A tour through Elqui Valley

"For eight years we had no rain," our guide, Jorge, says while navigating the minibus into the car park of the Elqui Valley dam. "The water was at its lowest point. Just five percent. Then last year we had seven rainy days. Seven! Now it's three quarters full again."

A week's worth of rain is an outlier for a place like the Elqui Valley. If it wasn't for certain regions of the Atacama desert it could call itself the driest place on Earth, if you exclude the Poles, that is. 

"They relocated an entire village when they built this dam," Jorge continues, pointing across the reservoir at a small settlement perched on the side of the mountain.

I lean forward in my seat to ask him an obvious question, "Were they happy about that?"

"Oh, no. They protested. But you have to balance the loss of a few with the benefit to many," he responds before switching to Spanish for the benefit of the two other tourists in the bus, both Chilean.

Standing on the dam looking back into the valley, the benefit to many is there for all to see: a diverse and thriving farming community. For over an hour we had wound our way up Ruta 41 into the valley while Jorge pointed out all the different types of crops. The list is impressive for a place where Christmas is more common than rainfall: green beans, potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, artichoke, avocado, papaya, mango, lemons, mandarins and two different types of grapes.

"Tailor grapes, they're grown for wine. Pisco grapes, they're sweater and grown for, well, Pisco."

The valley is flanked either side by eucalyptus trees. "Anyone know what they're for?" Jorge asks.

I wonder if they're hatching a plan to attract koalas but I'm wrong. "The branches are used to support the grapes, it's the best option when you're some of the most northern and driest vineyards in Chile."

Jorge likes to drop an interest fact about the region, one of his best came right at the start of the day as we clambered into the back of the bus. "The Elqui Valley is famous for three things: the sun, the Pisco, the stars. We practically guarantee them." When Sofia asks him if it'll be clear enough to visit one of the many astronomy observatories hidden in the mountains this evening, he leans over the steering wheel to look at the sky. "No. It'll be too cloudy," he says without a hint of irony. 

By lunchtime we have visited the valley, the dam, and the childhood home of Gabriela Mistrial the first Chilean to win a Nobel Prize. "Actually the first South American. We have two Nobel prizes now, more than any other country on the continent," Jorge gushes.

Before lunch we drive to the village of Pisco Elqui, 3,000 meters up, for one more stop, the Pisco distillery. On the way Jorge stops to pick up two German backpackers also on their way to try Pisco. He doesn't want money for the trouble, he's just concerned that they have to walk so far in the baking sun. We learn that Pisco grapes are crushed and fermented like wine, but then distilled to get the alcohol. 

"There is a lot of waste," Jorge explains. "Most is just water or bad wine. Wasted. Then the first alcohol to distill in poisonous. Wasted. Then between 75% and 40% alcohol collected to make Pisco. Below that, wasted."

Wasted, pretty much what we were after trying the three different types of Pisco on an empty stomach. 

Over lunch Jorge tells us more about himself. He used to be a primary school teacher until he realised it was all work for very little in return, so he switched to tourism. First he headed north to San Pedro de Atacama (our next stop) where he explained the stars and solar system to eager backpackers over a hot coffee in the dark, freezing desert. Three years later he drifted southwards to the Valley. 

"This place has a special energy," he says. "Some say it is this energy that gives Elqui it's clear skies. It's why you find a lot of Mystics around here. Those advertising their healing powers. It's an emotional place."

I wonder whether that energy is really just a combination of Pisco and the altitude but before I can air my view the conversation moves on to goats cheese. Given how animated one of the Chilean ladies becomes about this topic, I start to believe Jorge after all.