Valle de Elqui

Looking north, the Elqui Valley is one of the places that calls the most attention to this country - but it is still "off the beaten track". 
It slow cases contrasting the green valleys among a dry desert landscape and the mountain ranges reflecting all the colours of the world. 

Thanks to the perfect weather conditions - it seems be always spring and summer time - they produce the best 'pisco' (brandy-like liquor) that can be taste-tested at one of the pisco distilleries, it is also the ideal place forastronomical research. There is almost no other place on earth with such a clear sky full of stars like in Elqui Valley. There are 4 different observatories open for guided tours.

You can go horseback riding to idyllic lagoons on the tracks of the Chilean "huasos" (cowboys) and experience their way of life, bicycle or hike through remote villages and landscape or just relax and enjoy the quiteness. 

It is the birthplace of the country's greatest female poet and literature Nobel Prize winner: Gabriela Mistral.

Special characteristics are also assigned to the Valley since it supposedly is located on one of the world meridians, the so-called chakras. Therefore - one says - the valley is full of magnetic energy, which is good for spirit and body.