Today we dragged ourselves out of bed for an early start on a tour to the Elqui Valley. It gets lighter later in Chile compared to Peru and Bolivia, so getting out of bed early is more difficult (although at least we're not getting up in pitch blackness as we would most likely be doing at home by now!)

We were switching hostels as we had reserved our first choice (Hostel El Punto) for the following 3 nights. Hostel El Punto is run by a German couple and consequently is highly efficient and incredibly clean and they speak perfect English. It has a lovely relaxing courtyard garden. Because we were switching hostels, the day started with repacking our bags and walking the short 5 minute journey to the next hotel before starting our tour.

As soon as the minibus left La Serena Scott and I realised how exhausted we both were. I think the last 3 and a half weeks travelling at altitude had finally caught up on us. I struggled to keep my eyes open as the guide told us about the surrounding landscape and agriculture. We saw fields of papaya trees and avocado trees, and the further inland into the valley we went, both the temperature and the amount of vineyards increased. We saw 2 kinds of grape vines - the first low to the ground which is used for wine-making as the grapes don't need so much glucose content, and the second growing higher as they need more sunlight to make a sweeter grape for pisco (grape brandy) or table grapes. The Elqui Valley has an ideal climate for wine making as the breeze from the coast through the valley maintains a steady temperature and prevents temperatures soaring and burning the crop.

We visited a traditional pisco making winery/distillery and had an opportunity to taste the produce - v strong! Scott said it reminded him of getting pissed on whisky as a teenager! We saw how Chileans would macerate the grapes and leave them to ferment naturally for a number of months before separating/filtering the liquid. From then it was heated/distilled and then left to age for up to 3 yrs in barrels (any longer is not licensed as it would become a European brandy rather than pisco).

We then spent about 20 mins walking round a small relaxing village near the distillery called Pisco Elqui and Scott enjoyed an icecream in the heat. I was saving myself for lunch although this ended up being incredibly late at 3pm! I think it was late because the tour was taking us to a solar restaurant which used special boxes to heat the food in direct sunlight. I had goat stew and I guess it took a while to cook!

In the late afternoon we were dropped off in a town called Vicuna, about an hours drive inland from La Serena. We had a 3 hr wait there before we picked up again to visit the Mammaluca observatory in the evening. In Vicuna Scott and I spent a few hrs relaxing in the main square/park watching the world go by and I got stuck into my novel.

The Mammaluca observatory was built purely for tourist purposes, but in an area of the world where star gazing is big business. Given that the climate is v dry and the Attacama desert mostly at high altitude it makes ideal conditions for studying the constellations, and it houses the world's largest telescope. Via the 3 telescopes at Mammaluca we managed to see Jupiter with its gas rings, and the moon in great detail. We even managed to get an amazing photo down the telescope (check out the pic!) The telescope was strong enough to see star clusters (which looked like one star to the naked eye) and nebulae of distant galaxies! Unfortunately I was so exhausted I was struggling to absorb it all, but Scott was in his element.