Hitch-hiking in Chile
One for the ‘Sorry Mum’ collection
8 minute read
Cacti in the Elqui Valley
In the days leading up to this story I was in the picturesque Elqui Valley in Chile, famous for it’s clear astronomical views, pisco wine and spiritual energy. Here I experienced an earthquake on my birthday that shook the room for roughly 40 seconds, hiked mountains with cacti that were taller than me and went on a vineyard-crawl by bike with a new friend.
I could’ve stayed there forever but it was time to continue North to get to the Atacama Desert. Like I’d done for most of my Chilean journey, I took to the hitch-hiking option. I was dropped at a service station by my new friends who were going the opposite direction and found a spot to set up. I put my thumb out at the first car leaving the station and it pulled over. When I opened the door, I was welcomed with a loud blast of derogatory hip-hop music and a waft of cigarette smoke. I told the man that I was heading north to Caldera in Spanish, he said he was going that way and gestured a thumbs up so I hopped in.
Now before the story goes on, I have to acknowledge the elephant in the room. You’re probably already thinking “This is why you shouldn’t hitchhike”. And yes, you’d be right to say that the situation that’s about to unfold could be totally avoided if not partaking in any hitch-hiking at all.
However. By avoiding it all together, I would have missed out on some incredible memories that I’ve had from hitch-hiking in different countries around the world. Because of hitch-hiking I’ve been able to see places that were completely off the plan and met people from all different walks of life who gave me a better insight into their culture. It’s definitely not all rainbows and butterflies when it comes to hitch-hiking and it can be very exhausting, but for the most part I wouldn’t trade my experiences for any form of comfort… except this one maybe.
The conversation was a bit confusing at first because he kept mentioning Vicuna, which is where I’d just been. I repeated ‘norte’, ‘ruta 5’ and ‘Caldera’ along with a visual of the map and he kept agreeing and suggesting that he understood. I checked my maps and saw that we were on the highway heading in the right direction so I assumed everything was clear.
I couldn’t quite get every word of what he was saying but I did understand when he was asking me if I had a boyfriend or husband. He started telling me how beautiful I was and being just a general sleaze, all of this whilst smoking cigarettes and playing loud, trash hip-hop music. It was extremely uncomfortable and my instant thoughts were that I would not be able to handle 6 hours with this guy.
A few moments later, he pulled off the highway into some suburbs which confused me to no end. I asked him where he was going and reminded him where I needed to go. He said he just needed to grab some clothes from home and then we will go. I was on the verge of asking him to pull over because I was getting gigantic red flags. Looking around at the surrounding suburbs and I realised I would have absolutely no idea how to get back into town and honestly, the neighbourhood really didn’t look that much safer.
Pisco Elqui - A magical little town in the valley with observatories surrounding the town on the nearby mountain tops.
We arrived at his house and I said I’ll wait outside, which he insisted I didn’t. I grabbed my backpack and hesitantly followed to the house. I walked around the side of the house and met his very elderly grandma through a window. She was laying in her bed by the window looking very ill and extremely confused as to why I was there. You and me both, Granny, you and me both..
He kept asking if I needed a shower and then did some awkward representation of scrubbing yourself in the shower, which was super cringe. He tried to give me some food which I declined but he kept insisting. There’s many scenarios in my head as to how my inevitable death would play out, and now a Hansel and Gretel plot was added to the list. He went off to shower whilst I sat in the kitchen contemplating my life choices and thinking about what the heck I was supposed to do next.
He was finished getting his items so we got back to the car. His grandma asked (with her scratching voice) through the window if I’d like a coffee which I declined. I just wanted to get out of there asap. We started driving, which I was somewhat relieved for and at the same time also even more stressed. Suddenly the guy started freaking out because he couldn’t find his pack of cigarettes so back we went to the house for him to get them. Whilst he was back inside the house, I quickly grabbed his wallet and took a photo of his license just in case something bad were to happen. A part of me wished I’d stolen some money from him for being such a sleaze. He couldn’t find his cigarettes anywhere, which made him real moody. He was basically flipping everything in the car to find them. Turns out they were under my feet, whoopsies.
In Chile, you are pretty much never alone as street dogs love to tag along on your hikes. Taken just outside of Pisco Elqui
We were back on the road again and now he’s mentioning Vicuna again but this time also talking about a BBQ. I could understand that this BBQ was tomorrow, so I kept declining and saying I’ll be in Caldera. Let’s be honest though, you couldn't even pay me to go there with this guy. Now he’s trying to convince me to go by telling me that there will be Columbian people, Chilean people, Argentine people, Brazilian people and boys. He then started asking if I like drugs and said there would be some at the BBQ, listing all the different types of drugs there would be. I said no. He says there will be alcohol. I say no again, reminded him about being North again and made up some story that I need to meet my friend in Caldera that night. He seemed offended that I keep saying no.
A song comes on in the car called ‘Bad Bunny’, he pointed at the screen and said I’m a bad bunny. I started getting very frustrated and said no. We got back on the highway and started heading North again. He asked me one more time if I’d like to go to the BBQ. I said for the last time no.
Seconds later he pulled over on the shoulder of the highway, gets out the car to open the back, helps me get my bags out, then drives off. I watched his car and saw that he did a U-turn in the distance and started going South. So many thoughts went through my head. It was pretty clear to me that BBQ was in the afternoon and that he was talking crap when he was say yes to going North. For so many reasons I was pissed off but mainly because I’d only made it 7km from my first starting point and that whole experience had taken so much of my time and energy.
I walked along the side of the highway until I got to the nearest petrol station, getting beeped along the way from cars and trucks. I hadn’t even arrived at the station completely when a truck driver yelled out to me to ask where I was going. I was feeling hesitant but thought I’d see what he had to say.
The truck driver (who was super friendly) was going North, further than Caldera, so I happily accepted his offer. I threw my stuff in the truck and made myself comfortable. Already I felt 10x better than earlier. The guy didn’t speak English but I could tell he was harmless and genuinely trying to help.
The Elqui Valley landscape lived up to it’s expectations of magical skies.
I was so exhausted from getting up early and the previous hitch ride but I knew I needed to make conversation. We made small talk with the very little Spanish I knew. There were many times I didn’t understand a single word he was saying and he probably didn’t understand me. We laughed every time we looked confused at each other. I was using Google Translate to help aid us a few times. He couldn’t use his phone so sometimes he would use a pen and paper to draw a picture of what he was saying. It was like playing Pictionary but the game went for hours.
Because of my limited Spanish vocab, there wasn’t much we could talk about and also we had a long journey together. We shared some music with each other, including some Australian techno that I loved, and he showed me some music and funny videos on his phone. Down Under by Men at Work was a must. In total we spent 5 and a half hours together over 400kms.
He dropped me just outside of Caldera, my final destination, we said our goodbyes, and I walked into town. I didn’t know what I was expecting of the town, but Caldera looks 100% shitter than what I’d researched. I had no hostel reservations and no way of looking for some online. Good. Job. Penny. I used my offline maps to pinpoint a few hostels, however every single place I tried was booked out and kept recommending other places.
I spent hours walking around with my backpacks trying to find a hostel with vacancy or a cafe with wifi. No luck with either. I started thinking that maybe it was a sign from the world that I shouldn’t stay and, when thinking about it, I wasn’t getting a good vibe there anyway. I found the bus station and asked about bus tickets. The next bus was at 1:30am and it was 6pm at the time. She told me the price and, just my luck, the only spot available is the most expensive option which was well out of my budget. Chilean buses are very expensive and overpriced compared to the rest of South America, hence why hitch-hiking is so popular there.
I started weighing up my options and decided f*ck it, I wasn’t going to stay in this strange town just for a nice beach. The people in the town were freaking me out and there was not a single tourist in sight. I was pretty keen to out of there.
The Atacama Desert - worth the stress to get there.
I bought the stupidly expensive ticket and was quietly fuming inside because the cost of the ticket was actually more expensive than what it would’ve cost to go from where I originally started hitch-hiking. So basically I nearly got taken for ransom for nothing.
The wait outside was excruciating. It was freezing and I was struggling to stay awake. My only amusement was to watch the shady people that would walk through the bus terminal. The bus arrived on time at 1:30am and I took my luxurious first class bus seat, which was huge and had a curtain. Not a bar of me was mad anymore, this was exactly what I needed. I passed out and safely arrived to my next destination in the morning.
Did I hitch-hike after this? I told myself I wouldn’t but in the end I did. And all were very good experiences. Mum, if you’re reading this: Sorry and I love you!