Our tour departed Santiago with a 7 hour journey to La Serena. Chilean buses are lovely. There is a host attendant who makes sure you are comfortable with pillows and blankets, plus keeping the toilet clean. A big bonus.

La Serena is a coastal town in Chile and is the country´s second oldest city. A far cry from the developed Santiago, this town felt more like I had stepped back a few decades, with crowded roads, small side streets and more houses covered with mud than brick. However despite this there was some lovely architecture with tree lined avenues and shady plazas- if you could find them.

Our first outing was to walk to the lighthouse situated on the beach. The walk, although shady with trees took you through industrial areas and I once again had to get used to crossing roads with mad driving! After a seemingly never ending walk the lighthouse appeared. Shaped like a castle, it was a bit of a let down. The beach was nice though with crashing surf, but like so many countries litter dominated what sand there was. Not really for me.

One of the main attractions of La Serena is that the Elqui valley, known for its grape growing for the famous local Pisco Sour drink, is in easy reached. But first the day tour took us to a papaya factory, another main source of income for this area. Unlike the papaya we have at home their papaya is small and yellow and has to be boiled before it can be eaten due to its sour taste. The drink made from it is nice and was interesting to see how different one fruit can be depending where it is grown.

Leaving the papya factory we then went further into the valley where mass barren mountains dominate the landscape so much so you can hardly believe that anything can grow there. However it does, and in some of the most unexpected places. The farmers have developed techniques to cultivate the rocky landscape and tame the mountains for growing not only grapes but papaya and avocado. Imagine a brown, rocky mountain stretching way high into the sky. It is sandy, dusty and there's no water. Then as you turn a corner slashed straight across the middle is a triangular patch of green where avocadoes are growing. It makes no sense or reason as to how it grows, let alone be picked. A truly amazing sight.

We stopped at the Lago Puklara Dam, man-made having swallowed 3 villages in its creation. This mass expanse of water reflected perfectly the natural surroundings. At about midday a wind picks up and starts blowing across the water, just right for wind and kite surfing. At the edge of the dam there was an odd shaped structure. As the wind picked up and blew through it, it turned into a musical instrument, creating soft chimes that floated across the water.

Next was a quick stop at the town of Vicuna to marvel at the local church and architecture. Here there was a beautiful square with amazing trees, the bases of which bulged and ballooned in the most crazy fashion. These were actually just the roots and the tree itself started much higher up. Some of the trees had been carved into people and even boobs!

Finally it was time to visit the Pisco Factory. Until then I hadn't realised that Pisco Sour was made from fermented wines. Essentially the process starts the same as making wine, with the grapes being crushed and the juice being allowed to ferment. This juice is then boiled and the steam collected. This is the alcohol. After being stored in barrels for up to 4 years, it is at a point of about 80% pure alcohol. We were given some to try and boy did it burn! There were two types- one stored in non-oak barrels and the other in oak barrels. The oak definitely helped the taste. Further things are then added to create the product bought in shops. Pisco Sour itself is nice, pure Pisco is not!

Our tour included a delicious lunch at a local house which had the prettiest backyard secret garden. With the back drop of the rocky mountains, there were sublime hammocks, rocking in between shady trees. The path then led over a small stream and bridge to a playground and tree house before finally twisting round to reveal a small pool, deliciously cold and refreshing. Definitely a house and garden I would want.

Finally we stopped at the town of Pisco Elqui- again quaint - before taking a look at the grave of Gabriela Mistral who had won the Noble Peace prize and was a hero of the area. The Elqui Valley is beautiful to see with its contrasting rocky brown and the lush green of the vines. Definitely unique.

We ended the day watching the semi finals of the Chilean football league. It was the second half of the finals with the home team, La Serena playing against Santiago. In the first half Santiago had won even though La Serena was higher in the league. Therefore the match was tense. I had not considered going to the match so when others in my group had bought tickets I hadn't bothered. But then, after the tour I thought maybe I would go but getting a ticket was not that easy! When we asked a policeman (of which there were many) he told us it would not be possible. I obviously looked crushed, so he then muttered to my tour leader that if we went to the gate they may let me in. With heart in mouth, we approached the policeman on the gate. Renata, our leader, explained the situation, but the policeman shook his head. Then suddenly he ushered me inside. I was through the first hurdle!! But then we came to a second ticket check and this was not as easy. They were only letting people in one by one. But as Renata got her ticket out I managed to sneak in! I finally sat down but was so anxious that a group of policemen would rush in, I found it hard to relax!

But in I was and found the atmosphere entirely different to English football and was amazed to see how tiny the stadium was. As expected the fans were separated and held massive banners. Each side had a drummer beating out chants and never stopped the entire match. When the teams came out, fire crackers and coloured gas exploded at each end of the stadium creating a massive impact. Fans threw streamers onto the pitch and some climbed up the fencing to cheer better. The police stood watching but the atmosphere was so friendly there was little cause for concern.

The chanting continued through the match, along with wolf whistles at the players the fans did not like. We were sat with the Santiago fans which was great as they scored the first goal. It was an extremely messy goal causing the La Serena manager to protest and be sent off! Things then went down hill for the home team and Santiago finally went on to win 3-0. Throughout the game, the fans jeered and taunted each other but all in good fun and this carried on into the streets afterwards. The match started at 9.45pm, so we did not leave until nearly midnight. Firecrackers carried on as the winning team celebrated a great win.

Our final day was spent killing time until our overnight bus to San Pedro. It went surprisingly fast. We visited the Archaeological Museum and saw shrunken heads, mummies and one of the heads from Easter Island. With some shopping in the markets and a visit to the post office, it was soon time for afternoon tea and then before we knew it dinner!

La Serena was interesting but more because it was so close to the Elqui Valley plus, of course, the fun of the football match. Leaving her, we would be going from sea level to climb up to San Pedro at 2440m high and the Atacama desert - the driest desert in the world.