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Hitchhiking Adventures in the Back of a 10-Wheeler Truck

06/01/2016 by Kristin Addis 9 Comments

Never in my life did I think I’d be riding in the back of a roadworks truck down a bumpy road in Chile passing around a bottle of wine with perfect strangers.

This was my third ride while I hitchhiked down the Carretera Austral in Chilean Patagonia so if you haven’t read the first post go back so that this all makes sense. I’ll be waiting here for you patiently.

We good? Aiiiight.

Hitchhiking in patagonia
Let’s do this

As the sun rose on day two of the hitchhiking adventure, Steve and I figured that the early bird would get the worm so we readied ourselves to leave our ridiculously basic hospidaje, the kind of accommodation that is really common along the Carretera Austral where building materials and really, anything at all from civilization, is hard to come by.

I crouched under the dipping ceiling and stepped over the heads of the nails sticking up in the carpet and looked out the window. It was raining. Pouring, in fact. It would either prove to be an advantage by discouraging other hitchhikers or one long, wet, and frustrating day.

We walked out to the end of the town of La Junta where we’d made it to the previous day, stacked the bags on each other with the rain covers on so that they’d be dry enough, threw on our ski jackets we still had in our packs from Austria, and stuck our thumbs up.

Not many cars came by. Those that did were either full or disinterested in picking up soaking wet passengers. We entertained ourselves by playing games like, “I see something yellow.”

Whenever a cyclist would bike by we’d cheer for him or her and they always smiled or even laughed, happy to have the encouragement.

The day trudged on and the rain never let up. We wondered if there was any possibility of catching a bus and took a stroll back into town for some lunch and to check the time tables. There wasn’t a bus going in our direction and there wouldn’t be until the next morning at 6am. We walked back to the curb and the wind and rain picked up.

The previous day it had been Steve who had to talk me out of giving up and that day, standing in the rain for the better part of six hours, it was my turn to keep the spirits up.

Just as we were discussing whether to give up or not, a 10-wheeler truck drove by and, given I didn’t see any room in the front and they never stop anyways, I didn’t lift my arm.

Then, to my astonishment, I saw the truck pull over to pick up a group of four girls 50 meters or so behind us. A pair of hands stuck out from the back of the truck and started pulling up their bags for them.

Hitchhiking in patagonia
For real this is happening?! (Photo taken at the end after we got out)

“Oh my god, he’s picking them up!” I gasped to Steve. Then without another word I took off running, hoping to whatever powers that be that I would make it there before the truck took off again.

Now a rational person might think to themselves, Hmm, riding in the back of a dirty-ass dump truck does not sound ideal, and I would normally agree, but I was no longer rational at that point.

The driver was out and standing next to the door when I arrived.

“Dos personas mas por favor?” I stammered in broken Spanish, breathless. A middle-aged, very relaxed-looking Chilean man jovially smiled and nodded in approval back at me, as if to say, well of course, why didn’t you ask when I passed you the first time?

I took off running back towards Steve, who grabbed two of the bags and met me halfway, then went back for the other two. The same pair of hands reached out from the top of the truck bed and pulled our bags in. Then Steve climbed up and I right after him.

I couldn’t believe what I saw in there. There were a good dozen or so other young people sitting together in a circle, all hitchhikers. They were mostly Chileans, a couple of Colombians, and a couple young Spaniards, all of whom were wet and a little dirty from the asphalt still inside of the truck, but smiling big and welcoming us with open arms.

Hitchhiking in patagonia
The crew

We sat on our backpacks and, once Steve was satisfied that nothing was crushing his drone pack, settled in for the bumpy and hilarious ride.

There was a white tarp on top of the truck bed to cover us from the rain, and probably any authorities, because as a guy in the truck who spoke English pretty well confirmed, it was definitely not legal to carry passengers in the back of a truck in Chile.

I looked to my right and one of the Colombians was cradling a jumbo bottle of wine like a baby in his jacket. He took out two coffee cups with lids and poured them full of wine then started passing them around. Next thing I knew, someone took out a portable speaker and started playing Chilean reggae music.

Hitchhiking in patagonia
The crew after the ride (I covered the driver’s face so he can’t get into trouble)

It was the absolute best afternoon ever. I mean honestly, how often do you find yourself in the middle of Patagonia, passing around wine with a bunch of people in a 10-wheeler truck?

We bid our friends goodbye and strapped on the backpacks once more to search out accommodation and just as we did, a couple of cyclists came by all smiles,

“Hey, you were the ones who cheered for us! Glad to see you made it.”

Upon seeing the town we’d arrived in, Puyuhuapi, I was very glad too. It was absolutely gorgeous and surrounded by national parks we’d explore over the next few days.

But that’s a story for another time.

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About Kristin Addis

Kristin Addis is the founder and CEO of Be My Travel Muse, a resource for female travelers all around the world since 2012. She's traveled solo to over 65 countries and has brought over 150 women on her all-female adventure tours from Botswana to the Alaskan tundra.

« Thumbs Up! The Start of the Patagonia Hitchhiking Adventure
Is This Real Life? Patagonia’s Most Incredible Hanging Glacier »

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Comments

  1. Helen says

    06/01/2016 at 12:53 pm

    Love these types of adventures! The spontaneous, ‘I never thought that would happen’ type of ones! 🙂

    Reply
  2. Britt says

    06/01/2016 at 10:56 pm

    Sometimes when you are travelling it’s the unexpected things like this that end up being the best memories! It looks like lots of fun and such an awesome experience.

    Reply
  3. Ylvalie says

    06/02/2016 at 1:45 am

    Love it!!!

    Reply
  4. Jeremiah says

    06/02/2016 at 9:43 pm

    I think I remember seeing some of your snaps from this on snapchat.
    Great story.

    Reply
  5. Reine says

    06/08/2016 at 12:39 pm

    Awesome story! Really loved the truck part, this is travelling at its best. I will visit Chile later in the summer and enjoy reading your posts about the country. 🙂

    Reply
    • Kristin says

      06/13/2016 at 3:12 am

      Glad you liked it and thanks for commenting! Enjoy your trip to Chile it’s wonderful.

      Reply
  6. Simone says

    06/13/2016 at 1:23 am

    This is the reason why I keep coming back to your blog! Such a great story and an even greater storyteller 🙂 I love the photo of you all heaped up under the tarp in the back of the truck 🙂

    Reply
    • Kristin says

      06/13/2016 at 2:53 am

      Thanks so much that’s wonderful feedback! Glad that you enjoyed the story. It was definitely a highlight of the trip!

      Reply
  7. Mario says

    06/06/2018 at 1:14 am

    Great Story!! I can see why I brings a smile to you face every time you read it.

    Reply

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