Valle Elqui - In Esoteric Valley

After the planning of the upcoming days in our fisherman's hut without internet is a bit difficult, we trust the statement of the fisherman's wives and let ourselves be taken to Chañaral in the late afternoon to take a night bus to La Serena, which is 500km away. Unfortunately, all 3 local bus companies have no available seats and so we book the journey to Copiapó, which is about halfway. From there, there will definitely be another night bus because it's much bigger there... or so they say. When we arrive in Copiapó, we check about 15 bus companies but no chance: there are no more seats available heading south today. Well, we need a place to stay. Even in the darkness and without internet in a city where we don't know our way around, it's not so easy. Luckily, there is a hotel not far from the bus station (with completely overpriced room rates), but it has a bar and wifi. We order Jan a coffee and quickly book a cheap room in the neighborhood. Check-in is until 9.30pm, so we quickly buy a bus ticket for the next morning and go to the hostel. However, after several rings, no one opens the door, and we become nervous and are already considering accepting the nice offer from the neighbor to sleep on her couch. But actually, we wanted to have our own room again, so we ring the doorbell one last time. YAY, this time they actually open the door! There is still no private bathroom, but there is fast internet. And so we book the next 7 nights in Valle Elqui right away, so as not to have a situation like today again so soon.

The next morning, we continue to La Serena in 4 hours and from there towards Vicuña to our first destination in Altovalsol. It is a very small town, 15km from the city of La Serena, which has almost 200,000 inhabitants. The 'holiday farm' we booked is a large house next to several villas behind a security gate that can only be opened by phone call. It turns out that in the house, 2 sisters live with their children and husbands and rent out rooms. Like almost everywhere else, we are greeted by 2 cute wagging-tailed dogs here too, and the horse (that we already saw on Booking.com) is standing in the garden as promised :) But the best thing is: The female dog Mia gave birth to 11 (!!!) puppies three weeks ago, which all sleep and squeak in the doghouse behind the house. Incredibly cute, especially Lisa is completely thrilled! Our hosts are also very nice, but we can now confirm the statement 'Chileans speak the worst Spanish'... We feel as if we have never learned this language and Lisa's colleague Christian's motto 'Always smile and nod' comes in handy here several times ;) But we are also the first foreign tourists they have had here! So far, the accommodation has only been booked by Chileans, so it's not surprising that we are looked at a bit strangely when we arrive with a little questionnaire and want to have everything clarified :)

It gets better when the father of the two sisters arrives and proudly shows us that he speaks very good English but even a few words of German! Through him, we also come closer to the others and they make an effort to speak a little slower and clearer with us. together with the 'housekeepers', who have fled from their home country Venezuela and now live in Chile, we toast with the national drink 'Terremoto' (=Earthquake, because when you drink a lot of it, the ground shakes), a Chilean wine with pineapple ice cream.

The great thing about the accommodation is that we can use the kitchen completely. And so we supplement the offered breakfast (white bread with jam and cheese/sausage and cookies) with our oatmeal, fruit, and oat milk, and cook our vegetable pan in the evening. Otherwise, it would be really difficult because there are no restaurants in the area, and at snack stands or even at our host family, there is mainly meat with meat with meat with meat.

On the first day, we explore La Serena, a really beautiful city with a beach right by the sea. On the second day, we drive to Vicuña, a small town in the interior of the valley, where we happily find a few stands with natural cosmetics!! Since our self-brought deodorant is almost gone, we have been looking for a deodorant (ideally natural cosmetics, but at least WITHOUT ALUMINUM) for a few days now. Without success. Even in the pharmacy with dozens of different deodorants in stock, you are looked at with big eyes when you ask for deodorant without aluminum. We are starting to despair a bit because we don't really want to do without deodorant completely... That's why we are so happy about the natural deodorant creams that are offered here! (Later, it turns out that the whole valley is full of homemade natural cosmetics because everything here has a bit of an alternative-esoteric touch. But more on that later). With deodorant, lip balm, and essential oils for headaches in our luggage, we return because in the evening, another highlight follows: a visit to a star observatory. When we mentioned at breakfast that we would like to visit one (this area is perfect for stargazing), but we are probably too late without a reservation, the phone rang immediately and they actually found one that still has seats available. The guided tour starts at 1 am, which means we would have to leave here around 11 pm because it is about 70km away! We have already said goodbye to the idea because how would we ever get there without a car? But our hostess says she would also like to see it and drive us there, and her dad is also coming! Wow! We are overjoyed by this chance and don't hold it against her when she spontaneously changes the tour to an earlier one at 11 pm and our dinner becomes a bit stressful. During the drive to the observatory, we realize that there probably can't be any speed controls and distance measurements here, otherwise, the good woman would probably no longer have a driver's license.

The observatory is located on a mountain, and we are shown stars, constellations, and even two galaxies that can be seen with the naked eye! We are amazed at how many people are up here and taking this tour! But it is also a long weekend here due to the holidays in honor of the dead, and many Chileans are on a short vacation in Valle Elqui.

We spend the last day in Altovalsol reading in the garden, playing with the dogs

and finally washing our still sandy and salty clothes. For us, it is incomprehensible that the boy spends most of his time indoors watching TV...

The farewell is a bit difficult after 4 days, but that is quickly forgotten when we arrive at our wellness accommodation near Pisco Elqui (about 2 hours drive into the interior of the valley)! Due to the lack of bus connections to the hinterland, we have also discovered hitchhiking (or 'hacer dedo' - 'making finger' as it is called in Spanish) as a new means of transportation! The Chileans (mostly vacationers themselves) are super friendly and have never hesitated to pick us up. But of course, we only do this in the hinterland, not in cities where it could be dangerous!

But back to the accommodation: Herbal baths and massages are offered here, there are hammocks between the many trees and bushes, fresh mountain water, and a meditation room. And in the accompanying restaurant, there is only vegetarian cuisine! A dream :) During a small tour on the first evening, we are shown the many quartz stones that are everywhere and are illuminated in various colors in the evening. After a meditation exercise, we go to the mirador (viewpoint) on the hill to watch the stars. Here, we discover two more hammocks from which we will watch the stars alone for the next 2 evenings. The owner explains that the mountain water here is the best in the world. But when his pendulum swings so violently over the water that you think it will fly out of his hand in the next moment, we realize that there are probably a few people here who are exaggerating a bit... The reason for the many esoteric offers here in Valle Elqui is probably because it lies on one of the world meridians, and therefore certain vibrations occur that favor all of this.

However, we really like this place and enjoy the afternoons in the hammock :) In the evenings, we try a Pisco Sour, because where if not here could it taste better! Pisco grapes are grown throughout the valley, and to prove to Peru that Pisco actually comes from Chile and not from Peru, a village was simply renamed 'Pisco Elqui'.

But whether it comes from Peru or Chile, we don't really care, the main thing is that it tastes good, and it does! CHEERS!