Hitchhiking out of Santiago was not easy! The cars were to fast and therefore nobody stopped. I was walking and walking along the highway trying to catch a ride, while burning up in the sun. From 11am to 6pm and still no luck.
I reached a gasstation where I decided that I would go on for one more hour. If nobody would pick me up, I would take a bus to not waste any more time. The first car driving out of the gas station stopped and picked me up. It was a man who offered to drive me to Rancagua which is only some 50km outside Santiago. I thought that I might as well get a bit further. He introduced himself as Cristian. After talking for a bit, he asked me if I ate lunch or dinner, to which I had to admit that I only ate a piece of bread and a banana. He then invited me to his house to eat lunch/dinner. I didn´t find any reason to say no to this offer!
I arrived to the house where I was met by his wife Jessica, his 21 year old daughter Sole and his 15 year old son Brandoun. They were all a bit surprised to see me, but extremly friendly! Very relaxed in the livingroom, we talked and talked. They asked many questions and I told them about my travel and about Denmark which they loved! We had great Churrascos (typical burger in Chile) for dinner and afterwards we enjoyed a coffee. They gave me a towel to shower, clean socks (I ran out of clean socks) and a shirt to remember them. I took a shower and afterwards they drove me to the busstation. They did offer me to stay the night, but I wanted to arrive in the morning to Valdivia and decided to take the bus. My earphones were broken, but Brandoun was fast to find some old earphones that I could have! They asked me to come back and visit them in a weekend so we could go to their other house which had a pool!
An amazing family that made it worth the wait on the highway. Thanks Cristian, Jessica, Sole and Brandoun!
After visiting Valdivia, I continued to Puerto Varas. I had to check in to a hostel since I didn´t have any luck with couchsurfing. The following morning after my arrival, I decided to hitchhike to the national park Vicente Pèrez Rosales. A few rides took me to the entrance of the park where I had a coffee, some cashew nuts and then entered the park. Normally when I go on tours/hikes on my own, I am badly prepared. I never bring enough or any food and I always run out of water way to early. This time I was prepared! Food and water for all day - turned out not to be necessary though.
I entered the park and walked to the waterfall first. Amazing! The waterfall leading into the river which had an incredible turquoise color. The scene with mountains, trees and a volcano in the background - I was stunned by the view.
Besides me, there was only two more people. Two young men from Chile, who were fast to come up to me and talk. Maure and Felipe, both in the early/mid twenties. Friends through many years who were now backpacking and camping through Chile for a few weeks. They were very friendly and after talking for 10-15 minutes, we decided to walk through the rest of the park together. When we got out of the park, we took a small break before going towards the lake 6km further up the road. I had some food in my bag, but they insisted to buy me an empanada since they were very different from place to place. We then started walking along the highway, next to the river and the forest. If a car passed, we put out a thumb and hoped for the best.
It didn`t take too long before a big red car stopped for us. A father with his two sons in the mid twenties. They drove us to the lake where they were going to camp for the day. It was the same water as we had just seen at the waterfall, with the amazing color and the beautiful scenery.
We walked along the water for a while, away from all the tourists and ended up going into the water. It took a while to get under, but once we were in, it was amazing! I just didn´t want to get out again. Well that was until the father from the car passed us and yelled "when you finish swiming, you should come over and have some tea and food with us".
We dried up and went to their camp. Great chilean music, mate (tea) and a delicious chilean soup. We stayed for around an hour and talked. Interesting and very talcative family.
I hitchhiked back to Puerto Varas and went back to my hostel. Here I met Mike and Yushao from the states, a girl from Norway and a girl from Holland, I had met them all the night before. I told them about my day, how I didn´t need my food and had gotten everything for free. Just as I mention it, they invite me to eat dinner with them, since they had made way to much food. It was once again great food and there was plenty. The night ended in the hostel garden where Yushao and Mike, who both work as park rangers, lit a fire and we talked for a couple of hours in the cold plastic chairs, but with the heat from the fire.
I reached a gasstation where I decided that I would go on for one more hour. If nobody would pick me up, I would take a bus to not waste any more time. The first car driving out of the gas station stopped and picked me up. It was a man who offered to drive me to Rancagua which is only some 50km outside Santiago. I thought that I might as well get a bit further. He introduced himself as Cristian. After talking for a bit, he asked me if I ate lunch or dinner, to which I had to admit that I only ate a piece of bread and a banana. He then invited me to his house to eat lunch/dinner. I didn´t find any reason to say no to this offer!
I arrived to the house where I was met by his wife Jessica, his 21 year old daughter Sole and his 15 year old son Brandoun. They were all a bit surprised to see me, but extremly friendly! Very relaxed in the livingroom, we talked and talked. They asked many questions and I told them about my travel and about Denmark which they loved! We had great Churrascos (typical burger in Chile) for dinner and afterwards we enjoyed a coffee. They gave me a towel to shower, clean socks (I ran out of clean socks) and a shirt to remember them. I took a shower and afterwards they drove me to the busstation. They did offer me to stay the night, but I wanted to arrive in the morning to Valdivia and decided to take the bus. My earphones were broken, but Brandoun was fast to find some old earphones that I could have! They asked me to come back and visit them in a weekend so we could go to their other house which had a pool!
An amazing family that made it worth the wait on the highway. Thanks Cristian, Jessica, Sole and Brandoun!
After visiting Valdivia, I continued to Puerto Varas. I had to check in to a hostel since I didn´t have any luck with couchsurfing. The following morning after my arrival, I decided to hitchhike to the national park Vicente Pèrez Rosales. A few rides took me to the entrance of the park where I had a coffee, some cashew nuts and then entered the park. Normally when I go on tours/hikes on my own, I am badly prepared. I never bring enough or any food and I always run out of water way to early. This time I was prepared! Food and water for all day - turned out not to be necessary though.
I entered the park and walked to the waterfall first. Amazing! The waterfall leading into the river which had an incredible turquoise color. The scene with mountains, trees and a volcano in the background - I was stunned by the view.
Besides me, there was only two more people. Two young men from Chile, who were fast to come up to me and talk. Maure and Felipe, both in the early/mid twenties. Friends through many years who were now backpacking and camping through Chile for a few weeks. They were very friendly and after talking for 10-15 minutes, we decided to walk through the rest of the park together. When we got out of the park, we took a small break before going towards the lake 6km further up the road. I had some food in my bag, but they insisted to buy me an empanada since they were very different from place to place. We then started walking along the highway, next to the river and the forest. If a car passed, we put out a thumb and hoped for the best.
It didn`t take too long before a big red car stopped for us. A father with his two sons in the mid twenties. They drove us to the lake where they were going to camp for the day. It was the same water as we had just seen at the waterfall, with the amazing color and the beautiful scenery.
We walked along the water for a while, away from all the tourists and ended up going into the water. It took a while to get under, but once we were in, it was amazing! I just didn´t want to get out again. Well that was until the father from the car passed us and yelled "when you finish swiming, you should come over and have some tea and food with us".
We dried up and went to their camp. Great chilean music, mate (tea) and a delicious chilean soup. We stayed for around an hour and talked. Interesting and very talcative family.
I hitchhiked back to Puerto Varas and went back to my hostel. Here I met Mike and Yushao from the states, a girl from Norway and a girl from Holland, I had met them all the night before. I told them about my day, how I didn´t need my food and had gotten everything for free. Just as I mention it, they invite me to eat dinner with them, since they had made way to much food. It was once again great food and there was plenty. The night ended in the hostel garden where Yushao and Mike, who both work as park rangers, lit a fire and we talked for a couple of hours in the cold plastic chairs, but with the heat from the fire.
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