Hitchhike info in CouchSurfing groups

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Revision as of 10:03, 4 November 2009 by MrTweek (talk | contribs) (→‎Cyprus)

This is an overview of a lot of information related to hitchhiking that can be found in the CouchSurfing groups system.

Done till 6/30


Countries

Albania

  • HH in Albania
    Albania is completely safe, you can easily stop cars, and it's a great way to see countryside life.
    The problem, however, is that hitchhiking is not part of Albanian culture and most drivers will expect money. I'd suggest learning the Albanian phrase for "Can you take me straight for free?" and saying that to drivers immediately when they stop. Be prepared that some drivers will refuse to take you for free. But if the first driver just goes on and leaves you waiting, almost always the second or third car will take you.
  • It can happen that people expect money, because standing at the streetside asking for a ride in cars, taxis, little busses is a part of the albanian public transport system.
  • i propose to hitch-hike with signs (because money-paing locals don't use this, so the drivers can expect, that you're something different).
    when a car stop, say him something like "por.... jo para.... jo problem?" (but.... no money... no problem?) (the r sayed like an english r) and make it clear with gesticulation. Then they will take you or not and you will have no problem. An other useful word: mirë (=mir) is like dobro in slavic: good/fine/ok.

Australia

  • HH Australia, now
    Hitching in Australia was fairly easy, I found, however, once a police car stopped and told me "Hitchhiking is illegal HERE". I was somewhere in NSW I think, maybe... in the middle of a town, on some random street with suburban houses, that led to the highway. Maybe it was even "the highway"? Whatever. Luckily, there was a petrol station nearby, so I walked there, found a truck stopped, spoke with him, and got a lift. Easy.
    Trains don't seem so frequent enough to hop, but maybe it's possible. If you do hop a train in Australia, please leave a story on casarobino website about the experience :)
    Hitching in Australia is pretty easy, you just have to use a lot of common sense. I find you end up hitching from the roadside more than petrol stations, so this needs to be taken into account.
    Australia is huge, so for longer trips i find time of the day and day of the week is super important. If you're on the coast (where towns average about 1hr apart) and its during the week, mornings and afternoons are best (people driving to and from work between towns). If its a weekend sundays are awesome for hitching, because people are doing long trips home at their leisure, so it tends to be easier to find long rides.
    Truck routes are always the most direct route between major towns, so if you stick to the highways you should be sweet. There are always some kind of 24hr truck stop servo/restaurant things along the highway, so its easy to come across truckies. I've heard mixed experiences with the truckies, most people say they're pretty nice but i suppose generally its best to approach them when they're on their own as they're not supposed to give hitchers a lift.

Balkans

  • Hi,Every body...going to Kosovo...Need any advise,travell body,job or volunteer job suggestion for
    Most importantly, if you plan to travel after you're there, you should be aware that, from the official standpoint of the Serbian government, by flying into Pristina, you will have entered 'Serbia' illegally and will not be allowed to cross into what is now internationally-recognized as Serbia. The only exceptions to this, I hear, is if you get a job (and thus ID) with NATO or K4.
    Regarding entering Serbia after first going to Kosovo, what happens varies on a case to case basis. They can refuse you entry, or they will grant you entry and put new stamp in your passport, over stamp which Kosovo officials gave you, or in the third case, as it happened to one Spanish guy recently (check http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1004&post=4013196#post4105667) they will just tell you to cross the border, without checking you, or giving you new stamp. I heard of all cases, so you never know...
  • Bosnia?
    stay on the road and you'll be fine. offtrack, there might be landmines. as for hitchhiking, its as safe as western europe - the police is very well controlled through eufor and shouldn't give you issues either.
    People are very helpful and hospitable.
    i did this few month's ago, it was very slowly, but people was very nice and nature is amazing ;) enjoy!
    Getting a lift was easy, but I think communicating with the drivers might be difficult if you don't know any South Slavic languages.
    it's quite slow (because of the roads) but the landscape is beautiful, especially the part south of Sarajevo
  • Montenegro, Croatia and BiH by the coast... any advices?
    I came in the opposite direction a few weeks ago, from Sarajevo through Mostar and Dubrovnik to Kotor (and further into Montenegro). There are a few border crossings in the area, but they do not affect hitchhiking and generally your car will be waved through without the officials even looking at the passports of the people inside.
    Pretty much all the traffic from Bosnia's small stretch of shore is going up to Mostar, and pretty much all traffic from Mostar is going to Sarajevo, so you shouldn't have problems getting a direct lift.
  • Hitchhiking in Bosnia, Montenegro, and Albania
    First, I would advise against hitchhiking across the border to Albania. Remember it was until recently the poorest country in Europe, and is still quite unsafe in the mountain areas
    Hitchhiking is possible, but most people expect you to give them some money.
    hitching along the montengro coast is pretty easy...just a slightly poorer version of croatia.
    When people see you, backpacker there they will be staring at you, they will be asking dozens questions and stuff like that. You will find it kind, but keep your eyes around yourself and be carefull with this. Hitching in Albania is perfect, I would say it's one of the best countries in Europe for hitchhiking, at least from my experiences. About charging, you might be asked for it, allthough I haven't been.
    Bosnia is an amazing country to hitchhike in. especially away from sarejevo and mostar there are almost no tourists so drivers are keen to stop, ask you lots of questions and even buy you delicious meals. aside from turkey these were my most generous drivers. i never waited more than 5 minutes for a ride, of course i'm a single girl but still it should be easy for you. locals hitch too, i think foreigners get rides faster (as i said the locals are interested in us) so if you look like a backpacker it's a good thing.
  • Information and advice of HH on the Balkan needed
    The people of the Balkans are amazing and hitching is rather easy everywhere though in Montenegro and Albania it can be rather slow. Albanians, except for those that have traveled extensively, dont really understand the concept of hitchhiking.
    All Balkan countries are great for hitchhiking. It's too bad you are skipping Bosnia, it was one of my easiest ever countries to hitch in and it is such a lovely country. you never wait for rides and outside Sarajevo/Mostar there are barely any tourists so my drivers were really interested to talk with me. croatia is also great for hitching, the only problem is if you want to visit any of the islands (and you should see one or 2, i recommend mljet especially if you want to camp out wild,) you'll have to pay for the ferry, you have to pay for each passenger in addition to each car so you won't save anything by managing to get in someone's car.
    bulgaria is great for hitching especially in the mountain areas like the rila and the rhodope.
    Turkey is also awesome, so easy to hitch and my drivers were so kind, constantly buying me food and tea. they are not used to hhers but they are getting used to it because more and more europeans are doing it in turkey. the buses will probably try to pick you up and people might try to take you to the bus station but just decline politely, it's not too bad.

Baltic countries

Canada

China

Cyprus

  • HH in Cyprus
    You'll love Cyprus. It's because Cyprus is an island and on island people feel much more safer and trust each other that's why hh is really easy.

France

Germany

Hungary

Iran

Italy

Moldavia

Poland

Scandinavia

Spain

Switzerland

Turkey

Ukraine

http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=12&post=4095247

United Kingdom

Routes

Europe

Africa

USA

Americas

Middle East

Central Asia

Specialty

Winter HH

Equipment

Night HH

HH bases

General Advice

http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=12&post=3904446

help...hitchhikin for 1st time

Motivations

Why do you hitchhike??

Boats

Working on a boat

Hitchhiking cargo ship

Signs

Something funny to write on the board?

Languages

hitch hiking without speaking the native tongue?

Cross Continents

hitching to australia from europe..

from London to Beijing... any tips?

hh from Spain (or Portugal) to Marocco

HH Groups:

Groups with more than 10 members

General groups

Speciality hitch

Boat Hitch-hiking1205 644

Classified Ads: For Sailors and Crew / Deckhands[3]

Hitchiking women210 132

http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=1054 Train Hopping

http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=16558 Container ship

Festivals/Races

The Hitchhiker Racing Group28 13

Race To Riga19 41

http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=9367 7-8-9

Regional groups

Europe

Asia

Middle East

Africa

Americas

Oceania

Less than 10 members


Websites