Day 17-18 - Aug 3-4, 2017 Easter Island, Chile

It was Larry's birthday today and we wanted to celebrate his special day with a cake and have asked for a good place to get it in town.

Overnight it rained so hard that I was woken by the downpour. Luckily, the weather turned just after 10a. After breakfast, we drove along the coast amid crashing waves to Ahu Tongariki where 15 moais statues had been restored by the Japanese donation. Despite that we have seen this place in pictures numerous times, the first sight of these statues still caused our jaws to drop in awe! The 15 moais, in various heights and expressions, were iconic to the island. The image they represent was very powerful to me. I was so taken back by the setting where these statues were all facing inland, looking at another volcano Rano Raraku at a distance, with their backs facing the crashing waves from the oceans. We got there around 10:00 am and the sunlight was behind their backs illuminating their expressions as if they had just awakened from the night and emerged into the day, offering hopes and protections for their offsprings.  We tried to capture the powerful image on camera but it was hardly adequate. I was so thrilled that I had finally seen these statues in person, after all these years!

The quarry Rano Raraku where all these (and all others) statues on the island were initially carved is situated at one end of the island and over 390 of these statues were dotted in various positions on the mountain. Some of them were completely finished, in an upright position while others were face down. Some had been buried while others were only partially carved out of the rock.

There were a number of theories suggesting why these statues were created and how the inhabitants managed to move them from the mountain to the various locations on the island. One of the prominent theories stated that these figures were created to provide protection for its people while another suggested they prevent invaders coming from the sea.

We went back to Aku Tongariki for another glimpse of these mystic figures before flying back to Santiago.  I was able to sit for a few minutes to reflect and contemplate before rushing back to the airport.

We learned that our prebooked seats were no longer valid and we were unable to sit together. Worse still, only the middle seats were available. Richard was quite upset about the turn of event but the plane was jam packed again so making the change of seats after we settled in the plane impossible. The only consolation was that the flight coming back to Santiago only took 4 hours, making the journey slightly bearable. I had not had to sit in the middle for a very long time and so glad that this does not happen too often on our travels. Also, it will make the business class that we booked for the return trip to Vancouver even more enjoyable. Really looking forward to some pampering on the flights back. More importantly, I'm hoping for some quality snooze on the plane.

Day 19 - Aug 5, 2017 Vicuna, Chile

We rented a car and drove 1.5h north of Santiago last evening after coming back from Easter Island. We stayed at San Esteban in a small hotel ran by an older couple. The place is clean and tidy. She had to walk with a crane even up and down the stairs. After breakfast, we drove for 4h north to Valle de Enchanto. This park is quite isolated from tourists but seemed popular with locals as we saw several families doing picnic there. This valley is listed as archeologically important for its pre-historic petroglyphs. There were no set paths to explore. The whole place felt like a giant hide-and-seek with the treasures scattered and hidden among beautiful desert landscape scattered with humongous stones and giant cacti with a small stream. It would be easy to spend the whole afternoon here but we still had 2.5h drive to our destination Vicuna.

Vicuna is the biggest small town inside the beautiful Elqui Valley just 1h east of La Serena. This valley is famed for growing the grapes to make pisco, the key liquor ingredient to make pisco sour. This is the epicenter of the dispute between Chile and Peru concerning who owns/invented pisco sour. Peru has a whole town named Pisco which we visited three years ago. Chile had a town named Pisco Elqui to counter which we'll visit tomorrow.

We stayed at a hostel with a rustic decorated backyard full of flowering shrubs and fruit trees like avocado trees! The owner did not speak any English at all so we struggled to communicate. Luckily, this guy seemed to be popular with women who can speak English. He kept on calling on his English speaking girl friends just like lifeline in the game show Who wants to be a millionaire!

After dinner, we strolled in the supermarket right in town center square. We were surprised that the food prices were similar to those in Santiago-expensive! Similar to Vancouver prices. With an average monthly income of $1000USD, how could local people afford to buy any groceries?

Day 21 - Aug 7, 2017 Valparaiso, Chile

The cabin we stayed in Pichidangui didn't offer any breakfast so we packed up and left early for our final destination on this trip - Valparaiso. We first stopped by its twin city, Vina del Mar on our drive in. The two cities couldn't have any stronger contrasts. The former modern, neat with highrises and nicely laid out city blocks. Its beach stretched for miles to the north. This seaside resort town is often used as site for global conference like APEC and most recently the TTP trade talk hosted by Chile.

On the other hand, Valparaiso is grimy, working class, dirty, old, run down, with many shanty houses built haphazardly along it's steep hilly slopes. Busy traffic jammed the few streets on its flat business district which also operates Chile's busiest port serving Santiago which is a landlocked city.  Steep hills and slopes dominate the city. Many poor alleys and streets smelled of urine.

What brought us here you asked? Valparaiso is actually UNESCO designated for its antiqued buildings and street arts. The whole city were full of murals and it seemed every house had a different color. Graffiti were all over the city. So much so they became art. The steep hills (called Cerro) divides the city into different geographic districts. Each Cerro can be accessed by numerous antiquated furniculars (essentially escalators running as public transit to help tourists and locals going up and down).

The hilly slopes, the stone paved narrow winding streets, and the colorful murals and houses all combined to form magical setting. Every photo you take is so scenic and colorful. A different angle even on the same street makes a different master piece! Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepcion were the most touristic and popular areas to explore.

We enjoyed the best tasting fish dish of the entire trip in one of the restaurants tonight that's was completely covered with paintings.

Day 20 - Aug 6, 2017 Pisco Elqui & Pichidangui, Chile

We drove to the center of pisco production in Chile today, a town called Pisco Elqui, right in the middle of the strikingly beautiful Elqui Valley. Beside being known for pisco production, this area is also dotted with numerous astronomy observatories because of its clear desert sky. Richard was so looking forward to visit these observatories until he realized that it was right at full moon during our visit here!

We stopped by the most famous Pisco distiller in town and hoped to join their tour. Unfortunately, due to the season, it was cancelled without notice. They did offer taste testing of their high grade pisco (ie, not the one used for mixing pisco sour). It was really good, similar to fine congnac. We bought two bottles on the spot, one high grade bottle for neat drinking and one lower grade for mixing pisco sour. The prices were really good as well. $8 CAD for the lower grade and $15 CAD for the drinking grade. Larry also bought two bottles of the mixing pisco although they didn't drink much.

The drive through the valley on narrow winding roads reminded us of those at Cinque Terre or Amalfi Coast in Italy. At times, it seemed every inch of the valley was cultivated with something...grapes, various citrus fruits, and others.

This is as far north as we drove in Chile. Turning back, we visited the town square in La Serena and its beachfront. Nothing special there. We drove further south till 5p and stayed in a cabin in a seaside town called Pichidangui. We caught a perfect sunset by a stormy oceanside. Watching the big waves crashing the site is actually quite mesmerizing.