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Perhaps not surprisingly, the valley is also notorious for its frequent UFO sightings. Local Lily Aguilera says she has seen hundreds. She runs the restaurant at el Refugio del Alma Zen, in Cochiguaz, and says there’s no mistaking these flying objects with satellites or airplanes. “Hundreds of tourists have been here to bear witness, and it’s almost a joke sometimes,” says Aguilera. “ ‘We hope you see a UFO,’ we’ll say, then one appears around the mountain.” But Claudio Cortés, owner of the Tambo Huara campsite in Cochiguaz, says he’s never seen one in his 25 years in Valle del Elqui. “Only crazy old men see them, or drunken campers,” he says. “Get a bottle of Valle del Elqui pisco in you, and you’ll start seeing just about anything.” But while the valley draws many UFO chasers, it is an even more popular pilgrimage destination for mystics. Many stay, enchanted by the valley’s tranquility and esoteric culture. Valle del Elqui is inhabited largely by hippies and spiritualists, many of whom live in solar-powered homes. Cochiguaz is the heart of this community. Here you see energy-channeling metallic pyramids installed on roofs and in gardens, and signs advertising reiki, zen, mud baths, and chakra, hang from almost every household entrance you pass along the town’s sole winding dirt road. The Tambo Huara campsite does the best job of harnessing the valley’s sense of tranquility. The entire site is designed as a zen garden, with strategically placed rocks marking each site, trees planted to create ideal shading, and local cacti instead of traditional oriental shrubs. There are also water fountains, meditation areas, and Reiki huts in between sites. The dozen total campsites are located in key spots within earshot of the river. The owner, Cortés, can be seen carefully moving and re-placing the large rocks in the river every morning to ensure an optimum flow. And his efforts are worth it. The river is simply hypnotic. It actually put me to sleep several times as I lay by its banks – and I’m the type of person who ordinarily can never nap during the day. Cortés says many visitors end up staying more nights than expected because they simply can’t summon the energy to tear down their site. On my group of constantly chatty travel companions, this place also has a strange muting effect. While I didn’t feel the “magic” of Valle del Elqui, I certainly felt something remarkably soothing here. For all the talk of its energizing powers, I found it actually drained my energy. In a good way. I left with a theory of my own about the source of its mystical energy … perhaps it actually comes from the very legions of wound-up visitors who come to reap it. LAN Flights: departing three times a week from Santiago to La Serena. From there, follow the Río Elqui for about 125 kilometers to Cochiguaz. |
