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''Here is a short anlysing of hitchhiking in Chile by [[User:Korn|Korn]] on [https://warmroads.de/en/hitchhiking-in-10-chile// - warmroads.de]
I've changed the fact that public transport will not take you for free, because i got free rides from public transport more than once. and added information about the road system
If you tell people you're a foreigner when you ask for a ride, they might ask to see your passport. Just swallow your pride and take the ride.
If you travel longer distances, you probably want to hitch the ''panamericana'', called ''Ruta 5'' here, which goes from north all the way to the south. Around larger cities, it's developed as a motorway. It's very common to walk or cycle on the emergency lane, so you can also stand there and put your thumb out. Cops won't bother either (I was standing right next to them holding my thumb out (to try out the hard way if it is legal) and they didn't care). Maximum Speed is 120 km/h, so if you are in a visible place, everyone can stop fast enough. Using a sign can prevent taxis, micros and buses to stop for you. They won't take you for free.
The traffic is not very dense in general. In rural areas, there might be one car in 5 or 10 minutes, so prepare for longer waiting times if you can't stay on the main roads (e.g. check some [[games]] you can play). To get to towns and out of there take a Micro or a collectivo, it is not worth it hitchhiking within a city (although sometimes possible).
The best places in Chile for hitchhiking are easily in the extreme south, in the Region of Magallanes. From [[Punta Arenas]], one can easily find a semi truck all the way to Santiago; while in Punta Arenas, [[User:Themodernnomad|themodernnomad]] was offered a ride all the way to Arica (on the border of Peru), but, sadly, had to turn it down due to the fact that he was trying to lose himself in Isla Riesco.
Maybe the only big problem of hitchhiking in Chile is the highway system. Hitchhiking is really good, but the roads don't make it super easy.
On ruta 5 the cars go really fast, and many of them can't stop for you even if they want.
And in some places there is very little traffic that comes from the near by town.
So it might take sometime to find a ride.
It might be better not to take a ride that would leave you next to a very small town and stick with the bigger places.
if you are stuck in a small town, consider hitchhiking on the highway, so the cars that go really fast can see you, they might stop.
== Border Crossings ==
'''''Paso Carirriñe''''' on the Ruta 62. Crosses from Neuquen province to Region XIV los Rios. Argentinian immigration is 47km from the actual border. Let us know if you hitched here.
'''''Paso Hua Hum''''' on the Ruta 48. Crosses from Neuquen province to Region XIV los Rios. In Chile, once you reach the town of Puerto Fuy, you need to take a ferry (it's called 'Barcaza Hua Hum'. See fares here https://barcazahuahum.com/es/horarios-tarifas/) and cross lake Pirehueico. [[Pirehueico]] is also the name of the last settlement one finds before reaching the border with Argentina. From Pirehueico, Chilean customs is at a distance of 11 km. The best option available is to ask passengers going to Argentina for a ride to the border before disembarking. Chilean customs is on the actual border. Argentinian customs is 1,5 km from Chilean's, so it's within easy walking distance from the border. The nearest city from Argentinian customs is [[San Martín de los Andes]], which is 43 km away and it's only reachable through a completely unpaved road. Despite this fact, there are campsites nearby in case you need a place to stay the night, or in case you're looking for drivers. Also, the last bus going to San Martín departs from customs at about 20.00 in summer (you can just ask for information in there, schedules might change throughout the year).[[User:christianmn| Christianmn]] was picked up in Pirehueico and crossed the border through Chilean customs. After this, he crossed Argentinian customs and waited at a crossroad some meters ahead. He was lucky enough to be picked up by four guys going back to [[Junín de los Andes]], so they dropped him in San Martín since it which was on the way.
'''''Paso Fronterizo Cardenal Antonio Samoré''''' on the Ruta 231. Crosses from Neuquen province to Region X de Los Lagos. The Argentinian customs is 17km from the actual border.
Additionally, it appeared to TheLoneBaker that many people were bypassing customs completely and there were even people with carts who would load luggage and push it to the other end by going around the fence.
'''''Paso Salar de Ollagüe''''' between Ollagüe in Region II Antofagasta and Avaroa in the Potosí Department in Bolivia. Both villages have a gas station and the distance between immigration offices is 6 km. It's open from 08:00 till 20:00 year-round(lunch break from 12:00 to 14:00 on the Bolivian side, unknown for the Chilean side). The road is made of gravel and there's parallel train tracks. The nearest Chilean city is Calama and in Bolivia it's the city of Uyuni. Let us know This road can be tricky to hitchhike. [[User:TowellessTraveler|TowellessTraveler]] did it in november 2022 from Uyuni to Calama. Almost only bolivian trucks transporting Diesel from the Chilean port Mejillones north of Antofagasta are using that road. They can take you until the border but then refuse to continue: there is a police checkpoint in Ascotan, 75km from the border, and the truckers believe they're not allowed to take passengers in Chile (not sure if it's really the case). You can negociate to be dropped before, walk through it and hitchhike after but if you hitched this border!have a good contact with the driver he may let you hide behind, where his bed is. You will be rewarded with spectacular views all along the road but do not stay around at night, it gets really cold.
'''''Paso Portezuelo del Cajón''''' between [[San Pedro de Atacama]], Region II Antofagasta and... well... nothing in particular in the Potosí department of Bolivia. The Chilean immigration is on the Ruta B-241 inside San Pedro de Atacama, so don't miss it. The road then turns into the CH27 and has to be followed for 47 km until there's the actual border. The Bolivian immigration is on the actual border. There's the Laguna Verde, the Laguna Blanca and the famous Salar de Uyuni on the way to [[Uyuni]] in Bolivia. Perhaps there are a few villages, but nothing noteworthy. Uyuni is the nearest city, which is nearly 400 km from this border, so don't underestimate it! There's loads of tour offices in the touristy San Pedro de Atacama to organize a trip to Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni and to go to the city of Uyuni and not much non-tourism traffic. Best hopes are to hitch a ride with people who own a 4WD and are traveling the whole distance. The immigration office in San Pedro de Atacama is also used for crossing the '''Paso de Jama''' into [[Argentina]] towards [[Jujuy]]. Let us know if you crossed from Chile into Bolivia via this border!
''Hitchhiking Chile is coming home. Over the course of 2016 and 2017, I've hitchhiked in all regions of Chile for more than three months in total - and I'm currently here again. It's really easy to become friends with your drivers and my sketch-o-meter when driving with guys didn't move much. Freecamping is ingrained in their culture and no one tried sending me to a paid camping or hostel when I asked to get out at a beautiful spot. Hitchhiking over the summer holidays can be annoying when you're at the beaches. The police picked me up, the guy from customs drove me to his village and the mayor of Vallenar gave me a lift. I hitched to one of the world's most famous telescopes at Paranal Observatory and managed to stop a truck in the dense fog around Punta Arenas. All major roads have nicknames, like "Ruta de las Estrellas" and "Ruta de Madera" to keep things entertaining. If I ever had to hitch about one country forever, it would be Chile.'' - [[User:MOAH|Mind of a Hitchhiker]]
''Of all the countries I've traveled in the Americas, Chile was noticeably the easiest to hitch in (perhaps tied with México). Though unlike México, there is an abundance of personal vehicles in Chile. All of my hitching there was done in a pair (one male, one female). Waits were hardly ever longer than ten minutes, regardless of the setting, even in the middle of the night on the side of a high-speed freeway.'' - [[User:jhoule|jhoule]]
''Chile is a wonderful hitch. I made my way for three months from Arica to Puerto Montt and onward down the Carretera Austral all the way to Cochrane (in summer months). After the jaunt in Argentina, I reentered Chile near Puerto Natales and the hitching was superb there as well.'' - [[User:Chael777|Chael]]
''I hitched around Chile for about two and a half months and found it to be very easy. The only problems you might run into is in the summer it seems like everyone is hitching and you might have competition with thirty other people in some obscure desert stop off. I've found the farther you are from Santiago the easier it is, the northern and southern third being great." - Jason G''
''I hitched from Santiago to San Pedro in June/July 2014. Contrary to the above, I found it easier to get rides near Valparaíso and Santiago. North of La Serena I was met with longer waiting times. '' -[[user:Dr.Keith|Keith]]
''I decided to hitch almost the entire length of Chile as a young, solo, female gringo with horrible Spanish skills... It was great! Quick wait times, camping spots were easy to find, and the camion drivers were great hosts. I'm always looking for information of the experience of solo females, so I thought I'd share. The most relevant difference between latino and north american (my home) culture is how forward latino men can be. In North America, if I get in a car and the driver tells me I'm beautiful, I ask to be let out right away because of some bad experiences, but in Chile I'm figuring out that's a lot more accepted in their culture. You will probably get told you are "bonita" or "linda" pretty often, but I don't think you have to be scared.'' -[[user:Pidgintoe|Pidgintoe]]
''Here is a short anlysing of hitchhiking in Chile by'' [[User:Korn|Korn]] on [https://warmroads.de/en/hitchhiking-in- 10-chile// - warmroads.de] ''Nice blog post about hitchhiking in Chile'' [http://loshermanoshambre.com/would-you-trust-a-trucker-with-a-scorpion-tattoo-a-hitchhiking-tale/ Would you trust a trucker with a scorpion tattoo? A hitchhiking tale], nice blog post about hitchhiking in Chile == Nomadwiki & Trashwiki == {{nomadwiki}}
[[Category:Chile| ]]
