Heading further north I opted for a stopover in the Elqui Valley.I had a very relaxing three days at “El Tesoro de Elqui” (http://www.tesoro-elqui.cl/eng) in Pisco Elqui – thanks to my brother, who knew about this heavenly place because he’d partied with the two german proprietresses ages ago in Braunschweig, Germany.

It was about time for a vacation, i.e. a break from travelling. Which is why I mostly dozed on a sunbed at the pool, ate, drank and slept.

My only exercise was a 4 km bike ride to the oldest Pisco distillery in Chile: “Los Nichos”. After all, I had to finally figure out how Pisco is made! Unfortunately I was too late for the last tour, but fortunately three girls from Viña del Mar turned up at the same time and they were just as diappointed as I was. After a free Pisco tasting the guy behind the counter showed compassion with us and simply gave us a free private tour (in spanish, that is, …)!

And here is why it is called Los Nichos: in the cellar the owner enjoyed drinking in the company of his friends. This cellar has several niches where the pisco bottles were stored to age and each friend was allocated a niche as a tomb, a place for his ghost to rest after death. One niche, however, remains empty. If I understood it correctly the man was simply too big for his niche…