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Chile

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If you are a tourist be sure to show it with your backpack, flags attached to your backpack, etc. The locals love chatting with foreign travellers. However, many people don't like U.S. Americans.
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. == Border Crossings == Crossing the Andes can be a little trickier than in most countries due to the high altitude. The police are also stricter about what can be brought into the country than in any other place in the continent: it is forbidden to enter with any kind of organic stuff such as fruits, veggies, beans, seeds, cheese, etc. You can try to pass them in your pockets. Just be sure to declare that you are passing with some organic stuff (rice, mate, polenta) so they can't charge you for lying and play dumb if you get caught. Worked for me with one bag of pine nuts (piñones) and one bag of seeds.  You can also only bring 2 packs of cigarettes, since they are much more expensive in Chile.  To enter Chile there is first a stop where they give the driver a piece of paper saying how many people are in the vehicule. If you are not going to go all the way with the same driver don't forget to ask for a specific piece that say you are crossing on foot or something. Also drivers can be reluctant to pick you up all the way through the border so a sign sayin' Fronteira or Aduana might help (then you can speak with them in the car) In the north, most of the trucks will not pick you up because are afraid that Gendarmes can complains, [[User:Eazy|eazy]] took a lift from a local truck and asked the driver to stop a Paraguayan truck for him. '''Paso Jama''' is the northernmost pass across the andes between San Pedro, CL and Juyjuy, AR. Coming from Chile, [[User:Dr.Keith|Keith]] had to have his pack x-rayed. There are lots of Paraguayan trucks passing through here and few civillians. [[User:Dr.Keith|Keith]] waited 1.5 hours in San Pedro and 2 hours at the border. The border is at 4200m and can be extremely windy and cold, especially at night - be prepared!  '''Paso San Fransisco''' is between [[Copiapo]], Chile and [[San Miguel de Tucuman|San Miguel]], Argentina. There is little traffic along this route and you could wait for days at 3800m. Not recommended.  '''Paso Internacional Los Libertadores''' between [[Mendoza]] and [[Santiago]] is probably the best option with lots of truck and civillian traffic. You will also pass Mt. Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in the Southern and Western hemispheres.  At '''Paso Austral''', you can possibly expect a needlessly complicated and long process once you arrive to Argentine customs if their X-Ray machine is broken (which it often is).They must do a manual search of your bags and tend to find silly, irrelevant things like tin foil that are apparently a matter of National Security. [[User:Themodernnomad|themodernnomad]] was once delayed leaving Argentina at the Paso Austral to Chile for several hours because of a 'suspicion' that turned out to be baseless. Fortunately, the ''Gendarmeria'' have poorly trained attack dogs who care more about playing with towels than sniffing for contraband.
== Sleeping ==
Chile is a very safe and easy country to camp or squat. Hostals Hostels are rather expensive, so camping is a better method. The local gas stations (usually COPEC) are almost always hitchhiker friendly, and will be happy to let you crash behind the place for the night. The cities to exert special caution in when crashing out are Valparaíso (known for a somewhat dodgy center) and the capital Santiago -- those two make for the lion's share of crime in Chile.
== Healthcare ==
Posta rurales :"In Chile, the '''posta rurales ''' operate on a no-pay basis, which is very different form the way proper hospitals do things in this country. In the postas, anyone, from anywhere, in entitled to free medical treatment and any medicines that are available, similar to the way they do things in Bolivia. The sacrifice is that the postas are not equipped with proper doctors (only paramedics), or operating facilities. " - from http://hitchtheworld.com ''I wish I had known this! The "public" hospital in [[Copiapo]] asked for 24000 CLP just to see a doctor!'' -[[user:Dr.Keith|Keith]]
== Toll Booths ==
These are only on the Ruta 5 (or Panamericana Sur), but, as usual, are a very good place to hitch rides. There are a lot between Santiago and La Serena, but your first ride from Santiago will probably take you all the way anyway. From La Serena to Antofogasta, there are only a few.
== Rural Routes ==
== Cities ==
* [[Concepción|Concepcion]]
* [[Copiapó|Copiapo]]
* [[Castro]]
* [[Chillan]]
''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]]
[[Category:Chile| ]]
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