Ow, how hard it is to hit the road again and choose where to go! Before heading north, towards the Atacama's desert, many had advise us to visit the Elqui's Valley and the village of Pisco, roughly halfway between Santiago and San Pedro de Atacama.
The Elqui's Valley is a picturesque rural region that lies between the Andes and the Elqui River. It is known for its thriving agriculture and very fertile soil where exceptional products are cultivated including oranges, chirimoyas, avocados and huge quantities of grapes used to produce wine and pisco.
The largest city in the valley is Vicuña, but Pisco Elqui is one of the most popular destinations: This small village retains its rustic charm, it is a quiet place where to have a break and enjoy the surroundings.
There is a workaway in this area that we wrote down on our favourite list and since Mrs. Lily reply us quickly that gladly she will hosst us, we leave without hesitating. We have to meet at eight in the evening, at the market where she works.
Lily tells us that this valley is a mystical area: in particular, the village of Cochiguaz, where she lives, is know as one of the most energetic areas of the world, because it seems to stimulate the spiritual development and purification of the body. For this reason special tours for the soul, the spiritual cleansing, the balance of the chakras, yoga and meditation are offered to tourists. In short, the whole range of possibilities for the well-being of our inner "I", usually impure and dusty by our material way of living.
The story tells, already in the 30s, the presence of a Chilean peasant who was soon called the Elqui's Christ because he was preaching the near end of the world. He said he had visions of divine characters and baptized his disciples in the magical Rio Elqui. In the 70s, various mystical groups began to inhabit the valley, the most famous among them was mother Cecilia. This woman attracted many by preaching the end of the world and salvation by aliens for those who would sell all their goods and joined the sect. But the end of the world did not arrive, mother Cecilia was forced to retire elsewhere and became a sort of urban legend.
Moreover, in the following years, the sighting of unidentified lights in the sky, confirmed the theory of very powerful energy forces and the formation of groups of people who claimed to be able to have contact with our cosmic neighbors. But regardless of these suggestive mysterious beliefs, we must recognize that in Cochiguaz there is a special atmosphere, a warm wind that relievess the soul. There is a great sense of peace, far from our organized life system, without the Internet, but accompanied by the loud sound of the Rio and by the magnificent sky full of stars that we learn to recognize after participating an astronomical tour at the Observatory of Cancana.
The Milky Way captures our eyes and it is not difficult to see some shooting star that drags in its tail our secret desires. This is probably the magic: to feel life in the fertility of the Earth, in the song of the river and in the silence of an endless sky. If the soul welcomes this feeling then it can purifies itself, abandons the futility of life and recognizes what is essential, gathering with itself and the nature.
The photos are of the author.