11th Nov. 2016
In our “making it up as we go along” itinerary, there are always decisions to be made – and once they are made, you can only look forward to the next decision and not back at what might have been. Whilst there are a few occasions, as with our decision not to go to Salta in Argentina from San Pedro, that with hindsight we might have made differently, far more frequently we are happy that we get it right. Two heads are more than twice as good as one. Just as Janet described yesterday, our decision to do Pisco Elqui as a day trip and not an overnight stop was spot on – as now was the decision do our cycle trip today and keep the timing for our transfer back to La Serena in our own hands.
Due to quirks in Chilean shop/restaurant opening times (which we just don’t seem to be able to get our heads around) Elki Magic, the cycle hire shop doesn’t open until 10:30. This gives us time for the essential coffee (all the more important as we only have instant coffee for breakfast) and a bit of a catch up on photos around town. Even better, when the shop did open, the staff were friendly and helpful; they had a map with a suggested tour route – with two distilleries, a brewery and a solar kitchen on it; and the bikes were in good condition and well maintained.
As we head out of town, the instructions tell us to follow signs for the Mamalluca Observatory which is on top of one of the hills lining the valley. Whilst the bikes could cope with climb, we’re not sure that our legs could. Fortunately, we branch off and our route takes us broadly parallel to the Elqui river (and so parallel to the main road too, so we don’t have many cars to contend with). It’s (another) lovely sunny day, so we feel no compunction about stopping in the small villages that we pass through to have a nose around the square and the local church.
Our first scheduled stop is at the Aba [Pisco] Distillery and the first clue that we have arrived is the sight of a set of large white fermentation tanks. So far as we are concerned, the distillery has a number of things going for it – tours are free and include a tasting and our guide makes an effort to speak a little more slowly than usual so I understand more of what is being said. It is excellent practise for me to listen to a native speaker talking on a subject that I know a little about. The distillery is on a much smaller scale than the one yesterday – though they did say that you can buy their Pisco in Selfridges in London.
Somehow we manage to tear ourselves away and get back on our bikes. The dirt road winds gently up the valley and we continue to marvel at the contrast between the stark, rocky sides of the hills dotted with cactuses and the patchwork of verdant vineyards that cover the floor of the valley. We know that there is water – we’ve seen the river and the reservoir – but as we were told yesterday, it only rains three times a year here and we have seen only a few wispy clouds since we arrived. We have seen so little farmed land in Chile that this is coming as a real surprise.
The furthest point in our route before we turn for home is at the small town of Diaguitas. Of course there is a square and a church (and memorials to Gabriela Mistral) but, more importantly for us, there is the Guayacan micro-brewery. Here, it is the owner who happens to be behind the bar and whilst he is serving us samples he explains (in English) about the beers and about what he is trying to do with the brewery which he founded about 7 years ago when he was 26. The brewery is unusual in that it brews English-style beers – rather than the German beers that are made by Kunstmann and other brewers in the south of the country. We tried a (little of) a half a dozen beers including an IPA that I thought was absolutely fantastic – warm citrus fruits at the front of my mouth with then the hops taste lingering at the back. Janet wasn’t so sure about this one but liked some of the others.
We’ve got lunch on our mind now as it has gone 3pm and so far we have been fuelled on Pisco and beer. As we are now tracking the river downstream, it is mostly downhill for the first part. However, after we cross the river there is a cruel stretch where we head up the side of the hill to the village of Villaseca where the speciality is food cooked in solar ovens. As is satisfies our hunger both for food and the quirky it is a must do and we arrive at the Donde Martita Solar Kitchen at the same time as the French couple that we have been bumping into throughout the day. The menu del dia includes either roast chicken or a lamb casserole both of which have been cooked in the solar ovens arranged outside. Not gourmet, but tasty and filling and just what a couple of hungry cyclists needed.
Aided by our additional post-lunch mass, it’s an easy downhill ride back into town. We pause briefly at the array of solar panels (I’m only surprised that I haven’t seen more) and almost as briefly at the Capel distillery. This later is a world away from the Aba or Mistral distilleries – an industrial scale plant where even the tours are commercialised. We’ve no interest in joining the coachloads of other tourists paying for a tour. Anyway, it is just about time for the bike rental shop to reopen at 4:30 for us to drop of our bikes, collect our backpacks from the hostal and catch the bus back to La Serena where we are staying for another couple of nights.
One of the ways that we can tell that we are getting further south is that sunset is getting progressively later. In La Serena, our phones tell us that it is going to be at around 8:15 whereas back in Arica it was around 6:30. This gives a chance for a sunset stroll before supper, and I suggest to Janet we head down to the lighthouse which is “not far away”. Not far away turns out to be about 1.5 miles and we mistime our arrival and get there just as the sun is disappearing below the horizon – so I’m doubly in trouble with ‘la jefa’. And so it turned out that our last sample of what the Elqui Valley had to offer was right down on the seafront with some twilight photography.