November 12th to 20th
A lot of my pictures were lost because of an SD card accident, I’ll publish this post like this (only a few photos, most of them borrowed -Thanks Lise) and add photos later if I manage to get them back
I arrived on november 12th in Chile, still with Lise. The difference with Bolivia is big: the country is much more developped, all roads are paved, there are road signs, one can feel that people are wealthier. One misses the bolivian folklore a bit… All the more so as prices increase so much, it’s a transition from the cheapest country in South America to one of the most expensive ones.
San Pedro de Atacama
On the 13th, we rented bikes and went to visit the Moon Valley, which offers incredible views in the desert.
Valle de la Luna
Valle de la Luna
Valle de la Luna
Valle de la Luna
Valle de la Luna
Valle de la Luna
Valle de la Luna
Valle de la Luna
Valle de la Luna
Valle de la Luna
Valle de la Luna
Valle de la Luna
After that, we had a well deserved dinner after the more than 30km: A “parillada” for 2, a plate of meat which we couldn’t finish: it had a smoked sausage, a black blood pudding, a half-rib of beef, a fillet of chicken and two pieces of pork belly. Per person!
On the next day, I left Lise who was heading to Argentina, and started my way south. After a while without, I returned with pleasure to a transportation mode I enjoy particularly: Hitchhiking. I had read on Hitchwiki that Chile is heaven for hitchhikers. I was happy to be able to do it again, to return to this way of travelling synonym of freedom for me. In addition to the obvious financial advantage, it’s also a way of getting out of my confort zone, of trying my luck, and to let fate decide how and with whom I’ll travel, and how far I’ll get that day.
My goal was to reach Valparaiso, there were 1,600km (1,000 miles) and I was hoping to make it in 2 days. After several cars that drove me for a couple of dozens or hundreds km, at around 12h30 somebody stopped and said he was going to Coquimbo. I didn’t know where it was, so I asked him how far it was, he answered “it’s 9h away”. Perfect, I stayed in the car until la Serena, just before Coquimbo, where we arrived at 9:30pm. I did 1200km that day, 3/4 of the whole distance, I think it’s my personal record in 1 day. The day after, I hitchhiked the remaining 400km, with a truck, and got to Valparaiso. When I got there, I felt very light and even asked myself wether I had lost an item of my bag, because it felt less heavy than usual. I realized that I had been above 3,000m of altitude for about a month, and I was suddenly at sea level. This explained that, I was in great shape!
Hitchhiking
On the back of a car
In a truck
I stayed 3 nights in Valparaiso. This city is impressive, it’s a big port on the Pacific Ocean, the majority of it is on hills, and the city is full of street art. I felt very good there. I went also quickly to Viña del Mar, not far away, to see an original Moai (the statues from Easter island).
Valparaiso
Valparaiso
Valparaiso
Valparaiso – In Chile, there’s good wine at a decent price!
Viña del Mar – Moai from Easter Island
On saturday the 18th, I took a bus to Santiago, not far away (considering distance and price, and the fact that Santiago and Valparaiso are both big cities, it wasn’t really worth hitchhiking). I was welcomed there by Philip, an old german friend whom I studied with in Colombia 9 years before. I stayed the weekend, and also met with Elodie, another friend, from Paris. We walked around the city.
in Santiago with Elodie
On monday the 20th, I left Santiago to keep on my journey south… I’ll tell you about it next time!
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