June 19th-21st 2015
Pichilemu, A place I’d managed not even to hear of in my past three months in Chile before meeting both Mirela and Torsten. Located about 4 hours south of Santiago this place is famous among surfers but little known among others. But this beach sider hippy town has many charms, chief among them, surfing and sunsets.
One key thing to not about getting to Pichilemu from Santiago is that there are two routes. One takes 3.5 hours, and the other almost 5.5 Hours. To save time you want to make sure you get the route which goes through Melipilla which should cost about 4000 CLP (8 CAD).
I spent a few separate days in Pichilemu between stays in Santiago but for simplicity’s sake we will synthesize them into one day, well almost.
We’ll start with my arrival just before dark on Saturday night, pulling up to La Sirena Insolente Hostel where I’m happily greeted by Mirela who has started volunteering there. (something which is surprisingly easy to do across South America.)
After a little relaxation the sun goes down and we head up to the roof of this charming hostel made of old shipping containers to watch one of the most stunning sunsets I’ve ever seen. Instantly I regret not taking the 10 minute walk to the cliffs overlooking the ocean, undoubtedly it would have been even more special.
As the Rainbow of vivid lights fades from the sky we set up the camp fire, cook up some delicious Brazilian Asado and spend the night playing guitar, rapping, and enjoying the communal feel of this lovely hostel. But now onto the main day.
Surfing and Surfers are the life blood of Pichilemu’s slowly growing tourist seen, so it seemed like the right thing to do heading to the beach about a 15 minute walk from the hostel with surfboards in most hands, just not mine, since I’m wise enough to know my limitations and have little desire to surf, but I’m going swimming, without a wetsuit, and apparently this makes me a little insane. Mirela, braver then me has decided to give surfing a go, and here in Pichilemu, the waves are far from tame.
Before we can get to surfing though we watch, baffled as a pick up truck drives along the beach, perilously close to the surf, and through some very unstable sand. Predictably enough it gets stuck, and not just a little stuck, the axles, wheels and almost everything else quickly buried in sand as the waves rush under the truck. Myself, Nick and a friendly Brazilian guy go to try to help dig them out, but after 20 minutes we realize it’s hopeless, these guys are trapped. Luckily they call a friend and with the help of a winch and a lot of man power we manage to get them out, and they are left to hope the salt has not eaten through too much of the underside of their truck.
The Chileans unstuck we can finally get to the business at hand, which is surfing. I brave the frigid waters for maybe an hour before climbing out again to photograph some of Mirela’s first attempts at catching a wave. She does incredibly well, making it up to her knees on the first actual wave and riding it for a long time before the water finally drags her under.
Before too long though the cold waters and big waves make us call it a day, some of the other guys who are more experienced heading out to catch the bigger waves while Mirela and I head back to the hostel.
Not long after, we head into the main strip of town in Pichilemu to do some shopping for the hostel and for ourselves, enjoying a tasty empanada before heading back down to the seaside in search of fresh fish for dinner. We find an 8 kilo monster and can’t help but buy it before finding another collectivo and heading back to the hostel.
Then we head to the cliffs above the beach to hope for a spectacular sunset. At the first lookout we meet a pair of chilean Harley Davidson owners and Mirela instantly befriends them. She owns a bike back home and they clearly appreciate her enthusiasm as they chat with us. We even get a few photos of her on their bikes, so they must really like her.
Heading further out along the cliffs we enjoy the incredible views of the surfers below, riding atop the rough Ocean as the sun casts it’s golden glow over the pacific.
We can’t believe the views as we continue out towards the most distant point as the sky turns more and more orange with each minute. The sunset itself is far less spectacular than the night before, but the location more than makes up for it as we eventually find a point where we can sit and watch nature’s amazing spectacle in blissful solitude.
Eventually we go join Our Brazilian friend and his new Chilean more than friend at another point to catch a few final rays of sun.
Leaving these two young lovers alone, we head back before the last glimmers of light have left the sky and prepare for another delicious barbecue, the main dish; the giant fish we bought in town earlier.
