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July 03, 2009

Whispering of the Stars

Fairy Skin


It`s true that one, it would seem, in foregin lands with a foreign tongue, seeks solace in one`s own native words...I write so much here.
And the imagination, starved, sometimes, on life in these soituous moments; conjures up the bizzare, the colourful, the crazed, the dead with balloons floating out of their mouthes. Every encounter leaves an imprint.
& too, that, my french is growing and growing. I haven`t spoken english, or almost nothing, in ten days now...look, look, what is building built inside of you!
and coffee and long searching walks by the fleuve met with the salty sea air in the morning, living in this little chalet until the days turn brighter again..and wine, cheese, homus, tomatoes, figs, apples, peppers, orange juice.
and my skin ready to burst in the need to be touched.
but shhhh, create, create, someday will come. someday..
Soon I will be on the very eastern point of these lands, with whales and antarctic birds.
Drink up, dear man, drink up.

July 03, 2009 22:15

St Jean Baptiste Cookie Monstres


Night by the river, Montpelier, Vermont.
Observing his or her own personal laws...what others are important?

Meanwhile..some of the french canadian accents sound suspicously like the cookie monster. Pour vrai.
And I can`t finish a Budweiser to save my life. It tastes too much like rat piss (or how I would imagine it). It makes me afraid to grow a tail and wear tight vests with a wonked baseball cap glued to my head. Is this paranoia? So beit, I`ll take it all, even if you are `quebecian` avec `culture`, mais tu es faute et gros. Salut, mes amis.

July 03, 2009 21:10

Wanderlust

Katolla kasvaa puu

Katolla kasvaa puu, Toruń, PuolaToissapäivänä kävelin Liettuasta Puolaan. Saimme kyydin kahdessa peräkkäin kulkevassa rekassa (Andrzej toisessa ja minä toisessa) rajalle asti. Aiemmin Suomessa olen päässyt rekan nuppiin vain pari kertaa, mutta tällä reissulla valtaosa kilometreistä on kulunut rekassa istumalla. Puolassakin saimme mainiolta rekkakuskilta kyydin pitkän matkaa. Nämä tiet! Kapeita ja kuoppaisia. Pohjoispuola on kuulemma kaikkein kamalinta seutua liftata teiden huonon kunnon vuoksi. Koska aloitimme vasta yhdeltä päivällä, emmekä kymmeneltä aamulla kuten alunperin suunnittelimme, venyi liftaaminen yöhön. 130 kilometrin päässä Toruńista jouduimme luovuttamaan ja yöpymään teltassa hautuumaan perällä. Aamulla jatkoimme liftausta, joka ei sujunut kovin hyvin koko päivänä. Lyhyitä kyytejä ja paljon odottamista auringossa, joka porottaa varjossakin 30 asteella.

Pidempään matkanneet tietänevät sen tunteen, ettet ole ihan täysin varma mitä olet tekemässä ja missä olet. Se ei ole koti-ikävää tai eksyksissä olemisen fiilistä, vaan ihan omanlaisensa tunne. Viikon jälkeen tunne hävisi. Matkalla oleminen tuntuu täysin luonnolliselta ja tiedän tasan tarkkaan mitä olen tekemässä. Uusissa paikoissa on mahdollista saavuttaa kotoisa fiilis. Kun sitten myöhemmin palaan kotiin, on siellä varmasti vastassa uusi samankaltainen tunne.

Nyt olen vanhassa ja kauniina säilyneessä kaupungissa, Toruńissa ja maa on siis Puola. Hämmentävää, että talo jossa yövyn, on rakennettu 1600-luvulla. Rappukäytävä on rakennettu puusta. Viereisellä katolla kasvaa puu.

by Mikael at July 03, 2009 09:44

July 01, 2009

Fabzgy's Life

No Border Camp in Calais

Through a friend I got in touch with the topic of NoBorder Camps.

Since I still work in the Radio I did an interview with on of the activists more than a month ahead of the camp. By then I ve decided to show up at the camp to work on german media coverage.

Getting there was not as easy as I hoped. Since I ve just came back from Morocco I was not really able to organize a ride through any of the rideshare plattforms nor organize a host to store my equipment somewhere outside the camp. Fuck it - lets hitchhike I ve thought.

I ve first took a train to cross the border into France. A little bit north of Strasbourg I ve started to hitchhike. The first guy I ve asked went straight to Paris. That has never happened at any of my other attempts to hitchhike to Paris.
Anyway - I was not on the way to Paris so I left a few km before Reims. There I ve founf within 15 min a car going direction Lille. A few km before the junction of “Arras” I waited for quite a while until somebody took me to Dunkerque where they left me a t a shitty spot. I had to ask at least 80 cars vefore somebody took me at least at the highway exit of Calais.

The camp itself was a very nice experience which I m not going to describe further here. For any news check Indymedia UK.

The way back was even worse since the city was packed with cops. It s very hard to hitchhike if there are three dozens of riotcops right next to you…
A brave english guy finally picked me up and brought me on the A1 south of Lille. There I waited a long time and finally talked over a wicked woman who tried to give me a bible in french. With her I ve got to a gas station on the A26 direction south and from there I basicly hopped just from one car into the next one and got back on sunday night.

by fabzgy at July 01, 2009 10:49

Meinhard Benn

Hacker Space Festival

Last night I came back to Brussels from the Hacker Space Festival in Paris, which I greatly enjoyed. Big cheers to the people of the Hacker Space Brussels for the lift and the short tour of their romantic small artisan space!

For people interested in my lightning talks about PowerTOP, BeWelcome and the TransHackMeeting Istanbul 2010 I uploaded the presentation slides to my sandbox. Wow, that was a sentence with a lot of links. :)

by meinhard at July 01, 2009 09:52

June 30, 2009

Classless Kulla

Blankenburg -> Thale

Erst in wenigen Minuten vier Autos angehalten, die alle nur nach Timmenrode und Warnstedt fuhren, dann fast eine Stunde an dieser Stelle herumgestanden, die früher mal voll praktisch war, mittlerweile aber dank der Anbringung einer Bordsteinkante ohne Bordstein nicht mehr viel hermacht.

Das Ehepaar, das mich dann mitnimmt, versucht Autokennzeichen zu erraten. Als wir einen Chemnitzer vor uns haben - “C wie Karl-Marx-Stadt” -, sagt der Mann, daß ein Arbeitskollege von ihm kürzlich gemeint habe: “Wenn man sich ein Bild von Gott machen wollte, würde das wohl aussehen wie Karl Marx.”

by classless at June 30, 2009 15:46

Hitch-Hiker's Travel Blog of India

From Varanasi to Nepal

After Varanasi

I left Varanasi on the 28th of June, a few days ahead of my visa to India ending. As I left I would feel the blessings of the Lord on me - the first day of hitchhiking out of Varanasi I ended up in a Hanuman temple and when I asked for prasad I was given a full meal of the best prasad in a long time (instead of the sugar candy I was expecting). After the meal I took rest at the temple for a few minutes, and someone from the nearby village came to the temple. We had a talk for a while and when I asked him to translate to the devotees of the temple my humble request to stay there for the night, he told me there's a big yajna (a sacrificial ceremony) going on in his village and invited me to come to the village to see the yajna. The yajna is a big occasion in a small village, as it takes a couple of dozen priests to do, and needs a ton of different kinds of articles to be sacrificed. It's like a multiple-day religious festival, but could be arranged at any time (as long as there's someone willing and able to put in the money and the sacrificial items). This yajna had been going on for a week and was still going to continue for two more days. People from the village (and their relatives, who had come from farther away for the yajna) participated in the yajna by making parikrama (circumambulation) of the sacrificial fire for hours as the priests were singing the mantras and offering various items to the sacrificial fire. I made a few rounds of parikrama, but couldn't keep on with the zeal of some of the villagers (some would go 1008 rounds, I was content with about a dozen). The main organisers of the Yajna gave me a place to stay for the night and in the morning I went on towards Nepal.


The next day the Lord would shower even more blessings on me - I had darshan of a Durga temple in a small town near the Nepali border and there was a marriage ceremony going on in the temple. The organisers of the wedding would offer me a full meal of prasad. I also took some photos of the temple and the marriage ceremony, and will post them later. In the evening I crossed the border to Nepal. I'm writing this in a guest house in the border town on the nepali side and after a while I'll go on to somewhere in Nepal.

by M at June 30, 2009 12:43

Varanasi

Some indian told me that people come to Varanasi for two reasons; for learning or for burning. For me it was definately a learning experience. When I came to Varanasi I didn't have any idea where to find a good affordable accomodation. I felt it'd be a good idea to go to the train station for my search - even if normally I almost never go to the train stations. It was the guidance of the Lord who put me there, as on the train station I met a group of four spanish travellers, with whom I made friends and with whom we went about looking for the guesthouse together. One of them, Manu, has practiced meditation and we had long talks about spirituality in the evening while walking on the ghats (bathing places along the Ganga). Discussions with him gave me more understanding and a fresh perspective on some things and it was nice to meet a spiritual person outside any traditions (even though I could feel a bit of Buddhism in some of his ideas, he doesn't follow any particular tradition).

I feel that even if I don't have a Guru, the Lord sends people to teach me when it's the right time. In almost every place where I stayed for a longer time I ran into some person - or more than one - who would share their spiritual knowledge with me. In Vrindavan it was some elder Hare Krishna devoteens, in the Rainbow practicioners of freeform spirituality from all over the world, in Badrinath a couple of swamis (and one american-indian traveller).. Sometimes it'd also be people whom I didn't expect to be knowing of spirituality - but I guess it's important to keep your eyes and ears (and heart!) open for good advice, no matter from whom it's coming.


The next day we woke up early and took a boatride at sunrise to see the beauty of the Ganga and the ghats from the river. We would also see many people doing their morning rituals at the banks of Ganga. In Varanasi every day seemed to be divided in two; the morning and the afternoon. I would do things and go out in the morning time, then return to the guesthouse for the hottest hours of the day and take some rest, then go out again in the afternoon. This also follows the schedule of most temples; the darshan is available in the morning, closed at around noon and opening again at 4 pm.


The spanish travellers left after only a couple of days as they only have a short trip in India. On the days to follow I did sadhana and had darshan of some of the most remarkable temples in Varanasi. One day I went to the Durga temple and had a lesson on greed - it really upsets me when I see people in the temple being too centered on money. On top of that, one of the people aiming for money 'instructed' me on how to give my prayers to Mother Durga, and while he was saying prayers for me I was further upset by the fact that he only asked for material things - I had to interrupt him to tell that no, I don't want a nice job, nice wife or success for my family, none of those things are what I had come to the temple for. Later the same day I feel there was also an exam on greed, wich I failed - being still a bit upset and leaving the temple, the shoe guy on the door (someone who watches after your shoes wich you need to leave outside the temple) asked for a few rupees, and now thinking back his was probably one of the most reasonable and justified requests - but as I had just dished out around 50 rupees total to different pujaris (=priests) and shrines inside the temple and being still upset, I gave him nothing - I was only reflecting the greed of others, reacting instead of genuinely being myself.


Another day I went for darshan at the Tulsi Manas temple, a really big and apparently quite new (and shiny) temple with deities of Lord Ram and Lord Narayan. As I was misinformed of the times of darshan, I arrived to the temple around 3 PM, one hour too early, and to pass the time I took a walk and ended up in two other great temples, the Tridev temple (with Durga, Narayan and Shiva if I remember correctly) and what is popularly called the Monkey Temple, a big temple which is a sanctuary for a group of monkeys, with deities of Hanuman (the monkey-headed god) and Lord Ram. This day gave me a strong impression of the spiritual energy in Varanasi - and a couple of pushpanjalis (flower garlands, offered to God and given out to people who come to the temple). usually the garlands aren't given to everyone, but when I went into the temples, the devotees of the temple were extra happy to see a foreigner who is also a devotee of the Lord, and would give me a garland.

Yet another darshan I had another day was the Vishwanath temple (aka the Golden Temple, as the roof is made of gold), wich appeared to be the oldest of the temples I visited and apparently also held the most importance. It's a Shiva temple in the middle of the old town, to get to the temple you'd have to go through a maze of small alleys filled with shops selling things wich you could offer at the temple and crowded with people going to (or coming from) the temple. This temple also had the tightest security I saw in Varanasi, with teams of armed guards in many places around the temple and on every entrance. After the darshan I headed back to my guesthouse walking along the banks of Ganga and stopped for the Ganga Puja, the everyday worship of the holy river. The Ganga worship ceremony was one of the most impressive ceremonies I've seen so far - I'll post some photos of it later. At the Ganga puja I met a mexican guy, Carlos, who seemed to be really interested in the Indian spiritual traditions. I adviced him to make puja on the Ganga (to light a small ghee lamp and float it on the river) and take prasad after the Ganga Puja. After the Puja and having some prasad we sat down at the ghat for some time, talking about the Indian spirituality. As we departed I also gave him a few reading tips about the spiritual traditions of India.

by M at June 30, 2009 12:41

Digihitch

From Bratislava to Riga

So far I've finished 25-day autostop trip, covering 7 countries in 2,400Km. It is my first autostop experience also most stuffy time.

June 30, 2009 10:18

June 29, 2009

Digihitch

Up The Parks Highway From Anchorage To Fairbanks

Yesterday's trip to Fairbanks from Anchorage along the Parks Hwy. Hello folks it's been years since I've posted here but I'm back AND am finally riding that info super highway.

June 29, 2009 20:21

Hitchhiking is not a crime

Zagreb - Zadar, my day, at last !

Well, if not including the fact that I was almost bitten by a huge dog and the fact that I had to cross the small steam which I actually was laughing at (I dropped my shoes and walked like Jesus) the day was more than fine. Why? All right…

I got to the hitchhiking spot at 14:25 and at 14:34 I was picked up by Slovenian guy, directly to Zadar. He is an old dude, working in Croatia, running yacht chartering company, who lives in Slovenia. We had really nice conversations (in German), actually I was suprised that my German is good enough to communicate with the other, of course, grammar sucked at all. After we had passed half of the way, Frank invited me for coffee. We arrived exactly at 17:00, so 2,5 hours for 250 km sounds nice, doesnt it ?

Right now I will stay here 2 days, after that if current plans dont change, I will go to Podgorice for 2 days, after that to the Albanian coast, which is fabulous. Right now, I will be going out to grab some beer, and chill on the beach (actually I can keep realizing the main point of my trip, I mean chilling :D)

See ya later guyzzzz

by patrishnik at June 29, 2009 17:50

RoadNotes

Güpy:

Noch nicht mal 2 und schon bei dortmund. Kommt heute abend ins madame claude in berlin zum hitchhikers diary

June 29, 2009 10:55

Compared With Me You Are All Tourists

Under Quarantine

Wies is 22 and still lives with his mum and dad. It may seem strange at first, but when you see how he actually lives, you understand. What he calls his home is a massive complex of houses, with a beach just at the back of his living room. Squatted in the early 80's by a group of hippies among whom his parents, the lodgings have been constructed in the 1920's as a hospital complex immediately opposite the international harbour Rotterdam. The idea was that sailors staggering onto land with their heads in the clutches of fevers brought about by vicious tropical diseases could be stacked away immediately from society at large. The street is up to this day called Quarantaineweg and neighbours are few and far in between.

What a luck that the day I made it there, I just happened to come down with swine flu. Perfect place to cough and sneeze and feel miserable.

The symptoms could be excrutiating: At every breath my aching lungs rattled like a beat-up toy car sent to lumber round the model race track one last time. The air wheezed in and out of my respiratory tract, crackling and going through my clotted windpipes like sludge moves through a sieve crusted with dried mud at the end of a long day of sifting for nuggets of precious metal in a silty river. And indeed the search would yield: From time to time my dried lips would part and spit out an half-liquid and amorphous marble of gold.

Whenever I decided I could get up now and drag my body two steps across the room, the plan was foiled at once: I'd have to turn round, plunge back into bed from instant exhaustion, and sleep would crash back over me in cold waves of fever and fatigue. Again I'd be paralysed in horizontal position, stapled to the bedsheets.

by Cyaxares_died (vnoetsjka@hotmail.com) at June 29, 2009 02:35

June 28, 2009

Wanderlust

Vielä Liettuassa

Vilnus, Lithuania

Vilnus, Lithuania

Iltapäivällä, kun olin uuden ystäväiseni kanssa lähdössä liftarimiitistä, en ollut varma mihin suuntaisin. Pieni houkutus suunnata jo nyt Puolaan oli, mutta maa josta en tiennyt aiemmin mitään (erityisesti ihmisten vuoksi) onkin osoittautunut paljon kiinnostavammaksi. Liettuassa on särmää.

Kaunasin kautta Puolaan vaiko muutamaksi päiväksi Vilnaan, pohdin. Joku siinä sitten tokaisi, ettei tuollaista pitäisi voida edes pohtia. Vilnaan siitä hus! Sitten joku muu kysyi, missä aion nukkua. Sanoin etten tiedä ja kohta päädyinkin kysyjän kotiin. Halaukset ja hyvästi kaikille. Pienen tien laidassa tanssahtelua puolisen tuntia ja seitsemännen auton kyydissä suoraan Vilnan keskustaan. Jei! Helppoa.

Ihanaa, viimein suihkuun kolmen päivän jälkeen (kylmässä purossa kylläkin tuli uitua). Ruokaa, nyrkkipyykkiä ja pohdintaa tulevasta. Ahaa! Sinäkin olet menossa Toruńiin, Puolaan! Mennään yhdessä. Maanantaina näen uuden ystävän leiriltä, tiistaina pelaan ultimatea (frisbee-peli) jonkun porukan kanssa ja keskiviikkona tai torstaina vaihdan maata.

Huomiseksi pitää löytää vielä yösija jostain, mutta tottahan toki semmoinen järjestyy. Hakuna matata, sanotaan.

by Mikael at June 28, 2009 22:22

Hitchhiking is not a crime

Budapest - Balaton (Keszthely) - Zagreb

Right, on the 25th of June, morning I have read that there is a guy in a small town Keszthely by Balaton who is willing to host everybody who wants to come. Without thinking, I just grabbed my rucksack and started hitching. Although it wasnt the best day for hitchhiking again, but it was fun at least.

Started at 15:16, after one hour pacing around petrol station a young Dutch picked me up and took like 30km detour for me to drop me on the highway M7. We got there at 16:37 and at 16;50 a young, Hungarian truck driver picked me up and drove me to Balatonfuzfo. It was 18:13 when we arrived and at 18:22 another Hungarian young driver, who looked like Latin-American took me to Balatonfured. He let me out at 18:50 and after 15 minutes thumbing, I got a lift from an older couple, just few villages further though. We got therer at 19:30. At 19:45 an old guy stopped with his Jeep and also took me a few km further, it was already 20:00. I got off the car, started walking in direction of Keszthely, while suddenly at 20:05 a young Hungarian driver stopped with his fancy American car stopped. We arrived there at 20:30.

Actually Balaton was a nice place to be, quite relaxed and in spite of its fame, it wasnt so crowded. Stayed there one night, had lots of fun with a host - Arpad, then started hitching again

On the 26th of June it looked more or less like a disaster. Keszthely - Zagreb, looks like an easy task, 200km, well, it was not.

On the road at 11:45, first lift at 12:38, young firefighter took me just a few km, let me off at 12:54. At 13:26 an old guy took me a few km further and took a detour for me to bring me to the entrace of the highway, which looked like a good spot. After I had spent there around 30 minutes, I realized that around 5 or 6 cars passed me, so there was no sense of standing there. I was being fried by the sun, so I took a look at the mapm the map says that there is a petrol station 2 or 3 km further on the highway. I started walking down the highway through all these bushes (actually I used the canalization as a pavement). I got there at 14:45, and at 15:22 a young Hungarian truck driver agreed on taking me to the next petrol station, because this one didnt look so good. It was 16:00, I was walking around the petrol station while Mexican girl came, and whispered “are you a hitchhiker?” I said “yepp”, right, they were heading to Ljubljana, they decided to take a detour for me and bring me to the border, but I couldnt stay there due to it was a highway, and the second border was completely out of people. It had been actually raining for like an hour at that time, so I decided to go through Slovenia, just a small detour so that avoid the rain. They took another detour for me, while we had really good conversations, the guy lived in Mexico for a long time, hitchhiked there, also hitchhiked around Europe and is originally Hungarian, a polyglot, who gave me lots of useful advices about learning languages. We got there at 19:25 , I just went up on the right road, while the car started horning, I didnt really know whats going on, the question was “wohin?” I said “Zagreb, und sie?” “Skopje, durich Zagreb”. Cool ! Even though it took me around 9 hours to pass these fucking 200km, it was damn fun, we got to Zagreb at 20:30, the guy also took a little detour for me, so I could catch the bus to the city centre. Right now Im having really good time in Zagreb, soon Im gonna keep moving south, towards sunny Greece, maybe there the weather wont be killing me.

See ya later

by patrishnik at June 28, 2009 13:01

Wanderlust

Terveisiä teltasta

Ei ole parempaa paikkaa ja hetkeä kirjoittaa telttailun tunnelmasta, kuin yöllä kolmelta teltasta ukkosmyrskyn pauhaessa kovimmillaan yllämme.

Liftaaminen Liettuan maaseudulla yltää hauskimpiin liftauskokemuksiin ehdottomasti. Aloitin moottoritien laidalta Kaunasissa – kiellettyä, mutta poliisi ei välitä. Kun kyytini sitten jätti minut tienristeykseen maantiellä, josta minun tuli jatkaa kohti seuraavaa kylää, olin huuli pyöreänä. Siinä oli kapea hiekkatie, eikä autoja mennyt tiheään edes kurjakuntoisella maantiellä. Myöhemmin tie leveni ja kapeni taas, oli välillä päällystetty miten milloinkin, mutta kylät kylien jälkeen vain pienenivät. Kävelin lyhyitä matkoja ja liftasin samalla. Oli ihmisiä, joiden kanssa ei ollut mitään yhteistä kieltä. Työmiesten autoja ja yksi joka oli jostain syystä täynä kärpäsiä.

Lopulta päädyin viimeiseen kartalla näkyvään pieneen kylään ja sitten viimeisen kilometrin auton takakontissa matkaten (!) vanhalle maatilalle, jossa liftarimiitti olisi.

Pitkään täällä oli minun lisäkseni vain yksi ulkomaalainen – saksalainen mies, mutta tänään tuli yksi Kiinalainen ja pari saksalaista lisää. Kaikki eivät puhu englantia, mutta suurin osa jonkinmoista kuitenkin. Sellainen kotoisa fiilis tuli todella nopeasti. Se, kun voisi todeta, et enkö mä muka ole näitä ihmisiä aina tuntenut? Ihania persoonia. Liftarit ovat usein avarakatseisia ja sosiaalisia.

Huomenna suuntaan todennäköisesti Vilnaan, Liettuan pääkaupunkiin. En tiedä kauanko vietän siellä aikaa, mutta luultavasti ainakin pari-kolme päivää ennen Puolaan matkustamista.

by Mikael at June 28, 2009 01:13

June 26, 2009

Digihitch

Eurotrip 2009 Chapter One - Sprint To Vienna

So a friend of mine and I started traveling around Europe on the 24th of June from Sofia, Bulgaria. We reached the border very fast, then at the customs we had some problems.

June 26, 2009 14:21

Wanderlust

Liettuassa mies lakaisee katua

Olen parhaillaan Kaunasissa, Liettuassa ja taivas on pilvinen – on ollut jo monta päivää. Minulle nämä ovat kuitenkin ensimmäisiä pilviä, joita näen koko reissulla. Ilmeisesti vältin vain päivällä usean päivän rankat sateet. Puolassa taitaa olla tulvia.

Tänne liftaaminen Pärnusta Virosta kävi helposti. Kolmen lyhyen autokyydin jälkeen pääsin pitkästä aikaa istumaan rekan kyytiin. Rekan nuppi nimittäin, sehän on aivan mahtava paikka matkustaa.

Ilmastointi toimii, on tilaa sekä tietysti rekkakuski jolla on tarinoita kerrottavana ympäri maailman. Tämä Virolainen rekkakuski osasi Suomea, oli oppinut autolautalla duunissa. Sain kyydin 100km päähän Kaunasista. Rekoilla pääsee aina pitkälle. Myös Tallinnasta Pärnuun -kyydin kanssa juttelin Suomeksi. Virolaiset osaavat sitä usein paremmin kuin englantia. Tästä eteenpäin vain englantia ja paikallisia kieliä kiitos!

Kaunas on hämmentävän näköinen paikka. Niin suuri, mutta keskustassakin on paljon ränsistyneitä puutaloja. Vanhassa kaupungissa oli yhden huoneen baari, jossa vietettiin ilta/yö muutaman paikallisen kanssa. Sulkevat normaalisti yhdeltä, mutta baarimikko oli tuttu ja oltiin siellä kolmeen. Yöllä yhdessä kadunnurkassa lakaisi vanha mies roskia puuluudalla. Oli tehnyt samaa kellon tarkkuudella vuosia, kesät talvet.

Suuntaan seuraavaksi takaisin pohjoiseen keskelle Liettuan maaseutua, sinne liftaritapaamiseen telttailemaan. Paikka ei edes näy tiekartoissani. Viimeiset 2-5 kilometriä voivat mennä kävelyksi. Nyt aamupalaa, sitten liftaamaan.

by Mikael at June 26, 2009 08:22

June 25, 2009

Digihitch

First time hitch to the Twin Cities from Montana

I realize that this story is not that exciting, but it was my first and I'm mildly proud of how fast it went and how well I did given my handicap (I'm about 90% blind). I had been planning a hitchhiking trip to visit my friend Emily in the Twin Cities (Minnesota) for about a year. Here is some of what happened.

June 25, 2009 14:07

Whispering of the Stars

Adrift,



Still before midday, and five rides under my belt, inside my ears that ring from the bombardement of french tongues like lizards, I find a little path off the road that draws me into it, honey to a bear. On five hours sleep, walk is tough, my bag sinking into my feet.
There are times when instinct drowns all which surrounds, like the snake which insists to swallow everything in sight, everything; trees, houses, elephants, people...the thirty metre serpant that Apriliana met in her home village in Indonesia. Desires, often, do not just arise, there is a provocation, an alarm, a bomb of lust.
My skin, as of late, whenever touched, explodes with tingling meteor showers. Don`t tell anyone.
A scent...I drop my bag. Beside me, the path dances with wild strawberries. Hundreds of them. Juice dripping from my lips, my hands hands sticky, full of sweetness.
Later, in a field full of daisies and buttercups, entered by a little path wth a bridge created by pieces of wood, I lie and gaze at the sky quickly turning to dismal clouds again.There are times, living on little to nothing, that the senses roar. Lust is a moose on it`s hind legs in the autumn leaves. It will leave you behind in the snow to mate with only footprints left for you. No, not lust. A single touch is all that is needed.
Sing, blue bird, sing.
There are ninety nine names for God in Arabic; happiness, the one and only, the merciful, ending in the hundredth : God.

The roar of isolaton, how many days can you without eating? Half finished stories. Food enough to burst. French. Encore. The desolation of our generation, never has any society known the terrifying cult worshipped by modern civilisation, abjectly on its knees in front of the menacing spectre of nothingness. A firefly dying beside me in vermont, watching its light slowly burn out. Vague conversations with no roots. The old man who thought I was a girl. North carolina and the time with Teegan. Boston and the ugly mess of Mike and his mansion wielding father. The night in new hampshire with the mosquitos. Deborah and knives and rain and getting lost down old country roads. Stacking wood and clarity. Old dead words that never lead anywhere, never mean anything. How are you? My grave is well, thank you, sir. Food, oh food..bad wine. Dozens of dreams in one night.. Books. Wisdom. Growth. Wild plants. Forgetting the existence l`amour or anything close. Just forgetting. Even Kansas and the midwest and the bible belt whipped across my built. Immigration officers. New friends. The feeling of movement, crisp in the heart. Smiling, really smiling. Bangos by the bonfire.
Then be strong, be great, be energetic in everything you do.
Wild strawberries. And in this moment, it`s all that I could ever need.

June 25, 2009 04:03

It's me and you forever, little mouse.



I wake with the roosters. the seasick sadness I had from the previous night had slowly been peeled away by a vast array of dreams and the constant pattering of rain. crazed dreams, lifting me out of my slumber, a hanging man to a knife. my melancholy cities inside the guts, a catacomb of lust. moving again. everytime. my head starts to feel comfortable in where I rest, then I pick up and leave.
The last eight days were spent within the confines of a warm little web of people. ah, reveling in some hours of hard labour; stacking wood, turning soil, weeding, cleaning old rooms (and soviet money de 1961).

A woman named Deborah who took a liking to me and fed me in exchange for the work on the old school rooms, beating rugs till my arms felt like elastic and huge clouds of dust rising up into the late vermont evening. She criticised others with a kind of acid upon her tongue but everytime, I reeled her slowly back into stories of the former yugoslavia; to serbia and bosnia and the women there.
'No one could I find who didn't tell me stories of their husbands drinking, beating them, ridiculing them. No one. I wanted to write a book on them, not for fame or money, but just to write, to get it out into the world, a sort of layman's anthropological study. And no one knows anything about these worlds inside these countries, no one here, at least.
'They were so happy when I could communicate with them, so surprised that I knew serbian, oh it was the most amazing thing to see their eyes light up, as if making something impossible possible..a secret passage to the west, for they knew they could never learn english, the capacity wasn't inside them. So I listened to them, I took recordings, notes, photographs. And it was lost when my ex husband and I split up, and I moved from california out here.'
Most people that are isolated harden inside, go crazy, burn out fireflies that once lit the paths of all that they met. I meet so many on the road, so dysfunctional, entombed within their own sadness and stubborn prides and then it turns bitter, sour.
One night, I was supposed to leave the next day for quebec but I still hadn't had a phonecall I'd been waiting for, so would continue to stay on until the saturday, a day later. She had cooked me a special last meal and had put a lot of time into it. The feeling heaved inside me that she never got to cook for anybody else.
In walks Bruce, a man like a giant with strange hard eyes. He didn't believe I was from England due to my accent. Neither do I.
While we are eating, he speaks about the financial agreement of the depression and somesuch. Bullshit and I drink up my wellwater, and feign interest. I am a master at such things, I am sure. He hates the government with a passion and stomps upstairs once Deborah finds an opening to say a word.
Later we speak of euthanasia, of vegetables in old people's homes. I would hate to be so reliant on others and she feels the same. Bruce, the giant, storms in and overhears and demands that she shows us what she means. He draws a large cutting knife from a draw and shoves it into her hands.
'Show us, I want to see it right now, before it's too late and you have to go in a home yourself'
Shouting ensues. 'You nazi! You fascist! Denying people the right to live'
Again he draws out another knife, more aggressively this time and forces it into her hands.
My face loses all of it's blood. Where to, I wonder?

Later, I stand in the rain for the longest while, blood beating in my forehead, once again, gazing up into the dark night sky, shuddering.
Jill pulls up in her car and greets me with a hug, going for a swim in the process, my hoody drenched. She gives me a little soup and three books and sends me to her daughter's bed, who is away for the night.
I read about a caterpillar who gets tired of leaf nibbling and leaves his wonderful, friendly tree. He meanders in fields for a great while and despite finding everything extremely beautiful and breathtaking, it doesn't satisfy him. One day, he finds a tower of caterpillars.
'What is this?' he wonders, and what are they climbing towards?
So, he decides to climb. Whatever is up there must be worth it, he thinks to himself. But, he must climb upon the heads of others. He decides that to do this, he mustn't look into their eyes otherwise he would feel bad.
For a long while, he climbs and seems to make progress. Yet, he constantly wonders, what is up there, what if it's nothing? But, he climbs, regardless, because there must be something up there if there are so many others climbing. One time, he voices his thoughts outloud next to a yellow caterpillar. She replies with an affirmation that she too has the same doubts. He gazes at her, taken by her beauty and shuffles round her so as not to have to climb ontop of her. However, later on, he finds he has only the option of climbing on her to progress. He closes his eyes and clambers upon her head.
'Ouch! Come on..we don't have to do this..imagine the life we could lead together, in the fields, together, rubbing against eachother..just imagine!'
'You're right..how awful this existence this is..'
So, after a long while, they find their way down. At the bottom, three caterpillars have fallen, from the top, they say, and are on their last breaths. 'Butterflies..' one says, and collapses. They think little of it and are happy.
But both get restless again, yet the yellow female caterpillar convinces herself that it is all inside her, that they must persevere. The grey caterpillar listens and is convinced. However, it keeps coming back, and one day, the grey male caterpillar decides to go and climb the tower again. The female yellow caterpillar becomes so sad, but refuses to climb with him, to put herself through that again.
So the grey caterpillar climbs and climbs, this time more focused than ever, blinding himself to everyone else that climbs. What resilience! all the others think. He crushes the heads of others without thought. Eventually, he gets almost to the top and hears 'to get to the top, we must throw these off' and the sight of dozens falling to their deaths.
I can't live like this..nothing is worth that..he tells himself. Nothing.
Meanwhile, the yellow caterpillar has been wandering for many a day and comes across a tree with a caterpillar weaving a sort of cocoon.
'I don't know what will happen, but I must do this..I have heard stories about butterflies..maybe, just maybe..I can become one if I do this..I don't know why, but it just feels right..join me..what's the worst that can happen?'
So she does, and somehow, she builds her cocoon and after a while, out comes the most beautiful butterfly ever seen.
She flies straight to the tower and finds the grey caterpillar, nudges him and prods him with her wings, light upon his face. After a while, a shot of recognition fills him, and he understands everything.
I read this into the early hours of the morning under a small little light, calming my blood down, softening my breaths.

I have an internship, or at least, the very beginnings of one, nine hundred miles from here in some weeks, for self sufficiency and wilderness skills. I shall have a trial period. Dawn till dusk, four days a week, then three days of recuperation and learning new skills, working a little bit for a bottle of wine and to get home for christmas, perhaps. It lasts for a year, but these first few weeks will be vitally important.
O', such a change in direction!

June 25, 2009 01:39

June 24, 2009

Wanderlust

Juhannus kaupungissa

Juhannus tuli ja meni Suomessa sateisesti, mutta virolaisilla oli parempi sääonni. Juhannusta nimittäin vietetään täällä sen alkuperäisellä paikallaan 23. päivä. Tänäänkin on liputuspäivä, mutta ruokakaupat ovat jo auki. Taivas on ollut lähinnä sininen ja tuo tähtimollukka loisti lämpöään tyhjentyneeseen Tallinnaan. Koska kaikki olivat käytönnässä mökeillä ja lomalla, vietin ensimmäisen yön hostellissa vanhan kaupungin alueella. Ilmeisesti joukko reppureissaajia oli tykästynyt Tallinaan niin kovin, että olivat perustaneet hauskan ja persoonallisen hostellin. Tutustuin kaupungissa myös brazilialaiseen vaihtariin, jonka kanssa tutustuimme mm. mc donaldsin mystiseen maailmaan. Kaikki muut paikat kun olivat kiinni. Mäkki se vaan porskuttaa.

Tallinna muuttuu todella nopeasti. Vanhaa ränsistynyttä puretaan pois ja uutta kiiltävää rakennetaan tilalle. Ns. “kehitys” kulkee kulkuaan ja on vienyt mm. sympaattiset (ja ekologisetkin) trollikat pois katukuvasta, jos vertaan vuoteen 2007, jolloin kävin Tallinnassa ensimmäisen kerran. Tästä ei ole kauaakaan kun viimeksi täällä pyörin. Siispä ohitan Viron aika nopsaan ja siirryn etelämmäksi kohti Puolaa. Perjantaiksi suuntaan Liettuaan telttailemaan ja moikkaamaan muita liftareita; “hitchhikers gathering in Lithuania“.

Nyt nautin vielä vähän Pärnun ihanan pehmeästä hiekasta ja tunnelmasta, moro!

by Mikael at June 24, 2009 18:14

Hitchhiking is not a crime

Bratislava - Budapest

Here I am again. After a cool stay in Bratislava with Paul, a brief one (unfortunately) I keep on moving. At 15:40 I started asking around, and at 16:00 I got applied. We had to wait 40 minutes, because polish truck driver needed a break untill 16:40. Anyway, he brought me to the first gas station on the hungarian highway, where we arrived at 17:32. And this time I was really lucky, because the first person I asked gave me a lift - at 17:34. It was a young french guy, very friendly one. Also, it was a fast ride, it was around 170 km and we passed it by 18:50. Not that bad day though, another 200 km passed, Another one will probably be Zagreb, and probably on friday, but you never know ;)

by patrishnik at June 24, 2009 11:08

June 23, 2009

Hitch-Hiker's Travel Blog of India

Arriving in Varanasi


I felt I'd had enough of wandering on the small roads and the countryside, and the road towards Lucknow was the easiest to find, so I ended up heading from Lakhimpur to Lucknow and bypassing the big city by the ring road. In the night I ended up in some small village, with no place to stay, night falling and a crowd of curious people gathering around me. It didn't take long for the local police to take interest in me too - the policeman was kind enough to put me on the local India Oil petrol station and telling the workers there to 'take care of me'. I ended up sleeping on a bed brought specially for me on the front yard of the gas station, after having a dinner of a few mangos and some dahi (=curd, a youghurt-like indian milk preparation, a favorite of Lord Krishna). I also took a shower with the garden hose right on the front yard of the gas station in the night :D. I've slept around plenty of gas stations before (while hitching in Europe), but never was I treated this kindly by the workers - they would give me the office for preparing and offering the foodstuffs for the Lord and in general looked after all of my needs :).

A bit after Lucknow I saw two of the most amazing old temples I've seen on this trip. It was a Vishnu temple built about 120 years ago, and next to it a Shiva temple, appearing a bit older. Both were practically abandonded, there seemed to be a few devotees living in the Vishnu temple, but clearly the days of their glory were long gone for both of the temples. It was an amazing oppoturnity to feel the vibes in these deserted temples and take some great photos (will post later).


The next day I went on in the direction of Varanasi, going direct and skipping Allahabad (wich I've heard also has strong spiritual energy). The day was full of sweating in the roadside and sitting on motorbikes - somehow I felt a bit more uncomfortable with it than usual, maybe because I didn't do my usual sadhana (=spiritual practices) in the morning since I had no suitable place in the gas station. The following night I ended up sleeping at a roadside dhaba (=restaurant, with a few beds too, but no rooms) and taking a bath from the water tank. I'll post a photo of one of these public bathing facilities wich you see all around india - basically it's a concrete tank full of water and you take a cup and pour the water on yourself while standing near the tank. Sometimes there would be a half a dozen people washing up at the tank simultaneously (and everybody would show amazement to see a foreigner among them).

Today I started from the dhaba, hitched for around 4 hours (starting at around 6, arriving at ten) and ended up in Varanasi, a big city, without a clue where to go or how to find accomodation or anything. I felt that time it would be a good idea to go for the train station and at the station I met some fellow travellers, four backpackers from Spain looking to stay in Varanasi for 3 days. After two of them went through some of the ticket-office bureucracy while I chatted with the other two, we shared a autorickshaw and set off in a search of a good guest house. After checking out three, wich all were turned down by them (being too expensive or not comfortable) we found the perfect place, on a quiet alley, with a courtyard garden and reasonable prices (100 rupees for me, 300 for them).

I've been on a fruit fast for the past couple of days and I feel it slowly taking effect, feeling more 'ethereal' than usual and more sensitive to movements of Prana(the life energy, also called Chi by the chinese). Taking only fruits and Dahi also keeps me more energetic in the extremely hot (30-35 degrees Celsius) weather - and I have the feeling taking anything heavier would cause trouble with my stomach. The good side about this 'fast' is that I can go on virtually as long as I will - there's a great variety of delicious fruits and combined with Dahi they'll contain all the nutrients necessary for me. I still wonder about salt - I lose a lot of salt by sweating, and I'm not sure if I get enough of it from the fruits and dahi to replenish.

Now it'll be only a few more days in India, as on 2th of July my visa to India will be finished and I'll have to head for Nepal before that. I have a wish of going from Nepal to Tibet, to visit mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva, but it really depends on the mercy of the Lord. Sometimes it's a lot of red tape before getting a visa to Tibet - although I heard some babas (=religious renunciates) cross the border illegally on their pilgrimages and the chinese government isn't apparently really interested... Well, I'll soon find out all about that :D.

I plan to stay in Varanasi for about a week to visit all the most important temples and ghats and get few days of good concentration on my Sadhana. I'm so happy the Lord provided me with this guest house (I could've just ended up not finding any nice place, it's a BIG city and hard to find the few good and affordable guesthouses) wich is excellent facilities for recovering from the few rough days of travelling and doing some sadhana.


Hari Om!

by M at June 23, 2009 15:14

After Rishikesh

I had a tempting offer while still in Rishikesh, but already packed and resolved to go on that day - a tourist cab driver gave me a ride and on hearing that I travel around by hitchhiking, he offered his hospitality at Rudrapryag, a small town between Badrinath and Rishikesh. I had to say no, since I was decided on heading towards Varanasi. He also told me of some religious community in Rishikesh where he knows the Swamiji running it and told me I could probably stay there for free - another tempting offer. I took his contact info, just in case I'll be heading back to Rishikesh later :).

I left Rishikesh in the direction of Haridwar and ended up sitting on a motorbike for most of the day. A bit after Haridwar a real estate broker from the countryside offered his hospitality to me and I ended up going a few kilometers from the main road to his village, crossing through beautiful and peaceful dense forest area. It was nice to make a little detour to the countryside.

The next day I went on and yet again the Lord would shower his mercy on me - A steel dealer gave me a ride from where I started to Sitarganj. This ride was exceptionally full of mercy since the distance covered was a few hunder kilometers, MUCH longer than I would usually go in one ride in India. As he was a business representative he was also busy getting from one place to another as fast as possible, wich made me cover much more distance on this day. On top of that, the car had _air_conditioning_, something I almost never see in India (and also something I'm really aching for on the hot days :D). From Sitarganj I turned south, heading for Pilibhit and stopped for the night in a small Gurudwara (Sikh temple).

Day after that I went on until Lakhimpur, a bit bigger town, from wich there's a bigger road to Lucknow (major city in the area, with direct highway connection to Varanasi). I had left the major highways when I took the steel dealer's ride all the way to Sitarganj and went on the smaller roads from there on. Right now I'm still in Lakhimpur, as I ended up staying here (in a Gurudwara, again) for two nights and spending yesterday fixing my backpack.

In here the Gurudwara is right next door to a Mataji (Mother Goddess, Durga, Kali) temple and last night I went for the Arati ceremony there. Mataji is one of the major deities in the Hindu religion, the giver and taker of life and the shakti (the energy or power) of the Lord. Also Kundalini, the potential power of humans normally residing at the lower end of the spine, is seen as feminine, and raising her through the six Chakras (=energy centers of the body) along the spine to the top of the head, to the seat of Sadasiva, is seen as the goal of Yogic practices and perfection in some schools of Yoga. I've just started to read a good book on Kundalini Yoga (Yoga aiming to raise the Kundalini) by Swami Sivananda. Later I'll post some links for all of the ebooks I've read on this trip.


Today I'll be leaving Lakhimpur, but I'm still a bit undecided on the direction - and also I haven't got any idea where to find a spot for hitching, a common challenge for a hitchhiker trying to get out of a bigger town. I guess I'll go in the direction towards wich I'll find the spot :D.

by M at June 23, 2009 15:13

Rishikesh

I absolutely loved Rishikesh. Many things for wich I was longing in Badrinath were easily available - such as fresh, juicy and affordable fruits, internet cafes and a well-stocked general store, all just around the corner from where I was staying. I could also get a couple of more hard to find things, a tripod for my camera and a proper yoga mat (believe it or not, a good yoga mat is hard to find in most places in India! The rare locals who do yoga usually do it on a blanket). I stayed in Lakshmanjhula, near Tapovan, on the same side of Ganga as the center of Rishikesh. Most of the foreigners - and therefore also most of the shopping inferno and hawkers - are situated on the other side of the river in Lakshmanjhula, not far away to visit but just far enough to give me a peace of my own :). I absolutely loved the family with whom I was staying, they were kind and helping me out in every way. The mother of the family was happy to cook for as she was cooking for the family, so I would get indian home-made food whenever I liked.

Later I discovered there's also an Iskcon temple called Madhuban in Rishikesh, about 1km from the center, between the center and Ramjhula. Iskcon also has Govinda's (restaurant), serving a great buffet for 150 rupees (about 2,5 euros). I was super happy about this - the Lord really knows my heart and fulfills all my wishes :). When I was leaving Badrinath the Lord did one of his lilas (plays) on me, as my trousers 'disappeared' when I was bathing in the Tapta Kund (holy thermal pond in Badrinath) and with the trousers went my Japa Mala (=prayer beads). Madhuban also had an answer to this trouble of mine, being the only place in Rishikesh where you can get big size original Vrindavan Tulsi (=a holy tree) beads.

One of my favorite places in Rishikesh was a small and quiet beach on the Ganga, also quite near to the place where I was staying. Near to this beach in the forest - or should I say the bushes - there was a Kutir (=small shack or cottage) of a baba (=a religious renunciate) and I ended up going to the beach just about every day and also visiting the babaji often. Near the beach there was also a sweet small island on the Ganga, close enough to cross over to by swimming and with a big cliff, ideal for jumping to Ganga.

I also had a couple of amazing, relaxing ayurvedic massages at Rishikesh. Generally Rishikesh seems to be a 'wellness' destination of India, having all sorts of ayurvedic treatments and a good selection yoga classes available. On the Ganga I saw some not so wellness-oriented tourists also - it's popular to go rafting or kayaking on the Ganga or trekking around Rishikesh.

One day I took a small hike to a nearby waterfall, under wich there's a water tank in wich you can go swimming. It was a nice walk and a nice place to swim, the surroundings of the waterfall being beautifully green and the water being nice and warm for even a longer stay in the pond under the fall.


One of the most profound experiences in Rishikesh came through a couple of books. Firsty I read Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramahamsa Yogananda. His autobiography inspired me to do more vigorous sadhana (=spiritual practice) and also gave me a good amount of knowledge of the astral body and the astral world. I truly recommend this book to everyone, even if you're not of spiritual bend, it'll read like a thriller, full of wonders.

The other book was even more profound and enlightening, The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. Eckhart Tolle has made an amazingly simple and powerful representation of God-consiciousness and God-realisation. This also I would recommend to everyone, even those not interested in spirituality, as Tolle doesn't much speak about God and even less of religion, just about how to be more present in where you are right now and how to be more consicious of everything.

I'm sorry there's no photos from Rishikesh. It's a beautiful place, but I was more concentrated on experiencing the beauty rather than documenting it.

by M at June 23, 2009 15:13

Cee trampt

Berlin-Schweiz, Juni 09

Montagmorgen, 06 Uhr 45, Raststätte Grunewald in Berlin. Ziel heute: Bis am Mittag auf der Raststätte Fränkische Schweiz/ Pegnitz sein, dort die Freundin die von Polen hertrampt treffen und dann mit ihr zusammen in die Schweiz zurückfahren.

Auf Grunewald ist sehr sehr wenig los um diese Uhrzeit. Dafür hat es auch keine anderen Tramper. Alle paar Minuten fährt ein Auto auf die Autobahn. Auf der Tankstelle ist niemand. So warte ich bei der Auffahrt mit A9-Schild. Nach einer Viertelstunde nimmt mich einer mit. Er ist sehr wortkarg und kann mich bis zum Rasthof Fläming bringen - also nur paar km nach Berlin.. immerhin aus der Stadt raus. Fläming ist doof um bei der Auffahrt zu stehen, weil die Leute von der Tankstelle schon weit vorher auf einer Einzelspur fahren und direkt auf die Autobahn rasen können. Also laufe ich zur Tankstelle und spreche paar Leute an, aber alle sind missmutig drauf oder fahren nicht in meine Richtung. Nach etwa einer halben Stunde kann mich einer bis zur nächsten Raststätte, Köckern, bringen. Immerhin! Er besitzt seit 20 Jahren ein Geschäft für Elektroinstallationen in Grimma bei Leipzig, seine Freundin ist Ärztin in Berlin und hat sozusagen nie frei. In Köckern warte ich dann nur fünf bis zehn Minuten, dann hält eine Frau an, tatsächlich eine Frau! Sie fährt bei Hof auf die A72, kann mich also bis Frankenhöhe mitnehmen, was schon ein ziemliches Stück südwärts ist. Sie ist Ernährungsassistentin, also zuständig für die Diätmenus in Spitälern. Jede Woche fährt sie zwischen Düsseldorf, Berlin und Bayern herum.. Sie erzählt mir, dass sie ständig länger arbeiten muss und dass schon zwei Wochen Ferien ein Problem seien. Wenn sie aber mehr Freizeit verlangen würde oder ihrem Chef sagen würde, dass sie auch noch leben möchte, nicht nur arbeiten, dann riskierte sie ihre Stelle.. Auch sonst seien alle extrem unter Druck. Was bei ihnen Reinigungskräfte verdienen, sichere kaum das Existenzminimum, aber die Firma könne schlichtweg nicht mehr bezahlen wegen dem ganzen Konkurrenzkampf. Hmm.. fast jede Fahrerin, fast jeder Fahrer erzählt mir solche Sachen. Dass sie arbeiten bis zum umfallen und sich nicht getrauen, sich zu wehren, weil es schon ein Wunder ist dass sie diese Stelle bekommen haben.

In Frankenhöhe steige ich aus und muss nicht mal fünf Minuten warten. Schon hält ein Ehepaar an, das nach Nürnberg fährt. Ich muss ja nur noch eine Raststätte weiter, weil ich dort die Freundin aus Polen treffe. Diverse Staus und Unfälle habe ich heute schon hinter mir. Nun fahren wir die A9 runter. Plötzlich befielt das GPS, auf die A70 abzubiegen, wegen Baustelle und Stau. Meine Fahrer würden auch so nach Nürnberg kommen - ich aber würde sowohl die Raststätte Fränkische Schweiz verpassen wie auch sonst ein Problem bekommen, da auf der A70 über Erlangen keine Raststätte mehr kommt bis Nürnberg. Ein innerlicher Panikanflug.. Zum Glück sehen sie meine Lage und erbarmen sich. Bei jeder Ausfahrt macht die GPS-Stimme einen auf Terror, aber sie fahren stur geradeaus. Da wahrscheinlich die meisten Autos auf die A70 gefahren sind (es haben ja praktisch alle GPS) haben wir nun auch keinen Stau. Sehr schön. Punkt 12 (!) bin ich auf der Raste Fränkische Schweiz. Meine Freundin ist erst gerade in Dresden losgefahren und wird so in anderthalb Stunden da sein.

Kurz nach halb 2 kommt sie dahergefahren - mit einem Fahrer, der bis Karlsruhe fährt!! Er ist superlieb, wir unterhalten uns blendend, und einige Stunden später steigen wir in Karlsruhe aus.

Wieder an der Ausfahrt, mit CH- und Basel-Schild, hält nach zehn Minuten ein Auto mit Berner Kennzeichen an. Es ist ein Pianobauer und -händler, im Auto läuft wunderschöne Klaviermusik. Er weiht uns in die geheimnisvolle Welt des Klavierbaus ein, ausführlich aber zum Glück interessant. 50km vor Bern steigen wir aus, auf der Raststätte Deitingen, in der Hoffnung, bald nach Biel mitgenommen zu werden. Tatsächlich hält nach 20min eine Frau an, die uns nach Biel bringt. Um 21 Uhr sind wir da.

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by cee at June 23, 2009 09:15

Schweiz-Berlin, Juni 09

Freitagmorgen, 06 Uhr. Nach zweieinhalb Stunden nehmen wir (eine Freundin und ich) den Bus zur Autobahnauffahrt Richtung Solothurn/Basel. Um halb 7 stehen wir dort, zehn Minuten später fahren wir schon mit einem jungen Türken mit, der in die Umgebung Basel fährt, aber leider kurz vor der Raststätte Pratteln abbiegt. So steigen wir bereits kurz nach Solothurn auf der Raststätte Deitingen aus. Wir stellen uns bei der Auffahrt hin mit Basel- und “D”-Schild. Es hat wenige Autos und die meisten fahren nach Zürich oder sind schon voll (Firmen-Kleinbusse etc.). Neben uns parkiert ein Schweinetransporter… ein LKW mit zwei Geschossen, alles voller armer Schweine unterwegs zum Schlachthof.. wir beschliessen, nie mehr Schinken zu essen. Endlich, nach etwa einer Viertelstunde, hält ein deutscher Kleinbus. Vorne neben dem Fahrer hat es noch zwei Sitze, allerdings ist alles komplett vermüllt… Der Fahrer schnappt sich erstmal eine Mülltüte und füllt diese mit dem ganzen Abfall… dann gehts los zur Raststätte Pratteln.

In Pratteln wieder mit Daumen. Irgendwie kein Bock auf Leute ansprechen an der Tankstelle, und ausserdem ist der Parkplatz vom Restaurant sehr voll; die wollen wir nicht alle verpassen. Nach etwa 20 Minuten hält ein chicer Wagen an: Der Fahrer muss nach Köln und kann uns bis zur Raststätte Bruchsal, also kurz bevor es von der A5 auf die A6 geht, mitnehmen! Hurra! Er macht Notstromsysteme und hat den Kofferraum voller Werkzeuge und Geräte, die er nicht deklarieren mag… über die Grenze mit einem entspannten Lächeln und den ID’s in der Hand… geschafft. Er bietet uns von seinem Sandwich an. Schinkensandwich. Der Hunger siegt..

In Bruchsal hält schon nach wenigen Minuten ein Auto mit rotem Händlerkennzeichen. “Nürnberg?” - “Ja, Nürnberg, da fahr ich hin”. Kaum sind wir eingestiegen stellt sich heraus, dass er überhaupt nicht nach Nürnberg fährt, sondern nur etwa 70km in diese Richtung und dann auf die A7 und A3 wechselt. Er empfielt uns wärmstens, mit ihm mitzufahren, so komme man auch nach Berlin und Polen. Theoretisch ist das auch möglich, aber erstens haben wir schon zweimal den Fehler gemacht und auf Fahrer gehört (wir erinnern uns: Egerkingen), und zweitens fängt unser Fahrer dann an, gegen die Türken zu wettern und Ausländer allgemein. So steigen wir auf der ersten Raststätte auf der A6 wieder aus.

Es ist wenig bis nichts los, vereinzelt fahren Autos an uns vorbei, zeigen uns aber mit Handzeichen, dass sie auf die A81 nach Stuttgart fahren.. Nach einer knappen halben Stunde kommt ein Auto mit italienischem Kennzeichen und drei Leuten drin dahergefahren - und hält an! Gottseidank sprechen sie französisch, es sind zwei Französinnen und ein Franzose, sehr nette Menschen! Und sie fahren nach Leipzig - perfekt! Die nächsten paar Stunden verbringen wir mit ihnen, inkl. eine Stunde Mittagspause.. na gut.. immerhin haben wir uns in dieser Pause umgeschaut und niemanden gefunden für uns. Nach Nürnberg, auf dem Rasthof Fränkische Schweiz, steigt meine Freundin um, weil sie nach Polen fährt. Sie ist innert weniger Minuten weg und kommt mit zwei Autos und insgesamt 10 Minuten Wartezeit bis Wroclaw. Ich fahre weiter mit den Franzosen bis kurz vor Leipzig.

Dort auf der Raststätte warte ich wieder an der Auffahrt, mit Berlin-Schild. Lastwagen halten an und bieten mir an, mich zum Berliner Ring mitzunehmen. Da lehne ich dankend ab; ich kann mir nicht vorstellen dass jemand der/die nach Berlin fährt, einige km vor der Stadt nochmal auf ner Raststätte anhält. Dann kommt ein kleiner Transporter mit russischem Kennzeichen gefahren und hält an. Ich: “Berlin?” - Er: “Berlin!”. Ich steige ein, ohne sicher zu gehen, dass er auch wirklich die STADT Berlin meint. Er ist ein ganz junger Russe mit Flaum auf der Oberlippe, und er scheint sich riesig zu freuen, mich mitnehmen zu können. Obwohl er NUR russisch spricht und ich gar nicht, versuchen wir uns zu unterhalten. Er schenkt mir ein Russland-Wimpel und weissrussisches Geld (ein ganzes Bündel davon). Leider habe ich aber auch herausgefunden, dass er tatsächlich nur über den Ring fährt und weiter nach Polen-Belarusia. Ausserdem fährt er nur 85km/h. Die nächste Raststätte kommt in ca. 50km… Ich habe mein Tramper-Vokabular für osteuropäische Sprachen dabei, aber als ich ihm einen russischen Satz vorlese, versteht er mich nicht.. Mist, ich weiss nicht wie hier die Aussprache gedacht ist. Ich versuche ihm zu zeigen, dass ich auf der nächsten Raststätte rauswill. Er scheint es nicht zu verstehen, ich wollte doch nach Berlin??? Aber natürlich hält er dann an, wenn auch traurig. Die Raststätte Köckern ist die zweitletzte vor dem Berliner Ring, mitten im Nirgendwo und ohne grossen Betrieb. Die Tankstelle ist leer, der Parkplatz verwaist.. es weht ein starker Wind und wird schon Abend.. Mist. Aber schon das dritte Auto - mit Berliner Kennzeichen! - hält an. Es ist ein Vater mit Sohn in meinem Alter, sie würden mich in die Stadt fahren, müssen aber vorher in ihr Dorf 20km neben Berlin ein paar Sachen ausladen. Whatever, ich steige ein und fahre mit ihnen dahin. Sie sind super, wir unterhalten uns bestens über fast alles. Der Vater erklärt mir auch, dass er nach einigen negativen Erfahrungen mit Trampern eigentlich keine mehr mitnimmt. Welche negativen Erfahrungen? Das sind: Eine junge Frau, die sich sofort nach dem Einsteigen auf dem Rücksitz hinlegt und schläft und erst wieder erwacht, um auszusteigen. Ein junger Mann, der Selbstmordabsichten hegt, diese mitteilt und die ganze Fahrt seinen Depressionen freien Lauf lässt. Zwei Polinnen, die kein Wort deutsch sprechen und ihn deswegen nicht unterhalten /wachhalten können. Ich gebe mein Bestes und frage ihn über sein Leben und Geschäft aus, mache bewundernde Zwischenbemerkungen, erkundige mich über die Gegend und lobe die Landschaft. Aber sie sind wirklich nett. Ich kriege einen Apfelsaft und sie fahren mich in halb Berlin herum bis vor die Haustür meiner Freundin.

Um 06.30 Uhr los, 1′040km Fahrt, 20.30 in Berlin.

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by cee at June 23, 2009 08:27

Whispering of the Stars

delicate little hands,

An old man picked me up today and despite my long unshaved beard and my rugged misdemeanor, was convinced I was female.
'You are...a good old girl, I can just tell'..he tells me..'do write me a letter once you get back to england'. He gives me a letter head with his name underlined. 'I probably wont write back', he drawls, 'I'm not really able to write so well..but it would be wonderful, just wonderful to hear from you, particularly in our deep, deep winter..'
And off he went, to tend to his tomato plants, fifteen hours a day, pickling wild fern heads until the early hours and gazing up at the sky, wondering when itll open on up. But, he told me, he was in love with his land and nothing could ever take him away from it.
That's pretty rare, in this world.

June 23, 2009 03:57

Hitchhiking is not a crime

Beginning of the trip - Bartoszyce - Krakow

Right, after the school ceremony ended and I got my di ploma I paced to the hitchhiking spot. Started at 11:05. 23 minutes of waiting and here’s the first ride - an old guy decided to detour around 50 km just to bring me 100 km further, to Olsztynek. We arrived at 13:10 and 5 minutes later I got my another ride to Mlawa. It was a young guy playing in a philharmony. We got there at 13:56 and 4 minutes later I noticed someone greeting me from the car, and a minute later a cellphone rang. It turned out that my friend just passed me and was going the same direction so he turned around and picked me up. They brought me just to the highway A4, where from it was just 60 km from Krakow, so basically I got around 350km ride. They let me out at 19:50 and after 5 minutes a young guy stopped and brought me to Krakow, where we arrived at 21:00

About photos, Im not uploading them right now, after the whole trip I will put them into my blog (expect them in the beginning of September though)

by patrishnik at June 23, 2009 01:06

Krakow - Budapest (?)

Right, unlucky day had to come, even though recent days werent lucky too, but this one was… how do you call it… oh yea, it was just fucked up. Krakow- Budapest is like 350km, so it looked like an easy task. I started at 11:28, was constantly raining, first ride after 24 minutes just 60 km further. In Rabka Zdroj 4 minutes waiting and I got another ride, unfortunately just 15 km further. At that place, I had to wait over an hour, I would like to highlight again that it had been still raining. Finally I got a ride, I thought, Slovakia at last ? Of course not, 20 km further with an old guy, who had so sad sense of humour. After 20 minutes walking in direction of the border an old guy took me to the last petrol station in Poland. From that place I got a ride after 14 minutes, a young guy from Slovakia took me to the first town in Slovakia. Even though I got advices on avoiding this country and trying to cross the whole area by one car I went there, and it didnt pay off, because the next car that pulled over made me stay in a warm place after 1 hour and 10 minutes. A young guy from Slovakia who was making horribly-pathetic jokes (again) took me to Zilina. After 15 minutes I asked a young couple from Bratislava for a ride and they agreed. I arrived to Bratislava, here the nightmare began. It was 20:25 when I arrived, first I was hanging around the petrol station looking for a ride, approximately at 21:00 Slovakian driver called me and asked me if I need a lift, I asked where, he said next petrol station, I agreed. Unfortunately we missed the petrol station and he dropped me in the middle of the area where 2 highways are crossing. At that time it was already raining so hard that it was impossible to get harder rain. After 2 hours of carrying my rucksack, being totally wet I went to the city centre, still with hope that someone can provide me with simple information ‘where the hell is the entrace of the highway?’. Anyway, after some time I gave up, found the closest hostel, like always, without the money, asking for help. Very kind service in hostel - Pedro  (thank you for help) first let me surf the internet, then he tried to call his GF if I can crash on his couch for just one night. Unfortuantely it didnt work, but I wrote the last minute couch request on Bratislava’s forum and it worked, the guy contacted me.

Right now Im sitting in a warm place, drying my clothes. I havent got a single thing thats dry in my backpack, including mattreess, sleeping bag and so on and so on.

Okey, its all about complaining, just wanted to share the actual feelings with you guys. Tomorrow going to Budapest and hoping for some fast hitches which I really need now.

More to come

Over and out

by patrishnik at June 23, 2009 01:05

June 22, 2009

RoadNotes

cee:

Gerade pause in hohenlohe, mit fahrer. Er bringt uns bis rasthof bruchsal, A5. von dort in die schweiz wird dann schnell gehen, hoffentlich!

June 22, 2009 13:35

Wanderlust

Tästä asti aikaa

Lokikirjaan merkitään: on matka alkanut.

by Mikael at June 22, 2009 12:05

RoadNotes

cee:

Uff! GPS will alle autos von A9 runterlotsen auf die A70. Meine netten fahrer sind zum glück geblieben, bin jetzt auf rasthof fränkische schweiz.

June 22, 2009 10:07

cee:

Mit netter frau an diversen unfällen vorbei bis frankenwald bei hof gekommen. Eine raststätte weiter treff ich ne freundin, die von polen hertrampt.

June 22, 2009 08:56

cee:

06.45 uhr in berlin grunewald. Nach 15min lift bis fläming, wieder nach 15min nach köckern, oberhalb leipzig... Wo ist mein auto in den süden?

June 22, 2009 06:42

Digihitch

Road to Madness

This is a really bad story with lots of holes, I hope some of my others will be more complete. I first started travelling and in turn hitchhiking in the summer of '06. It was an awesome 6 months of my life and the biggest most life changing I've ever gone through. But my story doesn't have to do with that. My story has to do with one day a year later.

June 22, 2009 02:09

June 21, 2009

Wanderlust

Pakattu – check

Noniin, nyt on pakattu. Huomenna (ma 22.6.) suunta kohti etelää. Ensin yö Helsinki cityssä ystävän luona, sitten tiistaina Tallinnaan. Nyt istun alas ja pohdin hetken, voisinko jättää jotain vielä pois. Sillä haluaisin rinkkaa vähän kevyemmäksi, vaikkei tuo millään muotoa eeppisen painava ole.

Man sieht sich!

by Mikael at June 21, 2009 23:20

Bad News

Kto w Moskwe ne bywal, krasoty ne widal!

English below Wer nie in Moskau war, hat nichts Schönes gesehen! - Russisches Sprichwort Wohin, ja wohin die Reise geht. Am kommenden Montag, dem 29. Juni auf jeden Richtung Osten. Soweit wie möglich, natürlich. Das Visum für die Russische Föderation klebt fein säuberlich im Pass, und auch irgendein Registrationsbeweis ist angehängt worden, natürlich auf Russisch, damit man auch ja [...]

by platschi at June 21, 2009 11:59

June 20, 2009

RoadNotes

Robino:

Had to change at petrol st and were picked up in 5mins. We r in centre now, far away frm th party-park, a spot we were be4 wth t car but we didnt know, argh. :)

June 20, 2009 22:00

Robino:

So just when th third team arrived in utreg, we were picked by a couple in a van going to another midsumr party in den bosch. Mmm :)

June 20, 2009 20:24

Digihitch

My first hitch - Owensboro, Kentucky

It's June 16th and 9:45 in the morning and I'm standing on 60 where it meets 231 on the west side of Owensboro, Ky. The guy at the gas station told me it was a straight shot to Henderson where I could catch 41 north and into my hometown. Which was true, however, also passes through six small towns in about 27 miles before getting there... I should have been on 54.

June 20, 2009 19:59

RoadNotes

Robino:

Last team out of four teams to get to utrecht. Walking down on th jan galenstraat in amdam! Up to t midsummer party :)

June 20, 2009 19:52

Digihitch

My First Time - Mexico with Rulo (Part 1)

Part 1 of my first ever hitchhiking trip.

June 20, 2009 19:35

RoadNotes

Güpy:

Auf der rückfahrt von paris nach berlin im 4. Und letzten auto kommen gerade an hannover vorbei

June 20, 2009 15:07

Fabzgy's Life

Back from vacation

The last few weeks have been really important to recharge some energy.

In the end of May I ve hitchhiked from Stuttgart to the Berlin Beach Camp and met plenty of beautifull people there. Lots of them I knew from other gatherings, from Costa Rica or other occasions but I ve met as well new people. It s ever again an awesome experience to participate in the Berlin Beach Camp.

After the camp me and a group of ex-Costa Rica students stayed for one night at a friends place in the south of Berlin from where I hitchhiked with Rafa to Leipzig. The first time I visited a city in the former German Democratic Republic.

On Thursday I ve finally hitchhiked back to Freiburg because I had to catch the plane to Morocco.
There I ve spent 12 relaxing days with two friends from Freiburg. It s been quite a bit different to travel with other people. I can say that I pretty enjoyed not to take every decision by myself.

We read, ate, hiked and dreamed a lot in Morocco - the perfect time to relax and build up some motivation for University, activism, etc.

So now we are back - lets get things done!

by fabzgy at June 20, 2009 09:01

June 19, 2009

RoadNotes

cee:

Nach 14 stunden (inkl umwegen, pausen) in berlin angekommen!

June 19, 2009 18:48

cee:

Mit zwe echten berlinern, vater und sohn, unterwegs in die stadt. Hinten im auto haben sie selbstgebrautes bier! Ich hoffe auf ein geschenk..

June 19, 2009 16:50

cee:

190km vor berlin. Bei jungem russe eingest., wir haben keine gemeins. sprache, aber ansch. fährt er nur an berlin vorbei. Also bei raste köckern raus.. In 40km.

June 19, 2009 15:51

cee:

Von bruchsal auf die A6 mit fremdenfeindl. Typen, drum in kraichgau wieder raus. 20min warten, jetzt mit 3 supernetten französinnen bis nürnberg, ev. Leipzig!

June 19, 2009 10:19

cee:

Heute biel CH -berlin. 06.30 los, mit 2 autos bis pratteln bei basel. Jetzt in BMW unterwegs zum rasthof bruchsal. Yes!

June 19, 2009 06:29

June 17, 2009

Digihitch

Why bus travel is way more interesting in Colombia

Road travel is a little bit more interesting in Colombia than in the US. I've been on various buses for about 3 days now and seen a little bit of everything.

June 17, 2009 18:57

Hitchhiking is not a crime

Old and young thing

This is not meant to make you older or younger. This is not meant to offend you, nor to insult you. I’m just making some statistics for hitchhiking and one of them is an age of people picking me up, and I’ve created groups of ‘old’ people - above 30, and ‘young’ people, below 30.

Over and out

Patryk

by patrishnik at June 17, 2009 11:23

RoadNotes

n0id:

FL - Laggo di garda in 2 lifts, back to munic worst trip 12h, now back home

June 17, 2009 08:13

June 16, 2009

Whispering of the Stars

working the bloodclots right out of existence

all of this restlessness...confusion...the loss of instinct, the forgetting of how good you can be to other people...all this movement, travel...these battered wings flapping to another place, another bed for the night. The sharp pains of loneliness, the stamina needed to gut out all what is vital, what gleams beyond the shit of wasted words, conversations, days, weeks; the lackster eyes, killing time, the kind of interactions that make you feel like you'll waste away just being within them, observing them, breathing fire in the antarctic.
yet all of it has been and is necessary. It may be hard now but we are very, very strong. The moments of clear insight, truth, honesty...real movement. Drink from these, they will remain inside you for the rest of your days.
on friday, I got a ride by two guys in a pickup truck. almost immediately, they asked if I had a place to crash. no, not at all. they took me back to a commune of sorts, but forty years later, more a neighbourhood of good people living off the grid. here I have been ever since, getting to know everybody, working the bloodclots right out of existence, a party with a bonfire and wine. my plans to go south have evaporated so I will head north to the border, my visa expires on the 24th and I best pass in good time just in case a leg of mine falls off or some such perculiar incidents may occur, which they always do when you're about to be deported.
a moose. my first ever.
fresh water from the well, from the mountains. mountain fog in the mornings.
a curry in exchange for the work I did in the barn, which hadn't been cleaned out in decades. freshly made pizza on sunday night, so good for the stomach. today, stacking wood. who could ever imagine that there is a special technique to this?
it feels so good to be here.
an unexpected turn of events will take me back to the lands I just came from once my visa is renewed, south south south.

June 16, 2009 23:08

Wanderlust

Hyvin tiivistetty

STT teki taannoin juttua liftauksesta ja toimittaja haastatteli vähän minuakin. Juttua on nyt julkaistu siellä täällä, esimerkiksi Kalevassa, Promenadissa sekä Itä-Savossa. Pohjolan Sanomissa 16.6. juttu oli myös avausaukeamalla. Juttu on minusta erinomainen tiivistys liftauksen iloista.

Jutussa mainittu liftauswiki on hitchwiki ja blogi tietysti tämä nimenomainen.

Joskus aiemmin jutun liftauksesta kirjoitti myös Tamperelainen Utain.

by Mikael at June 16, 2009 23:07

Digihitch

First Long Distance Trip Part VI - From Hell to Utah

After what seemed to be an hour (though I know it was less), the Wyoming State boy ran my ID and asked me a bunch of questions that I forget. I was nervous, having just been released from jail in Florida and not wanting to find out what Wyoming jails were like.

June 16, 2009 10:41

June 15, 2009

Hitch-Hiker's Travel Blog of India

Rishikesh and beyond

I'll write a longer post about Rishikesh and things wich happened here later. Now just a short one to notify I'm leaving Rishikesh, after about 3 weeks of staying. I really loved the place, went swimming in the Ganga almost every day.

Next I'm heading (if the Lord be merciful on me :) to Varanasi.

Oh, and please do write comments! Or mail me at speedhawk (at) q-olio.net


Hari Om!

by M at June 15, 2009 08:37

Wanderlust

Suomalaista sielunmaisemaa

2009-06-13 MökilläOltiin jätkien kanssa mökillä. Kalastettiin, vaan kalaa ei tullut, koska siis: eihän me osata. Tuli rankkasade ja valtava ukkosmyrsky melkein päälle. Se on ihan mahtavaa, kun kaikki on ihan mustan pimeetä ja myrsky kattaa taivaalle kirkkaat salamat aina hetkeksi loistamaan. Vähän niinku diskossa sellane strobo, mutta sitten siinä sun vieressä kasvaakin mänty. Mökin turvassa saattoi sitten tehdä lettuja kaasuliedellä ja unohtaa äijäilyn, joka tuollaisessa paikassa muuten ottaa ja vie.

Äijäilystä puheenollen. Oli aika erikoista, että Tampereen lähellä Näsijärven rannalla asuu mies, joka oli sanonut vuosia sitten naapurilleen seuraavan. “Kuule. Eihän vierailla toistemme luona? Ettei tartte miettiä, kumpi tulee seuraavaksi kylään ja mitä tuomisia.” Paitsi kerran se sitten kutsui kylään, kun täytti kuuskyt viis. Meille sen vaimo kattoi kahvit kultareunaisiin kahvikuppeihin. Niihin pieniin.

Liftikyyditsijän kyyti kuljetti mua pitkin maaseutua ja näitä pieniä teitä mitä tuolla nyt on, kun poikkeaa ysitieltä. Ysitiehän on hieno, mutta pienet hiekkatiet pellonlaidalla on aivan upeita. Liftikyydin isosetä ja sen naapuri on äijiä, jollaiseksi en koskaan tule.

by Mikael at June 15, 2009 01:53