1,345
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
no edit summary
== Personal Experiences ==
:''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.''
