44
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
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 ==
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!
