I guess many of you don’t know anything about Southamerica. People usually talk about their trips to Europe or the United States. Some people even think that the USA is the whole continent. For those people, let me tell you that you’ve been wrong until reading this passage. There’s more to see in this beautiful continent. We have a wide variety of landscapes, rainforests, wild life (including presidents), climates…. It’s almost impossible to number everything.
In this text I’m only gonna focus on Chile. It is located in the southwestern part of Southamerica, next to the Pacific Ocean. Its coastline is about 6000 km (We only travelled about 2000 km). Making a generalization of weather conditions of Chile is really difficult. However, we can say that, in GENERAL, the north is usually hot and dry (in Chile you can find the driest desert in the world, the Atacama Desert). The central part of Chile has a mild climate. It’s also the most populated part of the country (more than 40% of the total population). The south is rainy and cold. In this part you may find beautiful forests, lakes, volcanoes and mountains covered by snow.

I went to the north of Chile hitchhiking with two friends: Belen and Carolina. We started our trip in Santiago (central part), the capital and the most polluted city in Chile. By the way, this was our first time hitchhiking. We unsuccessfully stuck up our thumbs in the middle of the city, next to a highway called Gnral. Velasquez. Our inexperience was so evident!! We spent about two hours waiting for somebody to take us to our first destination (anywhere!!), until somebody told us to go to the border of the city (logic, innit?). And off we went!! On the Ruta 5 in Quilicura a truck driver picked us up. The first places we got to were Coquimbo and La Serena (450 away km from Stgo), these places are well known for their papaya production (yummy!!) they even have liquor made of it, which is very sweet and strong at the same time. If you go to La Recova you may find lots of craftwork, with an Andean touch. It’s usually foggy in the morning but clear in the afternoon. The beaches are usually crowded. My favorite one is called La Herradura, it’s quiet and safe. You must be careful ‘coz there are some jellyfish in the water. At least nothing happened to me but I could see lots of them on the sand. The local nightlife is very fun, there are many people willing to “carretear” (go partying) all night long. If you’re a foreigner (and you look like one!! I mean blond and blue eyed) you may be lucky ‘coz Chileans really like meeting people from other countries. You have to get used to the idea that you’re gonna be a “gringo” for them, which means they think you’re from the USA. But you have to make it clear that there are other places in the world. One thing that called my attention is that generally there are many foreigners, who are also travelling, at hostels. if you don’t speak Spanish you may find some countrymen there. And I’m talking about all the hostels of my country, not only in La Serena or Coquimbo (I don’t want you to have a bad time in Chile, that’s why I try to give useful tips for those who don’t know anything about my country). Then, in the same region, we went to Valle del Elqui, probably the best place to be. There are lots of vineyards, and the clearest skies of the world are there (and I’m not boasting about my country, it’s what Scientifics say). The stars look so big in this place. I highly recommend going to Rancho Rodriguez, a camping site where all the young people gather. The other camping sites are intended for families (so they don’t have much fun). They have bonfires at night, around which everything may happen. If you play the guitar, you’ll get an enthusiastic welcome. The problem in El Valle is that no truck drive on that road. So you are at the mercy of car drivers. I remember that we had to walk about six km before somebody took us to Vicuña and then another one to Paihuano (6 hours on a trip that takes 3 on bus).

After having spent one week in Coquimbo we decided to move on. We waited at a gas station next to ruta 5, until a truck driver who was going to Iquique (1.330 km away from Coquimbo) picked us up. While heading north, we could see the desert landscapes of the north. We stopped to sleep in the middle of Atacama Desert, the driest in the world. I have to say that at night it’s really chilly. So make sure you have a warm sleeping bag and a good tent. After a while on the road, it seems that you’re not advancing on your trip, ‘coz there’s only desert to see. However, it’s really worth traveling through this part ‘coz there are high dunes!! The second highest dune, El Medanoso, is here. So if you like sandboarding this is for sure the place to be.

Iquique is such a lovely city. Its beaches are warm and just in case you’re wondering, in Chile there are no sharks, so you can swim with no problems. If you like surfing you may have to go somewhere else, ‘coz the beaches are really quiet in Iquique (but if you go to Pichilemu in Chile that’s another story). There are buildings that date back to the 17th and 18th century (my country isn’t as old as European countries). We spent two day in there. I have to say that couchsurfing was very useful; you should try using this website. We saved lots of money in accommodation. And the Chilean couches are very welcoming. Thank you all guys!! I’ve heard that WWOOF works really well too, and it seems more interesting too ‘coz you go to organic farms (you have to grow your own food). There are many organic farms in my country. So why don’t you give it a try (I was at one of these communities and they are such good people, they won’t even harm a fly ‘coz they love nature).

Then, we continued our trip to the north. The next day we wanted to go to Arica. To get there, we had to travel from Iquique to Humberstone, ‘coz there isn’t any direct route between Iquique and Arica. Humberstone is a really interesting little village where saltpeter workers used to live. You can visit the old facilities of the saltpeter company. A ghost town if you like. Hitchhiking there was difficult ‘coz there is a lot of traffic. And, for what I heard, they usually don’t pick people up there ‘coz they may have drug. As this place is near the border between Chile and Peru, there’s a lot of drug dealing. We had to resign and pay for a bus to take us to Arica.
And finally we got there!!! (About 300 km away from Iquique). Arica is called “the city of the everlasting spring”…. And it really honors its name. It’s really quiet and the rates of delinquency are low in comparison with other places of Chile and Southamerica. There you can find some buildings designed buy Gustave Eiffel himself (the cathedral made of metal and the ex customs). From the Morro de Arica, the highest hill of this city, you can see the whole city. It’s really worth. If you haven’t been there you’re missing out. The casino is really fun too (but as we didn’t have much money, we didn’t bet) there’s is a free karaoke underground where they play popular song. There are competitions too, and you may find really good singers. Afterwards we went to Tacna, Perú. It’s really shocking to see children selling you craftwork and offering to polish your shoes for little money. They even offered me to polish my sandals!!! And that just crossing the border between Chile and Peru. I also have to say that Peru is really cheap; five soles are worth two dollars. A packet of 20 cigarettes costs 3 soles (a little bit more than a dollar), and you can have lunch for 2 ½ soles (that’s one dollar).
Well, in general, Chile is also a cheap country for people from Europe and the USA. The minimum wage is about 160.000 Chilean pesos (about 320 bucks). That’s more or less what you have to pay to rent a good house and pay your bills (you’d not survive with that in Europe). In most places you can have lunch for 1.000 pesos (2 bucks). But it’s also one of the most expensive in Southamerica, together with Brazil and Argentina. But that’s not the topic of this writing; I just want you to have an idea of what’s like to live in Chile.

On my way back I was really sad. I wanted to go to Bolivia. But I didn’t have more money. I went on this trip with only 60.000 pesos (about 120 USA dollars) so, as you can imagine, I didn’t have many chances to go on (until that moment we had spent three weeks travelling). The last three days I only drank water and ate one piece of bread per day… and I won’t talk more about money!! When you’re hitchhiking you learn how to live without much of it. Money just comes in handy to eat and to pay for a bus if nobody takes you, but nothing else.

If you want to know something else about the north, don’t hesitate to contact me. I can give useful tips on where to “take” transportation and where you have to be careful.

Que tengan un buen viaje y nos vemos en la ruta