La Serena

I had a couple of days in La Serena, a coastal town on the Pacific. I really didn't have many expectations for the town and figured 2 nights was enough, especially with all the traveling to get there and then leaving. And it ended up being enough time. I went to my hostel and checked into a very cute place. 

My hostel.

I arrived in the evening and went out for a run. Since it was getting a bit late, I needed to try to see something, like the ocean, and to also grab some groceries. So off I went. I made my way to the ocean along a road that was about a mile long and perpendicular to the ocean. There weren't many other places to run, so it was challenging to get a bit of a longer run in, so I just went a few short miles. The sun was going down when I reached the ocean, so got some great views of the lighthouse and water. It was still pretty crowded given the late hour. Looked like a lot of locals taking advantage of the nice weather. 

Back to the Pacific.

Next stop was the grocery store. I'm pretty sure I walked into the Chilean equivalent to Wal-mart. Even the branding was similar. I wouldn't be surprised if they owned the business. I headed back to the hostel, showered, and made dinner. I spent some time figuring out next steps, although I didn't figure everything out.  However, the next morning, I had a tentative plan on how to spend the next couple of days and then how I was getting to my next step, San Pedro de Atacama. After this was sorted out, I went for a walk around the town. It was a pretty quiet town, even with a fair going on. I got an empanada and accidentally got another hot dog. I really don't mind hot dogs, but they aren't my favorite. This was disguised inside baked dough. I didn't know what it was until I bit into it. I'm beginning to think hot dogs are a thing here. 

La Serena.

After I saw the town, which didn't take long, I made my way to the beach. I wasn't too impressed with the beach, but the ocean was really nice. A lot of families were out. Since it's summer, I'm sure a lot of Chileans were on summer vacation. This part of the coastline is a little built up and has a lot of resorts nearby. Yet at the same time, it's a little rough around the edges with some ruins nearby. I spent a couple of hours relaxing and swimming in the Pacific. Technically the Southern Pacific Ocean. When I got my fill, I headed back to make my plan for the following day.

The lighthouse.

I decided to take a day trip to Pisco Elqui since I couldn't find cheap accommodation for the following nights. It was going to be a short trip and a lot of time on buses, but I went anyway. And I'm glad I did. And I still wish there had been some open hostels. Once I arrived, I headed out to find a horse trail to hike for a bit. And test out my new hiking boots. My hostel in La Serena lost power in the middle of the night, so I didn't get a chance to see where I should hike, so just followed my maps app my phone.  It may not have been the best hike to go on, but I still go some good views of the town and the valley. I will not know otherwise. 

Elqui Valley.

I wanted to go further, but didn't have a lot of time and I was getting hungry. So after making a short stop to charge my phone for a bit and getting a recommendation of where to eat, I stopped at restaurant to get a local beer and a some tortilla dish. I happened to run into 2 girls from the hostel and we ate together. They were Swedish, but one of them has Uruguayan descent and was able to help on the Spanish communication. The food was pretty tasty, and glad we had 2 separate recommendations to stop there. 

Local food and beer.

After lunch, we headed to La Destileria Pisco Mistral for the 3pm tour. I had to get back to La Serena for my overnight bus, so this was the last one I could take. The tour was actually pretty good, but in Spanish. Overall the price wasn't much, so figured I'd get by. And my new friend helped to translate a bit. We started off by going through the museum portion of the tour. We saw some old equipment and outfits that were used to collect the grapes for the pisco.

Typical outfit to make pisco.

After looking at a photography exhibit where artists used pisco barrels in different artistic ways, we took a tour of the grounds and learned about the process of making pisco. Again, this was abbreviated in English by my friend. However I've been on enough winery, distillery, and brewery tours that I understood the process to some degree. Although I did have to look up a few clarifying things for pisco. 

Pisco grapes.

Next up was the tasting. We got to try 2 different types of pisco, one that is typically used for making pisco sour, and the other that's aged longer and is good to have on the rocks. I could tell the difference between the two and understand why this is the case. The aged, darker liquid is much easier to go down. 

The first taste.

Next up for a short video, with English subtitles. Overall, it was a pretty comprehensive tour and one of the better ones I've been on during this trip, even if it was in Spanish. And to make it even better, we got to keep the champagne glass from the tasting and go get our complimentary pisco sour. I'm pretty sure I've never had one before, and it was pretty tasty. I unfortunately had to drink it quickly in order to catch a bus back to La Serena. I wish I could have lingered a bit in the beautiful setting. I may have to do a taste test in Peru to compare the regions. 

Enjoying some pisco sour. 

I got the next bus, arrived in La Serena, picked up my bags, and headed to the bus station. When I booked my bus, I forgot to email it to myself and get the confirmation number. So when I arrived at the bus station, I had some trouble trying to get my ticket. I'm not sure why I give them my name, email, and passport number when buying the ticket if they can't use those details to find my ticket. After about 10 minutes, they eventually found it. I'm glad the bus I was getting on was late, or I would have completely missed it. With relief, I settled on the bus for the overnight trip to Calama, via Antofagasta. I was on my way to the desert.