Trip to La Serena: Part 1 (7/17-7/20)

Last Friday, I decided to take a trip to La Serena which is six hours north of Santiago. I wanted to take advantage of my free time during the day these last couple weeks before I start my new job. Therefore, Pio and I met on Thursday, which was another religious holiday, instead of Friday so I depart on Friday. I rented a car, hit the road in the afternoon and arrived to La Serena at 10pm Friday night. It is expensive to travel in Chile compared to other South American countries. There are three levels of accomodations in La Serena – hostal, hostal with your own bathroom, and hotel. I’ve never done the hostal thing and still wasn’t feeling ready to share a restroom with someone. But, my friend Teresa had stayed at the hostal Maria’s Casa recently and said although “budget”, it was clean and Maria was incredibly friendly. Due to my “budget,” I called Maria. She was very nice but unfortunately, had no rooms available. Her sister did have an apartment I could rent but it was twice as much. Lonely Planet has listed them as “our pick” for the last 5 years so Maria has quite the booming business. Her son told me they are looking to get government support (money) so they can add on to the house and have more rooms to rent. I ended up making a reservation at the nicer hostal where I would have my own bathroom. When I pulled up to the hostal, I could not bring myself to stop. It looked scary!! And it was dark, which made it look that much scarier. It’s amazing how the dark adds a dimension of fear to EVERYTHING. Especially, when you are traveling alone.

It was now 10:30pm. In a state of desperation, I headed to Maria’s. I would rent her sister’s apartment. There is something about the name “Maria’s Casa” that is very inviting. It sounds comforting; as if my mom would be the one to open the door and welcome me with open arms. Maria’s son Andrés greeted me at the door. He said some other American girl had come just before me and taken the apartment. They thought she was me. I went to use the restroom, nervous as to where I would go next. When I walked back out, Andrés told me that his mom’s friend Anna lived across the street and had a room she could rent me. Whew! I can’t describe the relief I felt. Anna was SO nice. I would guess Anna is late 60s/70. She is one of 11 children but now, it is only her and three siblings left. She has lived in this house for 50 years. The front door opens into her entryway. To the left is her TV room; to the right her living room and bedroom. At the other end of the entryway is another door that exits into a courtyard. To the left is a door into her dining room and then another door into her kitchen. The courtyard almost felt like the middle of an apartment complex because the upstairs perimeter had four separate rooms, each with its own door. She had four rooms to rent. We walked upstairs to my room. It had two twin beds separated by a night stand, a TV, and a small stand alone closet. The upside was that I had my own bathroom. The downside was that there was no heat.

After I dropped off my stuff, Andrés offered to walk with me into town to get a bite to eat and a drink. The “downtown” area looked a little seedy so I accepted his offer. La Serena is the second-oldest city in Chile. It looks run down with graffiti covering its walls. The city is very small – you can walk from one side to the other in about 10 minutes – so it astonishing to me that it has 29 churches! At the bar, Andrés wrote down sites I should see as he puffed down cigarettes like a mad man after claiming he’d quite three years ago. The conversation turned to politics, which it typically does in Chile. He passionately shared his and his mom’s opinion of Pinochet as a Chilean guy on a stage attempted to sing an American tune. I was exhausted and ready for bed. When I got home, my room was so cold that I couldn’t bring myself to remove the clothing from the upper half of my body. I slept in my shirt, wool sweater, and down-feather filled vest.

It was a rough night of sleep. I heard my neighbors arrive at 3am; more noise at 5am; then a group up and out at 7am. At 9am, my room was surprisingly warm and my bed felt like heaven. My room had revived itself, and in doing so I felt more secure about my surroundings. With the sun pouring in, I peeled myself from my bed. I only had two full days for this vacation and therefore, I wanted to get the most out of them. The beauty of La Serena lies outside its center. Two miles to the west lies the ocean and to the east the Elqui Valley with quaint villages and sprawling pisco vineyards. I was craving the ocean. I had not seen the ocean since I had left California. Half asleep, I drove to the beach, walked out onto the sand, and sat down. It was 11am and there were more people on the beach that I had expected – mostly families, some couples – walking around the non-functional lighthouse; lying in the sand; taking pictures. I stared out into the ocean, listening to the sounds of the waves, admiring the beauty of the mountains to the north, and wrote in my journal. I felt serenity. I took in the fresh air and felt my soul cleansed.

It was about 1pm and I still hadn’t had caffeine. I was in dire need of coffee before my drive through the valley. I drove down the coast and found a cute spot on the beach. Espresso please.

I headed into Elqui Valley, first hitting Vicuña 62 km/38 miles east of La Serena. It is the biggest of the valley’s tiny towns, and after driving around the plaza twice in two minutes without finding a parking spot, I continued on. I was on a mission to Pisco Elqui. When I got to the pastoral village Paihuano, the road turned to cobble stone and stretched an entire 1/8^th of a mile. There is something about cobble stone that is so endearing. I had to stop and take a picture. Next, I hit Monte Grande. This was the birth place of the poet and Nobel Prize winner Gabriela Mistral. She and Pablo Neruda are the two Chilean literary figures to win Nobel Prizes. Both were Communists. Pio’s opinion is that you have to be a Communist to win. I stopped only briefly because my destination for this entire drive through the valley was Pisco Elqui.

Lonely Planet notes that local legend tells that in the 1930s the former president Gabriela González Videla personally changed La Unión’s original name to Pisco Elqui to undermine Peruvian claims to having originated the famous Pisco Sour beverage. The big attraction is the Disteleria Mistral which distributes the premium brand of Mistral pisco. I wanted to do a tour and tasting. Tours ended at 6pm. I FINALLY arrived at 5pm and with a big breath let out a “Eureka!” I got bundled up because it was freezing. We were literally butted up to the mountains so the temperature had dropped by 15 degrees. I walked inside to sign up for my tour. They told the last tour had gone at 5!! Really?! “Qué triste!!” I told the girl. L I hadn’t eaten all day trying to preserve my time for the pisco tour. I was starving. I found a cozy restaurant with a fire and had some warm asado. I took a video.

By the time I got home Saturday night it was 10pm and I was exhausted. I went into Maria’s Casa to check my email and then headed across the street to my bed.