Aвтостоп
I am not an ardent person and I do not like ventures and risk. I usually go skiing smoothly from the top of the mountain, though I have 5 years skiing experience. I do not swim in deep-see though I swim like a fish in water. Frankly speaking, I am not a risky person.
But there is a word, which makes my Mum’s and all far-off relative hairs curl. It is hitch-hiking. I think there is no need to explain the meaning of this word. I like hitch-hiking not because of money saving (though it has big advantages), but because of adventures. A lot of people think, that it is completely dangerous. Yes, it is so.
In such a way I have travelled over a big part of Ukraine and Europe, that is why I do understand something about it. Let me describe you a couple of rules, which could be useful in future.
This summer I set out on my journey to the westward from my native land. Of course, by hitch-hiking. Because of all the troubles with entrance to magistracy I had not that much time for holidays, that is why the trip was not planned before head. Fortunately, my friend had a European visa and I did not put many efforts for looking for some familiars to join me. Well, the rule №1 is to travel together with a man. I know some courageous girls, who are afraid of travelling with a girl-friend, sometimes they travel alone. But it is not about me.
Well, we met early in the morning in Lviv and took the first bus at 6 a.m to “Shehyni”. “Medyka-Shehyni”is a pedestrian crossing, that separates Ukraine from Poland and from European Union in general. That is why the check of documents goes slowly. Actually our adventures started on the border. The fact is that the people, who live up to 30 km from the border, do have the right to cross it without any visas. They use it and cross the border approximately 10 times every day and sell in Poland some Ukrainian wares. The thing is, that there were so many aggressive people there, that after all they started a fight in a queue. We were really lucky, that we were already on the polish territory and made our way to Krakow.
As soon as we got to the motorway, we started to stop the cars. We should not have to wait for a long time, because the right place to catch the cars is the rule №2..
Area. Do not try to catch the car under the hill and on the slope. The same situation is with the bypass road. On the basis of experience, the luck is very rare in such places.
Some Ukrainians, who live not far from the border have picked us up. We have noticed that, from the way they spoke, combining Ukrainian and polish words. From the border to Krakow is only 250 km, so that is about 4 hours by car, but we got there only towards evening. The point is that we have changed 4-5 drivers. Among them was a very pleasant Frenchman, who has bought some breakfast for us.
We have stayed for a night in a comfortable hostel in Krakow, which cost only 7 euros. Despite the tiredness, we have been walking through the city the whole night long and in the morning we set out on our way. On the way we have clashed with some inconveniences, because of preparations to Euro-2012 some roads were closed. Nevertheless, we had luck – after 15 minutes waiting, the woman who was going to Wroclaw has picked us up. So we went there too. It is a big luck for hitch-hikers! What is typical about Europeans is that they are not afraid to take strangers in their cars. We still have some problems with that in Ukraine. And the main difference between hitch-hiking in Ukraine and Europe is that Ukrainian drivers do not want to drive anybody for free. That is why I should mention the rule №3.
Payment. You should say right away, that you have no money. You do not have any and you will not have it. We are students and we have been on journey for three days, the rucksacks are heavy, you are tired of heat and so on – all these excuses as usually work. If you do not let know the driver beforehand, a troublesome situation could happen.
As soon as we came to Wroclaw, we have stayed at the place of my familiar. He showed us the town, which is extremely beautiful and borrowed us his bicycles. A bicycle tour through the whole city was unforgettable. The next morning the motorway “Wroclaw-Berlin” has been waiting for us. We got there changing 2 cars only. The man, who took us to Berlin was 6o year’s old Italian, that is why he could not understand a word in English, as well as in Ukrainian or Polish or even Russian. We knew only “buono giorno”. But it was not a barrier for our communication. And here we come to the rule №4.
Conversations. Always talk, talk, ask the questions, tell some stories, even with your body language. That is why they take you on the road! Moreover, if it is evening or night, you rescue them from dullness and sleep.
We have stayed in Berlin for a long time as we have a Ukrainian friend there. From the beginning, we have planned, that it will be our last stop, that is why there was no hurry. We have visited all monuments, took the picture near to The Brandenburg Gate, have seen the whole Berlin wall and just enjoyed our stay in the capital of Germany. One evening we spoke with our Italian friend and he was very sad, that he was not with us. Someone joked before going to sleep, that we should hitch-hike to Italy. The next morning we decided to fulfill the joke in reality. In two days we have packed the luggage and made our journey further. Maybe because of the rain and dull weather in Berlin we decided to move forward, because our friend lived on the seaside in Rimini. So from Berlin to Rimini the road is approximately 1500 km long. In the evening we were in Munich, so the half of the way was behind. Stop in this city was compulsory, because we tried to catch the cars on the emergency section of a route, but no one has stopped, that is why we have lost the hope. Suddenly the police car with three severe men appeared. The policemen told us, that somebody has called to a police station and made a complaint, that we violate the law while standing and catching the cars. It is possible only in Germany!
So, the rule №5. Remember, that it is not allowed to stop the cars on the motorways in Europe! And motorways are all over there. In Italy hitch-hiking is totally prohibited, moreover, they can fine you for that. Italian policemen do not believe citizens with Ukrainian passports.
The next morning we found two Moroccan men on a petrol station, who took us to Verona. (By the way, petrol stations or road cafes are the most dangerous places for hitch-hiking!) I think, it is not needed to explain, that these guys could speak only Italian or Moroccan languages, so they turned on their national music and listened to it the whole way ( about 4 hours). After 4 hours of listening to Arabic folklore I seemed to know all the songs by heart.
Pay attention to rule №6.
Music. Do never criticize musical taste of a driver, because it can come to a bad end. You should resign yourself to that, because as one says: ”Who pays, that orders the music”.
The day has been drowing to a close in Verona and we did not hope for catching a car, but suddenly a long-range driver has noticed us. He could speak only Italian, but we dabbed with our fingers on Rimini on the map, so he understood, that we were going there. The man was very kind and gave us his pillows, proposed some food, switched on English movie and beamed friendly. In one word, we felt ourselves as kings! We happily arrived to my friend and he was amazed because of our spontaneity.
So here is the rule №7.
Mood. Despite everything, you should be positive disposed. It is hard, when one should stand some hours in the sun, but anyway. You should make jokes, maintain different talks and think only positive.
We have more than enough hitch-hiking stories and we would like to describe each person, each situation, which has happened on the road. Hitch-hiking helped me to understand a lot of things, but the most important lesson, that retained in my memory is that there are a lot of kind people in the world. That means, that nothing is so bad in our house.
Oliia Diachuk.
