13th August - Istanbul anyone? (Bulgaria to Turkey)

Felix laughing at us, stuck in the Bulgarian forest

I love waking up on the beach. It is always good. Although a bit disconcerting at times when you awake to see people who have evidently been sun baking for quite some time, only meters from you in your sleeping bag. Also, a swim in the ocean is almost as good as a shower. So, we all had a good swim and a lie in the sun. Very nice and relaxing. After that we also went for a coffee, later start than we wanted, especially considering we wanted to go all the way to Istanbul. We headed down the Bulgarian coast, very scenic. One driver was an Irish guy who confidently informed us it was impossible to hitch to Istanbul in the time we had left. He was starting to look pretty on the money, as he dropped us of at a pre-border check (it’s actually possible to walk to turkey through the forest from this point), the volume of traffic dropped substantially. To the point where we could really count the time between cars passing. After some time, we managed to get an Bulgarian couple to stop and take us. The road wound around and through the forest in a charming manner. However, the forest did have a somewhat brooding air. This was mainly given by the fairly numerous permanent gypsie camps which dotted the roadside, obscured to varying degrees by the trees. They looked at us as we passed, not entirely without interest. I felt a bit like a time traveler, as this scene would scarcely have changed over the centuries, just our car replaced by a horse drawn carriage. Anyways, we were dropped off at a fork in the road, 10km from the Turkish border. We were well and truly in the countryside. The only sounds were the clucking of hens and the occasional bark of a dog. If the traffic earlier was low in frequency, it was practically non-existent here. I think 3 cars passed us in 30 minutes. So, we decided to start walking. It was 4.30 in the afternoon and I wasn’t feeling to confident. We heard a car coming, it turned out to be a brightly painted van. With 2 French drivers. With 2 seats. Heading directly to Istanbul (still a border crossing and 300km away). Sweet! That was such a huge relief to get that lift, because otherwise we were sleeping in the forest and not making Istanbul, that much was for sure. So, after eventually passing through the border crossing, not getting the right stamps, getting the stamps but forgetting to get the stamp for the car, then getting that and finally we were on the road. I was feeling pretty damn good. We got to the outskirts of Istanbul without too many problems and so by now I should have known better. Somehow, we slipped off the highway and actually started heading out of Istanbul. Only Felix noticed (his sense of direction keen as ever) and it actually took a fair bit of convincing to get the frenchies to turn around. By this time we were quite lost. We stopped to ask direction eventually and a Turkish guy said “Follow me and I will show you the way” and so we got led onto the right road. Turkish people are awesome. So, its super late and we finally get to the hostel area. But all are full or want like 15 euros. Eventually, we all decided to sleep in the van. So, the 4 of us headed back to the van. I somehow managed to get to sleep, although Hudini would have envied my contortions and I was also hampered by my own powerful scent, which had been building since I was in Moldova (my last shower)...

Our crazy french hitchhiking buddies, having ice-cream for breakfast. Holidays are awesome.

Old house in Bulgarian forest

Sun setting in Turkey

12th August - Beach Party in Bulgaria (Romania to Bulgaria)

So, after a horrible nights sleep (if it can even be called that), we caught the 6am train to Constanta to save some time and just get the hell out of Galati. So, of course we managed to sit in the wrong seats (and were still carrying around our watermelon from the Ukrainian couple) and after a couple of stops some people were trying to get us to move from what we thought was our seats. So, we are struggling to communicate when this 10 year old girl started speaking to us in perfect British English, even though just moments before she had been speaking Romanian. She told us we were in the wrong carriage. Hmm, it is pretty humbling to be told by a bilingual 10 year old girl that you haven't been able to correctly read a train ticket. Never did find out why she was hanging around in Romania. So, after dodging the hundreds of old people that are always hanging around bus and train stations in east Europe, trying to get you to stay in their apartment for like 10 euros, we managed to get to the edge of town. We got a couple of lifts very, very easily to just near the Romanian/Bulgarian border and walked over it. As we just stepped into Bulgaria we started to talking to a couple of young guys who had just left Romania for the first time. To have a beer 10 metres over the border. Anyways, we got another lift pretty much straight away with a carload of Romanians heading to the beach. Interesting people with some interesting views. For example, they complained at length about how everyone thinks that all Romanians are gypsies, that's so unfair, blah blah blah. Then after that, they proceeded to detail how incredibly untrustworthy the Bulgarians are and how you cant trust them for even a second. I mean really could they even hear themselves talking? These double standards are very commonplace in east Europe particularly.

So, we got dropped in a fairly average hitchhiking spot outside of Varna and after a while we got a lift with a young guy. His English wasn't the best, but still pretty good, considering that in Bulgaria they use the Russian Cyrillic alphabet, which certianly makes learning any language that uses the Latin alphabet much harder. Felix and I asked him what he did for a living. He said "I don't know if I should say", but after some prompting, he said "I give pleasure to people". WTF? Had we gotten a ride with a young gigolo? However, just as I was formulating some questions on how to break into this industry, he elaborated and it was revealed that he was a drug dealer. Well, whatever he was giving us a lift. I have no idea what he was selling, but based on the massive beach culture in Varna, I would say it was of the harder variety. He dropped us off in town, and hoped out to see us off, or so I thought. He had a small bag cloth bag with him and asked us "Would you like something else?". We just laughed and said no. We didn't have any info on how to hitch out of Varna, so we just walked south until we came to a service station. We were hanging out there for about an hour, with no luck, trying to get a lift to Bergas, when two more hitchhikers arrived. I invited them over and they turned out to be french (and crazy, a pretty standard combination) cousins, hitching all over the place. They were also going to Bergas, which presented something of a problem, as now there was 4 of us all trying to get to the same place. Half heartedly I walked over to a guy and asked if he was headed to Bergas. He was. And he had space for all 4 of us! Yay! It seemed fated to be. He even pulled over into a gas station and bought us all redbulls. Nice guy. So, with our new friends we wandered around the city and bought some food (and beer and whiskey of course), and headed down to the beach to find a suitable partying/sleeping spot. No worries. So, we talked and drank and lay down on the sand when we were tired...

Hmmm, tough choice for which party...

11th August - The importance of border stamps (Ukraine to Romania via Moldova)

Left early from the beach and after a fair few buses, trams and a whole lot of walking we found ourselves on the absolute outskirts of town. After moving away from a couple guys who were attempting to hitch in what appeared to be a drunken state, we got a truck driver to stop. Typical trucker hospitality, he even opened the back of the truck to put our gear in the back, to make our ride in the cab more comfortable.

Now, there seems to be a common link amongst all people who have Russian as a first language. This is, that English and Russian are just different accents of the same language. Confused? Yes, yes you are. What happens is that they speak to you in Russian and if you mistakenly make some kind of understanding movement or sound, they assume you can speak Russian and seem to be not really put off when you reply in English. Sure, it confuses them but it is just a minor difficulty. So you actually have a great time! Everyone is all smiles and you have long protracted discussions! Bought us some fried bread when he stopped at one point, showing us family photos. Great guy!

Next lift took some getting, as we were waiting in the middle of nowhere (as usual) and eventually we got a lift with a Ukrainian husband and wife. I was feeling pretty ill (hot tip for young players: don't eat prawns that you buy off the street in summer) and looked it. I slept for the duration of the ride and at the end they actually took us into their home and gave us food. It was a very basic dwelling, with hand washing outside from a can. The mother lived with them and was the main person preparing the pasta and soup. It was very tasty, but I couldn't eat much. We did gave to say grace, but for such giving people and considering everything, it was not even a problem for me (due to my Atheism views). No worries. Some coffee and then they gave us a bible (in Russian Cyrillic) and a watermelon which we carried for 3 countries before having to leave it behind. They did look at Felix and I like we were for another planet, and for all intents and purposes, that was true. They then dropped us right at the border and we felt truly lucky to have meet such nice people.

So, full of happiness in our hearts we walked up to the Ukrainian border guard. Hmmm, we should have known better. We gave him our passports and he flicked through them. He asked us "Where is your arrival stamp for the Ukraine?" We replied "We didn't get one". He said "Impossible". Well how the fuck did I get here, is what I wanted to say, but quite wisely kept my mouth shut. What had happened was when we got picked up in the Ukraine we were actually in a weird Moldovan transit zone. So we didn't get an arrival stamp when we got to the Ukraine. Kinda a big deal for the Ukraine. So, we got to sit for 3 hours on a wooden bench, while they drank beer, let douche bag Moldavians through, and sort of checked out our story. It was 10pm before they finally gave us an exit stamp and we could go. So, we walked across Moldova. OK, so it is only a few km's wide, but it's still true! So, by this time its 10pm and we attempt to walk across the Moldovan/Romanian border. So sale says the guard (well, he just stood in our way). Turns out we have come across a no walk border. Dammit. Not much traffic and who really wants to take 2 random dudes across the border at 10pm? The usual wankers, who want 20 euros and that. Eventually we get a lift with a couple, who are just anxious that we have the right passports. So they take us over and it gets interesting. I see 200 lei (Romanian money, equals around 50 euros) in their hands when we get to the Romanian border. Then Felix sees 50 lei getting folded into one of the passports. They are great friends with the border guard. Then just after we get into Romania, they stop and the remaining lei go to some random police/border guards. Then in town we find the reason. They are smuggling cigarettes. Two huge shopping bags come out from under the seats, filled with cigarette boxes come out and they are taken off to a nearby house. Its not the best neighbourhood, so we just sit tight. Then they drop us off, and we are pretty relived to say goodbye.

Wandered along the highway out off town, get surprised by wild dogs on the other side of a fence, very glad the fence was there as they seemed pretty keen to get to know us. We followed the highway, but it ended in a ferry crossing. At 11pm. Damn. Ask a couple for directions and they end up taking us the to main train station (even though the guy was an off duty taxi driver). So, we took turns trying to get to sleep in the train station. Apparently I got into a snoring competition with an elderly lady...

10th August - Lazy day in Odessa

Another great day in the Ukraine greeted my eyes. Went for a swim, was very relaxing. Not sure if I mentioned it, but the beach that we were sleeping on was a nudist one! So, I was able to indulge in some (by some, I mean a lot) of nude swimming. Good times. Although as usual, the nudist beach does not produce an abundance of beautiful people. I swum out to a slightly submerged wall, and by standing on I was able to portray a nude Jesus (just wish I could master the water to wine). There was a pipe of fresh cold water flowing into the ocean nearby (not sure why fresh water was flowing into the ocean, but then again, I am in the Ukraine) provided the opportunity for a bath. Ended up at the meeting point around lunchtime, only to find out that the locals had ripped off the guys who had slept in the park. A passport, video camera and a few hundred euros. Pretty bad end to the meeting for a few people. Said our goodbyes to the people still there, shouldered our packs and wandered off into town. Felix and I had decided to try and hitch out in the afternoon so after checking the net we tried to get out of town. However, we didn't have much luck and it was getting late (night time in the slums of Odessa, not the ideal location) and it was also feeling a little weird. So, we headed back to the beach to sleep and try again in the morning...

9th August - 789 Meeting

Woke to windy morning, pretty well rested (had been sleeping on pebbles, not sand) and happy to finally be in the Ukraine. However, my mood was muted somewhat when I spyed a dead dolphin. I have since tentatively identified it as a common Harbour Porpoise (P. phocoena relicta), is listed as vulnerable. No surprise I guess with the level of fishing and pollution along the coast. Sad stuff, as I like dolphins and whales even more than I like donkeys. So we wandered off to the meeting place, bought some bread (a huge loaf), some yummy yogurt and a large bottle of fizzy water. Didn't quite break a euro! Cheap times! There was around 50 people scattered in a loose group. A bit later some signs were setup for discussion about topics ranging from intuitive travelling, train and boat hitching to alternative communities and border crossing experiences and advices. Was interesting and pretty informative. The person who sets it up talks about it and answers some questions and then people share what they know. No one is trying to change the world, just trying to make some practical changes. These meetings of like minded people who hitchhiked over 2000kms to get here are pretty cool I think. Was a relaxed day, some frisbee, charades and then some beer in the afternoon. Turned into a bit of a party. OK a lot of a party! Only realised how many of us there were when we all posed for a group photo in front of a monument! Was not easy to get everyone in place, much like herding cats. In the evening I went on an impromptu tour of Odessa with Matthijs, Oti and a Russian guide (to read street signs and such). Was great. Beautiful at night, with lots of people just milling around amicably with musicians spread over the place. There was pedestrian boulevard, which was lined on each side with huge trees, absolutely entwined in fairy lights of different colours. Amazing. Shortly after we returned to the group, about 30 of the people who wanted to go back to the beach were leaving to catch the last bus. So we grabbed our packs and joined them. To this day I am not sure how we actually fitted. You didn't really need to worry about falling over, as everyone was so tightly packed! It was a lot of fun! As we didn't know what our stop was, people started yelling out "Hey, is that Ukranian guy on here?". He was. It took about 5 minutes for everyone to exit the bus and we wavered it goodbye. After some adventures through holes in fences we arrived at the beach for a little party and a lot of sleep...

30 hitchhikers on a bus designed for 15

8th August - Moldova to Ukraine

Awoke in Moldova, in our hosts humongous penthouse apartment. The NGO furnished her with a huge apartment, Felix and I had our own beds in our own room! It is right smack bang in the centre of town, you can see the Parliament building. She is working as an architete for an NGO and has a pretty varied life. She also lived in Berlin when she was my age, however she worked as a street clown and lived in a squat. An illegal street clown, no less. She has also lived in Rockhampton and went sailing on Yeppoon with the Keppel Bay Sailing Club. Me being from Yeppoon was pretty helpful in getting her to accept my Couch Surfing request.

The big picture of me wrestling with how to open a container of Moldovan milk. Don't let it fool you my friends, it is the Rubik's Cube of dairy products. People will say things like "Hey, it's not that hard, there's a tab just there and...". They lie. They lie knowingly. Half the problems eastern Europe would be solved if common people would access to calcium instead of being forced to undergo fiendishly difficult calculations in order to have a white coffee, an omelet or other things that people use milk for. Anyways, I though I should inform u of the possible dangers of calcium deficiency in the east of Europe.

Robyn took us for a brief tour of the centre of Moldova, showing us a round and giving us insider knowledge on the recent riots and the corrupt politics (they recently decided to refit the entire Parliament building, even though only a small part was damaged in the riots for a cost of 30 000 000 dollars. Who owns the construction company? The son of the President). Was very interesting and I wasn't quite sure what to make of the place. The government hasn't been able to pay tram drivers or teachers for the last month, but the place still seemed to have a healthy bustling air about it. She then took us to the open air markets. They were crazy! Hold onto your wallet and plunge in! Every kind of product was crammed into narrow little alleys ad there seemed to be every citizen of Chişinău was there. Quite possibly was. There were disorientating things like just we left the markets I passed a girl on the street with a python wrapped around her shoulders. Why? I have no idea. There seemed to be no reason. And some others things of this nature. Robyn gave us 50 Moldovan leu (like 4 euros) for minibus ride out of the city and we felt confident to spend the rest of the day with this money. Its a cheap country. But its also fucked. So, we arrived at the Airport and walked down the road a bit and hitched a lift after a while with two Moldovan guys. One was pretty drunk (not the driver thankfully) but they were harmless. Of course, the guy was a terrible driver. Also, not only was there nowhere to clip the seat belts into, there were no seat belts! But this is something that you also become accustomed to in east Europe. And it is pretty rare to see any drivers wearing seat belts. What can you do? After they dropped us off, walked through a small town called Causeni. Took us a long walk up a hill before we found a suitable spot. Pretty picturesque view of another tiny town. After quite some time managed to get a lift with a couple of Russians to the border. We walk across the border and get a stamp from the Moldovan guards and as far as we knew we are in the Ukraine (stay tuned for how that turned out). So, we eventually get a lift after waiting for around two hours, during which time I changed some money. The people in the car were friendly and talked to us incessantly in Russian. Just after we got picked up we went through some kind of checkpoint (were told to keep quite, I am under the impression that they were smuggling drugs, i saw a very small pouch getting passed around) where the driver gave the guard a ticket. We didn't pay much attention at the time. So as we get into Odessa, not only do Felix and I realise we have no information about where we are supposed to be meeting everyone and have no map, but that we have also gotten a ride with another hidden taxi. Shit. So we get to roughly where we need to be, and the guy asks for some money (like 200 Ukrainian hyrvnia, which is 20 euro, highway robbery) and i check my wallet anyways and realise that I have changed 20 euros into shitty Moldovan money at the border. This is because i walked back into the border checkpoint to change the money and walked in the direction of Moldova. It is 10.30pm on a sat night. I start swearing extremely loudly and violently, which seems to put the taxi man of his guard. In the end we give him 100 Moldovan leu, around 8 euros. We wander around for ages, hop on a tram and it is other hitchhikers from the meeting, going down to the beach for sleeping and partying! Man, we got lucky to bump into them. So, we went with them and started meeting everyone. I set up my sleeping bag and went to sleep to the hypnotic sounds of bongo drums and waves crashing on the shore...

7th August - Huge Day (Romania to Moldova)

Got up feeling very refreshed. Had a quick coffee and banana. Decided on a better hitchhiking spot than in HitchWiki (turned out not so good, but worked), got a bus heading the wrong direction but got there in the end. Ended up at the end of a tram line, in a run down industrial area. Next thing I know, there is a horse and cart galloping by! Was pretty random, but would become a regular sight during the course of the day. Managed to get a delivery van to stop, Felix haggled a price of 10 lei, which is around 2 euro for a ride for both of us for 100km. It is pretty common to pay for hitchhiking in Romania, as it is very common for locals to use this method. You don't have to pay, but it is expected and they do know that you as a foreigner will have the means to pay. It doesn't feel that good, but we were in a hurry and needed to take any lift that we could get. However, with our colourful signs, Felix and I felt like the kings of hitchhiking! Anyways, back to the delivery driver. I am not sure what he was delivering, quite possibly hearts for a in progress heart transplant for which the surgeons had forgotten that they needed a new heart about half way into the procedure. He was consistently surprised to see cars on the other side of the road, around blind corners or over crests. Their sudden and unwarranted appearance usually provoked a stream of abuse towards theses obviously poor drivers. I noticed once, by the whiplash, that he was once or possibly twice forced to extend his foot in the directions of the brake.

The countryside was simply stunning, as you pass through the rural heart of Romania, due to the major highway still being constructed. Picturesque farmyard scenes abounded and it really felt like a step back in time. People actually using scythes to cut the grass for hay, geese just wandering around and saw a potentially mischievous donkey or two. They always look like they are on the brink of some elaborate plan for causing mischief, but are slightly unsure of how to put their plan into action. OK, so I look at donkeys too much. Was a pretty good drive, apart from the frequent near death experiences. We got only had to wait a short time for our next lift, turned out to be a 300km one, awesome! Two brothers who were 'buying' used cars from Germany (rich country) and somehow selling them for more in Romania (poor country). Sounded like a rather dodgy proposition to us. The brother who was not driving could speak pretty good English and we chatted a lot at the start. However, the atmosphere in the car cooler considerably after he started speaking about Gypsies (we had just passed some living in tent like structures, in the forest) and said "I hate gypsies, they are 100% thieves, always stealing from people, even us Romanians! I tell you, if I had a gun I would shoot them. Hahaha! Probably be a national hero. Hahaha!". Thing is, he really would like to have shot them all and this is a pretty common sentiment. Anyways, I was more worried about the grey hairs I was accumulating at a rapid rate due to the driver trying to repeatedly kill us all. He seemed to have a bona fide death wish. He had a ferocious attitude towards overtaking and held very personal grudges against those fools who overtook him, making every effort to overtake them and restore his honour. He also thought that the correct response to calm a scared horse who was frightened by a car ahead of us overtaking it at 140km/h, was to honk his horn and maintain speed. Interesting approach.

So we got dropped at a roundabout in the middle of nowhere and managed to promptly flag down a truck heading to Iasi, a town very near the border with Moldova. Nice driver and he rang his daughter who could speak English and so i could pass on our thanks to him. Pretty nice. Made our way into Iasi, only to realise we had no idea how to get out onto the highway. Oh well. Got directed to a supermarket where we might be able to get a lift. Got fed a watered and the were wandering through the car park when a Moldovan guy saw our sign for Chişinău (capital of Moldova) and asked if he could take us. GREAT! I was so happy and relived, we were going to make it! So happy. About 2kms down the road, he stops to let his wife get out and buy something from a shop. He then informed us that he was a taxi driver. He wanted 100 euros for taking us to Chişinău. Fuck. I felt so stupid and like an idiot. We said we didn't have any money and got out. Hidden taxis would become an annoyance as we headed further east. So wandered around Iasi, trying to get a lift. We showed our sign to a middle aged Romanian couple and they asked if we spoke English. WTF? We had bumped into an English teacher and a mathematics professor. We had a nice conversation about things past and present and they told which way to go. It started to rain and we found ourselves wandering down a hill, trying to get a lift. We eventually got a car to stop, was a taxi again, but agreed to take us to the border for free. Got there and waited for ages to get through. We we got to the Moldovan guards they checked our bags asked us if we had any money? We said no. Any cards? No we said. Ok, you can go. Man, corrupt bastards. Anyways, we couldn't get a lift for a while. Then this nice Moldovan guy took us to the nearest town, Ungheni. We couldn't get a train so he took us to a taxi who agreed to take us for 35 euro. We were to tired to haggle and got in. The main highway was like a dodgy Australian country road. The driver was going pretty damn fast. He thought it an appropriate safety measure to just stop in the middle of the highway, putting on the hazard lights to go and take a piss. He also thought it would be a good idea to pick up a drunken friend when we arrived in Chişinău. He was a wanker. After driving the wrong way down a one way street, he eventually dropped us off, all the while his friend demanding 50 euros. Met our awesome host, an Australian lady had a shower and slept soundly after a rather stressful day of travelling...

6th August - Big Day (Hungary to Romania)

Woke at 6am to the sound of cars and trucks passing. Managed perhaps 5hrs sleep. Strangely, as Felix and I were cleaning ourselves up and completing our morning ablutions, a Romanian guy asked if he could take us to Budapest. But hey, could have been a worse proposition. Felt pretty weird in the car and we weren't sure if we were going to be asked for money. But had some great views of the city as we drove in, it has a sort of dilapidated, majestic air to it. The driver dropped us off with smiles and it was all good. Wandered to the Main Station to have a shower. After a lot of mucking around, we found that they had no shower. Some woman was trying to get money out of us for some charity, looked dodgy to me. We were feeling pretty tired and hungry at this point, somewhat disheartened. Not quite the easy adventure that I had planned in my head. However, using the HitchWiki tips, we caught a trolleybus (electric bus) to the outskirts of Budapest. After a bite to eat, felt much better. Then we manage to get a lift for a hundred kms or so with a couple of young Romanian guys who spoke pretty good English. They were old friends and just borrowing parents car to go and see the country side. So we had a good chat and they dropped us off at the last gas station before they turned off. Unfortunately for us, it was closed. No fuel for sale, nothing. Wandered around, asking everyone, but they were usually full or not really going in our direction. Rather disheartening stuff and I tried sitting on a crash barrier to increase visibility. To no avail. But of course we did get a lift in the end, Felix managed to get a truck to stop. We hopped, the guy was heading to a town called Debrecen in the far east of Hungary, which was great. Got the same old instructions about ducking down in case of police. However, did get pulled over by a roadside check by transport police, which didn't seem to concerned about the two of us in the cab, more worried about his paper work. Continued on our way and the driver even shared some chocolate bars with us (he just went to the back of the truck, he had about 4 tons worth!). Got dropped at the outskirts of Debrecen and filled up on food from a LIDL and an ALDI, I ate some amazing Hungarian yogurt, was sooo tasty! Then made our way to the south of the city via a wrong bus, which led us on an interesting walk through the suburbs, past plum trees laden with fruit. I did my best to relieve them of their burden. Got a lift pretty quickly with a van with 4 hippy German dudes.

They were on their way to some sort of festival in Romania and could take us as far as the border, as we were just kinda lying in the stuff in the back of the van. There was also some talk about things that had that perhaps they shouldn't. Was a pretty good lift and we ended up doing our first border crossing on foot, we enjoyed. Whilst standing at the service station with a sign for Cluj-Napoca just after the border, was asked again by a guy if he could take us along. They couldn't speak a word of English but there was a nice lady behind him that could speak very good English and she translated a bit and I had a good conversation whilst waiting for the guy to pay for his fuel. They guy somehow managed to fit Felix and I in the car, even though it was completely full. After a fair few wrong turns, we were on the highway! Then we stopped at a roadside restaurant with great views of the valley, and they bought us dinner. First some soup, and then some sausage things made from goat, very tasty. They dropped us in Cluj-Napoca and after wandering for a while asked some people, one of which turned out to be fluent in German, and gave Felix the directions for a youth hostel. Checked in, had a glorious shower and somehow had some energy for a beer and conversation with a few guys still up at 1am, after around 18hrs of travelling. Slept easily...

5th August - Slovakia to Hungary

Had a nice sleep in today and went for a wander around the centre of Bratislava. Very beautiful and I enjoyed it a lot. Would have been nice to have spent more time wandering and investigating the side streets. But the clock was ticking and we headed back to the flat, picked up the packs, said goodbye to our hosts and wandered off to the gas station recommended in HitchWiki (an excellent hitchhiking reference, online and free). However, try as we might by asking at the gas station and hitching directly on the highway, we had no luck. After well over 3 hours we decided to head back across town (turned into a friggin' long journey, we timed the bus ride perfectly with extreme rush hour traffic) to the gas station we got dropped off at the day before. We waited for a very long time and eventually a very nice lady said she would take us to the border. That was so great. We passed some hitch hikers on the highway, holding their sign in a rather desperate way, as night was fast approaching. Unfortunately we had no space. The first car that Felix asked turned out to be a guy form Kosovo living in Berlin and speaking German fluently heading for Budapest! We had a great ride. He had to drop us off at a gas station 20km outside from Budapest, but there wasn't anyone really arriving and we had nowhere to stay in Budapest, nor even any florents (Hungarian currency). So the decision to sleep near the gas station was a relatively easy one and after some tramping around the place we settled on a place under a tree. Set up Felix's tarp on the ground, got out the sleeping bags and settled in for a fairly uncomfortable sleep. It only rained a little...

4th August - Czech Republic to Slovakia

Our hosts were great and we had a great time, some beers and good conversation. Left around 8am and headed to a gas station. Got our first lift after an hour, was a short one about 10 seconds after we were dropped off at a gas station a lady asked us if she could take us along! Score! So, she spoke English very well and had travelled all over the world. She had actually been in Germany and left just 3 months before the wall fell! Then our next lift was a young Christian couple with a child in a van, who had just come back from some kind of youth Christian camp in France. 4000 young Christians. Was apparently crazy, but I suspect the lack of hedonism and boozing would have kept the mood fairly calm. I am yet to be convinced of activities lacking either of these things. Anyway, our next lift was rather interesting as well. A young Czech guy, who spoke no English and very poor German, which made me the king of German in our conversations! His approach to driving was refreshing in that he considered that laws of physics didn't apply to him. A particularly noticeable incident was when he was going 200km/h down a hill on a long right hand curve, smoking a cigarette hand in one hand, nochantly steering with one hand. After that he decided to put on his seat belt. He avoided at all costs going below 150km/h. Once he asked me if I liked his shitty techno. I lied and said yes. Honesty would have been the best policy. he took this as an invitation to turn up the volume to the point at which the speakers crackled and I felt my brain hemorrhaging. This continued for 45 minutes. We passed a wrecked van with oil still dripping from the smashed engine, the wreck looked difficult to survive. We both nodded solemnly and agreed that it was a severe accident. Next thing I know, we are doing 180km/h again! Next lift was a truck driver with some exotic pictures plastered around the cabin. My seat was in fact his bed between the seats, no seat belts, something I would become accustomed to over the next few weeks. I had to hide when we passed a police checkpoint which was in place solely to stop people riding in the middle. Whatever. He told us some interesting stories, about truck park prostitutes and so on. Advised us that the girls in Hungary had large breasts. Always good to know. Got into Bratislava, went to a large supermarket actually called a 'Hyper Market'. It had 45 checkouts, all being used. When we eventually got out there we caught a bus with the help of some locals and then got to our hosts. Some beers, chat and sleep!