This is a thank you to everyone who are meeting on the way!

Serena was our next destination afer Valpo. This was basically the gateway to an observatory where you coud see stars and planets and the wondersull Valley called Pisco.
We spent our first night in a hostel called Marias Casa...and, after having been there, this is the only name this hostel could ever have. Its owner , Maria, is one of the nicest lady I have ever met. She would be so kind to everyone...We even heard stories from other people who have also stayed there...and they would all refer to anecdote about Maria.
Maria, thank you for your kindness.

Jumping session on the beach in La Serena

Jumping on beach

Chilling in Chile

After Serena who head to Vicuña, the closest village to Observatorio Mamalluca. Not much to say about from Vicuña, except for that it was raining cats and dogs when we got there...Note: this is an area where they get 320 sunny days, so as one can imagine the sewage system is rather unefficient (I qould almost say: no existent . And it was raining and raining and raining...and the village became a little venice. It was a mission to get over even one street! Some people even built up tiny bridges with wood trunks!If we only had a boat...
Ohh but we finally got to see stars and planets through a telescope!Saturnos was the coolest!

We had the incredible idea to go to a Pisco cellar. We checked the opening times with the not very helpful man from tourist office, and decided to go there although it was by the entrance of the village, a 30minutes walk. It was pouring down a lot on the way there...and just when we arrived they told us that they were closing. Ups!Small mistake from the tourist office man!
Anyways we got a taste of the Pisco (fucking strong) and got a ride back by one of the girls who worked.
She was really nice; we never introduced so I donn't know the name...but thanks

The next day our plan was to go to Pisco Elqui but Henriks card was not working in the village next to Pisco, Vicuna. We tried in all the ATMs in town but none seemed to worked.
Because Pisco Elqui is such a tiny village, they only accept cards...so we had to go back to bloody Serena, just to go to a bank and be able to take out many over the till.
Later on, we have realised that the problem is actually with card...and it is a swedish card!They have basically messed up. Yes!sounds unbelievable hey? But it is true: Sweden has made a mistake! Henrik even tested to call the bank in Sweden, Visa, and Mastercard...but nothing worked. On top of that the computer stopped working so we could not make skype calls to the banks or anything.
Anyways, when the problem with money got fixed, we went back to Vicuna and off to Pisco the next day.

Pisco Elqui is lovely! There we met our friend Shivone, from Australia, and we took bikes together. We had a wonderful day exploring the villages nearby, except that I got a flat tire and we had to walk a few km to get it fixed!
The second day we hitchhiked four times...it was pretty easy actually. Quite rural but fun! It seems that it is the best way to explore the area... during our trek we met a lovely doggy who followed us the whole way back to Elqui! We tried to get her to go back but she would not. We even hitchhiked twice and yet when we were back in town we run into her later that night! She had done 15 km on her own just for us! That was overwhelming! She was so happy to see us everytime.
We did had fun in Pisco and we really enjoyed the company of the very special Shivone... So...thanks Shiv and keep smiling!

Laura saying goodby to the dog, the second time he caught up with us after we hitchiked

Hitchiking was so easy, here we are getting a ride back on an open truck

Wineyards and view

Henrik managed to reach his little island in this freezing river...must have been 3 degrees or so

Trying to get a ride after Laura stolen some grapes from the wineyard.

The way back was all downhill...we were all very happy for that

Laura´s bike being fixed

Laura saying goodby to the dog...or trying to

We will miss you little doggy.

Finally we reached end of the road after walking 4 km with a bike with flat tire

Laura with a massive dog that ruled the village

Rainman and roses