Full Moon
Look up. As daylight dwindles, the night sky reveals a different world. An infinity of worlds, really. Half the sky is painted with stars, specks of radiant dust hanging in some of the clearest air in the world. The other half is taken over by the full moon. Its brilliance masks the stars behind it and casts a eerie spotlight on the world underneath.
Look down. It doesn’t make much sense. A rocky brown valley full of manufactured life. The green vineyards look out of place here, their grapes bearing promise not just for wine but for the city’s namesake, pisco. As the colors clash, the geometry collides here too. Neat rows of pedicured vines cut into deep valley bowls, which in turn grow into messy pyramids of towering mountains.
Look around. We’re in Chile’s Elqui Valley.
We stopped in Elqui Valley on our way to the Atacama Desert based on a friend’s recommendation (thanks Paola!). And we’re glad we did. It was an unexpectedly fun and interesting stop, full of bikable hills, delicious pisco and a spectacular night sky.
Beautiful bus ride to Pisco Elqui in Chile’s Elqui Valley
About 6 hours from Santiago, Elqui Valley strings together a few small towns in Northern Chile (the most popular being Pisco Elqui) known for their great grapes used to make pisco, a popular type of brandy in Chile and Peru. Ask someone in either country who first created pisco, and you’ll open up a debate as old as which country invented the baklava or samosa. On our first day in Pisco Elqui, we went to the town’s hallmark distillery, Gabriela Mistral, for a terrific history lesson, tour and pisco tasting. Like most barrel-aged spirits, the darker aged ones went down smoother, while the clearer younger ones came with a strong bite of moonshine.
Some of the best pisco (and pisco sours!) is found at the Gabriela Mistral distillery
One of our favorite experiences in Elqui Valley was the hotel we stayed at, Elqui Domos. In our “dome”, we literally slept under the stars every night, where the roof above the bed pops out to reveal your own piece of night sky. As a kid who used to sleep under glow-in-the-dark stars and planets on my ceiling, you can imagine how excited I was.
The dome life at Elqui Domos
Known for its exceptionally clear skies, the valley is home to some of the most prominent observatories in the world, including ALMA which helped recently photograph a black hole. While we couldn’t swing a visit to the observatory (I would recommend it though), we took an astronomy lesson and star gazing tour with an amateur astronomer. One look through the enormous 20 inch telescope - mind blown. Although we went at the worst possible time for star gazing (light from the full moon washes out some of the visibility), it was still a stunning experience, one I would return for to Elqui or Atacama. If you go either area, I highly recommend timing it during the new moon for a chance to see the full Milky Way.
If this is the night sky and Milky Way during the full moon, just imagine it during the new moon…
We ended our final day with a 14km bike ride through the valley. Aptly named Ruta de las Estrellas, or Route of the Stars, the ride delivered a lot of challenging hills and a few dog companions along the way. A few smaller pisco distilleries dot the route as well, including a local favorite called Fundo Los Nichos. Both the astronomy tour and bike rental was secured though Tourism Migrantes, the best tour operator in town that was recommended to us by multiple travelers.
Biking from the end of the valley, Alcoguaz, to Pisco Elqui through Ruta de las Estrellas
Next up is our last stop in Chile, the Atacama Desert!
