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Turkey
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'''Turkey''' is an extremely hitchhiking-friendly country. Your waiting times will rarely exceed 15 minutes on reasonably used roads, even off the main roads. On smaller roads, the first vehicle passing you is likely to stop for you. Also you're very likely to be invited for tea and food, and often also to home stays. Very few people speak English, while German might be a little bit more useful, especially in the east. However, it's essential to learn at least a few words of basic [[Eastern_Europe_phrasebookEastern Europe phrasebook#Turkish|Turkish]], also for your safety. Turkey has a very distinct reputation, especially considering girlswhen it comes to female hitchhikers, but once you get on terms with the dynamics of interacting with Turks (likely only after you make your first mistake, though) you'll usually be fine. See the Safety Chapter below. Opposing to popular belief, it's not very likely (but happens occasionally) to be asked for money. If you feel your status as a free hitchhiker is unclear, make sure to say ''para(m) yok'' before you get into the car. On the other hand side this might offend drivers who genuinely want to help you and do not expect money. Hitchhiking at night also works well as long as you stand in a somewhat visible spot.
== Safety ==
Turkey has been getting a bad reputation for female hitchhikers following the murder of [[Pippa]] in April 2008 and many discouraging stories, ranging from minor harassment (see Personal Experiences below) to near-miss murder/rape cases like the one [[User:Zenit|Zenit]] and the girl he was travelling with experienced in November 2011. While these things shouldn't deter anybody from travelling in Turkey, they certainly prove that there is a specific code of conduct different from any other country that needs to be respected in order to avoid unnecessary problems. It will take a little bit of travelling in the country first to get used to this different dynamic, so this will be the time to be extra cautious. Further reading for female hitchhikers – and anybody travelling in Turkey – is [http://youarealltourists.blogspot.com/2008/04/hitchhiking-guide-to-turkey-for-girls.html this blog]. Safety is always important while hitchhiking, so check the [[Hitchhiker's safety|Safety]] article before hitting the road!
As a brief summary: Be As a girl, be aware of your body language - smiling, eye contact, being flattered by compliments are all bad ideas. As a guy hitchhikingwith a girl, stand your ground, show presence; always make sure to sit next to the driver. If the driver talks mostly to the girl, it's a bad sign. Girls should dress modestly and make sure not to be confused with Russian prostitutes ("rus", "natasha"). Be picky about your rides. Most importantly though, keep in mind that in 99% of the cases all will be fine, especially if you pay attention to those guidelines!
As a guy travelling with a girl it is rare that you will be hit on with the notable exception of the far Eastern part of the country. However travelling alone as a guy you will/might be asked for sex depending not so much on your attractiveness in the Western sense as on how exotic you are (i.e. being big and blond will most likely increase the level of attention). Keep in mind that just even if a guy asks you to have sex with him it does not necessarily mean he's gay. Especially in Eastern Turkey it's very common among unmarried straight men to engage in casual sex among each other as an effect of an extremely conservative society and sometimes horrible ramifications for girls having pre-maritial sex. However other than the nuisance of being asked for sex you're unlikely to run into any problems.
During the summer temperatures tend to rise above 35 °C, especially in the South, so it is recommended to secure yourself with sufficient supplies of water, and to plan travelling in a way that most of the actual hitchhiking would be earlier in the morning or in very late afternoon, to avoid a burning sun.
In [[winter]], though, it can be quite cold in Turkey. == Transportation ==[[File:Mikeeg555 hitching in Turkey.jpg|thumb|250px|left|[[User:Mikeeg555|Mikeeg555]] hitching in Turkey]]When As long as you hitchhike in this countrystick to the south coast, people might try putting you on a ''dolmuş'' (mınıbus) or bringing you to the ''otogar'' (bus station). The dolmuş is the most common way of public transport inside and between cities & towns. These small buses that are advised to ll be used for small distances will stop anywhere on the road even if you don't signal them able to stop. Generally, the ride on have a dolmuş costs between 1 and 3 Lira. For larger distances buses (coaches) are more common. They provide reliable service and are pretty comfortable. Free tea and snacks are generally served along the way, and the buses tend to stop swim in nice [[rest area]]s. Some drivers who pick you up as a hitchhiker may try to convince you to take a bus. If you do end up on a bus they are relatively cheap although not as cheap as trains which are slower but more adventurous. Of the transportation options which involve payment, trains are by far the cheapest in the country, especially if you are under 27, when you are entitled to a 20% discount on already cheap faresAegean any sunny winter day. However, as On some places it's just hitching 100km north into the network doesn't reach far mountains and wide, most of what is interesting in Turkey is out of rail coverage, though they are still a good bet if you need a night's sleep during the ride, especially in inland regions where rail network is relatively denser.ll see snow too!
=== Hitchhiking buses ===
== Cities and License plates ==
{{Cities Turkey}}
== Regions and Their Hitchability ==
While in general it is fairly easy to attract a lift in Turkey, locals' view of hitchhikers vary across the country. In general, people in northern and inland regions of the country are friendlier towards hitchhikers. If put systematically, the level of ease to get a lift in various regions of the country is as follows in general, from easiest to hardest:
== Personal Experiences ==
Some recent thoughts and reflections about hitchhiking Turkey as a solo female: http://shelobify.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/an-update-about-hitchhiking-solo-as-a-female-in-turkey/
:''My friend and I (both female) hitched through Turkey from the Greek border to Cappadocia and it was quite stressful. We never waited long for a ride and most of the people we rode with insisted on buying us chai (just tea) and meals. However, I would say that with about 90 percent of our rides we got our butts, boobs, or crotches grabbed, or at least asked for sex. There is a hand sign in Turkey that means sex, which is quite different from that we have seen in America (much nicer, actually) you just rub your two pointer fingers together back and forth. It took us a while to figure out what that meant! We had to make our driver leave us on the side of the road a lot in the middle of nowhere so that was kinda dangerous. And it took us about 10 hours to make it 25 miles from just before Istanbul to just past the city. People kept trying to take us into the city or someplace we didn't want to go. We were so glad when we finally made it out of Turkey at the Bulgarian border. It was an adventure though and I would recommend traveling through Turkey, just be aware that all of the other women standing on the side of the road are prostitutes. It was all just a giant misunderstanding and a lack of respect, to some extent, on our part, for the local culture. When hitching here maybe you can learn how to say "we are just traveling and we aren't looking for sex may we still have a ride" before getting in a vehicle. For the record, our drivers always let us out when we told them too and nothing dramatic happened beyond the daily grabbings.''
:''I have just finished my second two-week trip alone through Turkey just hitchhiking, and my experience has not been at all like the above. I was quite shocked when I read it! I was traveling for long distances almost every day and I must have hitched with over fifty drivers – and only one of those drivers touched me apart from to shake my hand, and I was asked for sex twice, relatively politely, and both accepted no as an answer. I was treated with courtesy, respect, generosity, kindness, invites home to meet their families, and yes, tea and oranges. Also people kept buying me bus tickets rather than 'letting' me hitchhike on, which was horribly embarrassing! I think people who picked me up probably did consider that I might be a prostitute, but easily accepted that I wasn't judging on behavior. I suspect that experiences like the above depend on inappropriate behaviour or dress, or horribly bad luck. I don't speak Turkish, so sometimes it was a bit boring, which was probably the worst thing about hitchhiking. I would recommend not understanding the questions about whether you're alone or married- not speaking Turkish can actually help! And also be aware that Turkish women hitchhiking sit in the back seat of cars, same as in taxis.''
:''I hitch-hiked with a male friend for 3.5 weeks in Turkey. We started from Istanbul, to Safranbolu, Yozgat, Malatya, Nemrut Daig, Cappadocia, Kalkan and back to Istanbul. I was asked to have sex with the bus conductor after one of the bus conductor invited us to take us and he found out that my friend and I are just friends traveling together. Well, that's just a minor issue. We got picked up by an old man when we were hitch-hiking from Cappadocia to Nemrut Dagi. The old man had only 2 fingers on his right hand, and he was driving at the speed of 150km150 km/h, drinking cai tea and talking over the phone while my friend and I were sitting at the back! He drove us to a town nearby to do some sight-seeing and invited us to stay with his daughter's family! We ended up staying there for 3 nights. My fiend joined her husband to work while i stayed at home with the wife doing some traditional stuff! The hardest route to get a ride was probably from Antalya to Kalkan. It was late and no one wanted to pick us up! In the end, two guys who worked in a restaurant picked us up and sent us to our friend's doorstep! Traveling in Turkey by '' :''Summer 2012 we spent hitch-hiking rocks! I around Turkey. Me (male) and my girlfriend have experienced a lot of hospitality from Turkish drivers and hosts. Many times they stopped on the road and they offered us lunch/dinner. Turkish men never hardly spoke to my girlfriend (they fully respect fact that woman is in relationship with other man). Once whilst hitch-hike before hiking the bus pull-over. We explained that we don't have money for payment - it was any problem. Another fantastic thing about hhiking in Turkey is you rarely have to wait more than 10 minutes, drivers pull-over their car on the highway and sometimes you just have to walk alongside the road and they will stop the car. Great experience, but my I really recommend to go there as a mixed pair!'' :"A female friend has been and I hitchhiked from the Georgian border to Istanbul. Turkey is one of the easiest countries in the world to hitchrides. Wait times, even in bad locations, rarely exceed ten minutes. The hitchhiking is so good that it pays to be picky about who you ride with: in Turkey you will have the privilege to turn down truck drivers in favor of faster vehicles. Although slower, most trucks will stop to offer rides. While hitchhiking at night, we were allowed to nap in the sleeping berths that long-haul trucks have. Be polite, respectful, and learn a few words of Turkish and you will have great experiences (free food, impromptu tour guides, beds to sleep in, etc.). However, you should be cautious if you are a solo female traveler, as even mild friendliness towards unrelated males will be misconstrued as flirtation." -hiking since he [[User:vmpfc1|vmpfc1]] :"Hitchhiked along the Black Sea Coast from Georgia to Bulgaria. Turkey was easy enough for me even for such a huge country. There was 9!no issue sleeping on beaches or sleeping in fields on the outskirts of towns (I always asked for permission off of security guards etc. which most private property had). The cities are really big though due to the big populations, walking out of them can take ages, especially Istanbul which is very difficult to hitchhike out of. Turks are super proud too for the most part so don't offend them and also don't urinate on the side of the road unless you are certain no-one will see (its definitely not acceptable)" - [[User:HoboSpirit|HoboSpirit]]
== Links ==
{{nomadwiki}}
* [https://www.facebook.com/groups/otostopRail/ Turkish hitchhikers FB group]
* [http://youarealltourists.blogspot.com/2008/04/hitchhiking-guide-to-turkey-for-girls.html Hitchhiking Guide to Turkey for girls]
* [http://abgefahren.hitchbase.com/DE/blogs/alex/20090213/just-hitching-rides-journey-eid-christmas Just hitching rides: A journey from Eid to Christmas] (Hitchhiking from Yemen to Germany), abgefahren Blogs
[[wikipedia:Turkey]]
{{IsIn|Western Asia}}
[[Category:Turkey]]
[[es:Turquia]]
[[fr:Turquie]]
[[pl:Turcja]]
[[tr:Türkiye]]
[[nomad:Turkey]]