried to hail a ride from a guy in a brand new Mercedes, but to no avail (Not really a surprise, as we were covered in dust and sweat), Lastly, the driver must be male. We made it back to Pisco Elqui, where Shu and Tom set off for La Serena again, in order to catch an earlier bus back to Santiago.

This is where my solo-adventure starts. After finding my LonelyPlanet recommended hippie hostel (this place was so hippie! bubbly neon colored letters, overgrown gardens, outdoor kitchen, nature music playing, hammock), I cooked myself some dinner and explored the town. It's a very calm town, even quieter than Vicuña, but I hear that in the summer it is nearly overrun with backpackers. After enjoying the hammock I got to bed, exhausted from the last two days. I woke up early the next morning planning to hitchhike back to Santiago. Yes, my plan all along had been to peddle rides for the whole 9 hour trip. After setting off early, I realized that the roads aren't too busy on a Sunday morning around 7:30. Haha, I should have anticipated that. Eventually, a nice family picked me up and took me the remaining 2 hours to La Serena. Great family, we had a great ride and they wished me luck for the rest of my trip. After grabbing a quick lunch, I set off walking down the highway. Yes, the highway. My initial optimism soon dwindled however as I found myself walking km after km with no one even considering stopping. I told myself that if no one gave me a lift before then next major city (Coquimbo, some 12 km away), I'd take a bus from there. Eventually, at 10 km, a really awesome VW bus pulled over and gave me a lift, yet unfortunately, they were only going to Coquimbo. A fun 2 km ride though! I caught the next bus to Santiago, disappointed that my strategy hadn't worked, but proud of giving it my best. I can't say I didn't try!

A couple more things. I have decided to grow my beard out. Right now it looks pretty ugly, but I'll keep you updated. I can get away with it here in South America better than I can back home.

Also, I enrolled in a tandem program here at La Catolica. I have been paired with a Chilean student, David, who wants to improve his English. He's a great guy from Southern Chile. We speak a mixture of English and Spanish, helping eachother out along the way.

Lastly, big game for ND this weekend. Let's start the season off strong. Go Irish, beat Boilers!