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Istanbul
,→From Şekerpınar close to Gebze
'''Istanbul''' is the biggest city of [[Turkey]], partly in [[Europe]] and partly in [[Asia]].
== Hitching in ==The trucks are banned from entering the city during rush hours (morning: ''?'', evening: about 17:00-21:00/5PM-9PM). So if you are arriving from west (Northwest towards [[TekirdağGreece]], [[Edirne]], [[Greece]], or [[Bulgaria]]) on the motorway by a truck, it is highly likely that the vehicle will be stopped at Mahmutbey toll booths of motorway, at the western entrance of the city, by cops. If this is the case, say your farewells to your driver, walk to the sideroad lying along to the right of motorway. Turn to the first or second street to your right (the first wide one, you will notice it). About 200 metres down that street, you will notice a bus stop. Here public buses (line #89M, with a sign saying ''Zeytinburnu Metro''; costs about 1.50 TL pp (~ €0.75), pay cash to the driver and he will hand you his smart ticket (''Akbil'') which you will touch on that box at the entrance of the bus) heading for Zeytinburnu stop, from which there is an extensive choice of public transportation into the city such as trams to old city (Sultanahmet), buses to Taksim/Beyoğlu (#93C), or ''Metrobüs'' heading for Asian Side across the Bosphorus. From that stop close to the motorway toll booth, there are also more frequent minibuses to Topkapı, from where you can also find trams, buses, and ''Metrobüs'' into the city (beware, some minibuses stopping at there do '''not''' head for Topkapı, though).{{E|80}} {{E|84}}===
== Hitching Out ==The ''Taksim Square'' in the center of the European part of [[Istanbul]] is chosen as a starting point for the upcoming description due to the fact that there the most bus lines of the European side start and end.Test option - Ispartakule Park Area North ====
=== Westwards towards [[Greece]] (via [[Tekirdag]]) = Getting to suburbans of Istanbul ====
For those who rather not try hitchhiking through the overgrown western suburbs of the city, a slightly more expensive but a lot easier way to follow this westbound route to Greece may be to take the morning train to [[Muratlı]] from Sirkeci station in central Istanbul, and then hitch your way forward to Greece via [[Tekirdağ]] from there. See [[Muratlı]] article for full details.
Once you have passed the border, try to stay in the car which took you through, as the first 20-30 km on the Greek and Bulgarian side is are one of the worst places to hitchhike in Europe. Local people there are afraid of stories about immigrants from Iran and Afghanistan etc. so it's especially hard to get a ride. It took hitchhiker Check the article on [https://hitchwiki.org/en/Kapitan_Andreevo-Kap%C4%B1kule_border_crossing Kapikule-Kapitan Andreevo border crossing] if you're going towards Bulgaria as it can be difficult. === Westwards towards [[Cannakale]] (via [[User:LapulevelTekirdağ|LapulevelTekirdag]] ) === Take Bus #34B/C/BZ/G to the last stop and start hitchhiking with a full day Tekirdag sign there === East and south towards [[Ankara]], Black Sea coast, Antalya {{E|80}} === ==== From parking on motorway O4 ==== '''Rest Stop Nr. 1:''' Take bus 19, 19C, 19Y, 19T or just ask which bus is going to 'Ferhatpaşa the stop you have to get out of this area—off at you will see a road going in a circle like a big roundabout its Flat Prof Dr Necmettin Erbakan Park from there search Mirkelam Dinlenme Tesisleri İstanbul rest stop (40.98854931087875, 29.192601039813262) on E-80 / O-4. When arriving from the bus stop you will find the gas station completely fenced and that wasnyou might think about climbing or cutting it. But there is a 'legal't simply a shortage open door in the middle of the fence. The gas station itself has alot of luck as that happened twice!traffic also for long distances.
Get on the 111, 112 or 200 and stay on the bus almost all the way to the last stop (get off approximately two or three stops before).
You are now located a little bit south of the O4 (E80) heading East towards Ankara. You will need to walk a little bit northwards in order to reach a ramp. There is a bus stop on the on-ramp. You can hitch out from there unto the O4 (E80) going East.
'''Update 2022:''' There is no reststop or gasstation at the Otoyolu at Şekerpınar. The highway is a petrol station exactly 9km before [[Izmit]] where really huge one with cars going very fast. Walking or trying to hitchhike on the highway in this part of Turkey is definetly not recommended. You can take the onramp though, but you can will only be dropped offable to catch traffic coming from Şekerpınar and other surburbs. This '''Other 2022 update''' There is no rest stop but the lane of the enterance becomes a shoulder lane in like 50 meters.Move a bit away from the lane so the cars from that enterance can see you and thumb all the highway cars and you'll have a ride in no time. As the police in Turkey are completely ambivalent towards thumbing on the highway catching a great place ride is pretty easy as long as you don't mind super-fast cars flying by you. ==== From Bostancı Köprüsü (Bostancı Bridge) ==== From ''Taksim'' Square take bus 129T (''Taksim - Üst Bostancı'' line), which, like the other transcontinental bus lines, requires two tickets (3.50 TL). Get off at the leaf-clover interchange called in Turkish ''Bostancı Köprüsü'' (literally Bostancı Bridge), close to catch direct rides to almost any part of its last stop. You can recognize the interchange by big signs saying ''Bostancı'' and ''İçerenköy'' (besides the usual ''İzmit'' and ''Ankara'' signs) there. Then, after getting off the bus, walk past the interchange until you see a safe shoulder down the countryroad a couple hundred metres away.Start hitching there ready with a [[User:GarthelgardSigns|Garthelgardsign]] saying at least ‘[[Gebze]] got offered rides to '/'[[Georgia (country)|GeorgiaIzmit]] and the ’, it’ll make you more visible There is a petrol station exactly 9km before [[SyriaIzmit]]n border from that where you can be dropped off. It is recognizable for its BP petrol stationand Burger King restaurant. Trucks are regularly parked here and bound for all points in Turkey, while sometimes one can even find a lift all the way to neighbouring countries.
For Mediterranean cities such as [[Antalya]], you should also take this eastwards route till [[Adapazari]], then head south via motorway D650 from there.
==== The free walking option ==== While most people would find it more comfortable to take a bus to the outskirts and then start hitchiking there is another, slightly more challenging, option. Generally it is actually faster to just find a good piece of highway somewhere close to where you stay (even if it's in the centre of Istanbul), get ON the highway and put your thumb up. You are unlikely to wait more than 3-5 minute before a car pulls over (many people don't really mind stopping on the highway) and the police is very unlikely to give you any trouble From Taksim: Walk down Cumhüriyet Caddesi for about 40-50 minutes. It's a big avenue which is easy to find (alternatively just follow the signs on Taxim for Şisli). After 40-50 minutes you'll see Cevahir shopping center on your right side and that's about 200 meters from where you'll start hitching. If you manage to get lost (hard as it's a big avenue without any real tricky intersection or anything) you should just ask your way to Cevahir shopping center.After the 40-50 minute walk (about the time when you pass Cevahir shopping center on your right side) you'll see the highway. This is th spot where the Mercidiköy bridge starts and about 70-80 % of the traffic is bound for the Asian side. When you get to the highway (which is actually about 10 meters over you as you are under the bridge) you'll see the Mercidiköy bustation to your left. Turn left,walk 20 meters until you see a small footpath leading up to the highway, climb up, thumb up, and smile at your audience (often about 50-60 people) who are waiting for the Metrobus to come. They might even give you an applause if you just put up a show. Important: BE PATIENT AND DON'T JUST ACCEPT ANY RIDE. Wait for someone who's going at least past the main intersection in Atesehir (say that you want to go direction Gebze/Izmit on the autoyol). Even though almost no traffic is going far from here it is important that your first ride is gonna take you to the O4 highway after the two highways merges and that may mean declining 1, 2 or 4 rides. Ask to get dropped of at the highway and not at some on-ramp or something even more silly (this is [[Turkey]] remember). You may have to repeat it one or two more times before you get out of Istanbul just because of the city's enourmous size. Alternatively you could wait for a ride to take you across the bridge and get dropped off at the paytolls on the Asian side and find a ride onto the E8O from there. === South towards [[Yalova]]/, [[Bursa]] or [[Izmir]] === See below the Eskihisar links for a road/bridge alternative. See [[Eskihisar]] for how to get to the ferry jetty on the route and how to get into the ferry for free.The route via [[Eskihisar]] is also the shortest way to [[Izmir]] and its adjacent area in western Turkey. Opet - Mehmetçik Vakfı Petrol petrol station / rest stop on E80 highway next to Mehmetçik Vakfı bus stop. Buses 130H, 132, 132B and KM 18 stopes there. Place isnt far from Sabiha Gokcen International Airport Doğalhane Dinlenme Tesisleri petrol station / rest stop on E80 highway next to Çayırova İtfaiye bus stop. Bus 133Ş stops there Marmaray metro east in the direction of Gebze. Get off at Osmangazi Station (two stops before Gebze) as this is closer to the D-100 highway that will carry you east. Walk roughly 300m north up the road from the station until you get to the circle-underpass junction with the D-100 highway. A nice position just after the start of the on-ramp, where cars are still moving slowly, should score you a ride in minutes. However, the majority of traffic here seems to be going to Izmit, which is past the bridge. Turn down rides if you have to until you get one going over the bridge, to Yalova/Bursa/İzmir etc. If you're really stuck, take a short ride and ask your driver to drop you off on the side of the road at the off-ramp going to the bridge, and continue hitching from there or after the interchange. If you're really stuck on that road leading up to the bridge, you'll have to walk a few km along it until you get to the Petrol Ofisi fuel station, about a Kilometre before the bridge. Hitch at the on-ramp to the highway from there. == Wild camping == Hacı Osman Korusu park wild camping - ride metro line 2 to Darussafaka station and next to it on the circle corner of streets Buyukder and Ulu streets you can climb over the fance to Hacı Osman Korusu park https://ibb.co/RHmd9jb Get only a bit inside but be carefull there ar some sharp plants You will find many beaches on Prince islands, but many of them are privatised. You should walk away from the towns to find some wild beach. Büyükada island wild camping - you can get by paid ferry there (Kadıköy, Bostancı or Kartal). Be aware that the forests are sometimes closed due to wild fires and the police might be even more strict if you're caught camping (not to mention the danger to yourself if there ever was a fire). You can camp on the top of the island between Aya Yorgi Manastırı and the communication tower. You will have some shade from the trees and a nice wind (at least during summer). You can take one of the small buses to get closer from the ferry. BA-2 is the one that will get you the closest but is stops at 9 pm, otherwise you can take the BA-5 that runs until 11-12 pm. Be aware that you should not drink water tape on the islands. OGM (nature protection) may bother if you stay late in the morning, but you should not get fined, turkish or foreigner. == Nomadwiki & Trashwiki == {{nomadwiki}}
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