User:Nyph

Hi, friends of the sun,

I am Ny. More of a calm, curious and spontaneous (!!!) adventure seeker. Also a caring and loving daughter, sister and best friend. I just started hitchhiking recently, with a friend of mine, but also on my own. I am a passionate Couchsurfer & Trustroots member!

Trying to share my experiences with you!

First trip alone through Eastern Europe (incl. RO, BG, TR)

April 29, 2018

start: Bucureşti, RO

destination: İzmir, TR

I started around noon in Bucureşti: [[1]]

• I started a few meters before the gas station mentioned on the Bucureşti page. (see link above)
• After 15min a driver stopped and took me to Ruse, BG.
  • He recommended to start in the city, not on the edge of the way out, but I wouldn't know where to start though.
• From there I caught a truck to the border of BG/TR, near Edirne. I jumped out because the truck had to queue up in a line of kms where other trucks were waiting as well.
• After walking a few kms, I found a ride to İstanbul.
• You must know that it is not uncommon to be dropped out in the middle of the highway. I didn't know that and told the driver to drop me at a gas station. Otherwise I feared my life. :D
• Unfortunately I ended up there at around 11pm, after having crossed the border my mobile phone network died (I have a German sim card), although it actually should have worked due to Roaming, and that is how I got lost. I was not able to use Google Maps or to contact anyone. Seems like no one speaks English in Turkey. I found a nice guy who called a Turkish friend of mine to help me find my way to the bus station (otogar). I'm lucky I wanted to visit a Turkish friend.
• The guy took me to otogar.
• Unluckily there were no busses going to İzmir anymore.
• Also, I couldn't use the metro anymore and the next hostel was many kms away.
• I decided to find a BlaBlaCar. That car would go at 4am and so I joined the ride for around 50 lira.

May 03, 2018

• My trip started around 11am.
• From İzmir I took the Izban to Selçuk, walked from there to Ephesus, hitchhiked back to Selçuk and then hitchhiked to Şirince. From there I hitchhiked back to Selçuk again to get my backpack and hitchhiked to Kuşadası.
• Finding a ride to Şirince can take some time, be patient. I waited around 20min. It was at around 6/7pm.
• I started to walk back to Selçuk, got a ride after 10min.
• To Kuşadası: I started walking out of the city, and found a ride after 5min. The Turkish couple was a little older and didn't know Google Translate, that's why I called another Turkish friend of mine to let him talk to them. They dropped me at the otogar, in the center of the city.
• I'm thinking about letting a Turkish friend recording a voice message or writng a copy to explain, what I am doing and who I am. Communication is really hard, when you don't speak Turkish. :D

May 05, 2018

• I started hitchhiking from Güzelçamlı in the afternoon, at around 5pm. That is indeed not the best time to start hitchhiking but I had no other option.
• Güzelçamlı is a small city, that's why I walked out of the city while holding my thumb up. After around 10min a driver stopped, but unfortunately couldn't take me.
• 1min later, a really sweet and warmhearted grandpa stopped - I was so super lucky. Actually he headed towards Kuşadası, but he drove me half an hour further out of Güzelçamlı to bring me to a better starting point. There he decided that this would be no option for me, because he worried about me and it would be getting dark soon, so he decided to buy me some water and to bring me to a bus station to buy a ticket to Aydın for me, so I would hopefully arrive quicker in Denizli. I was so overwhelmed by his kindness!
• From Aydın otogar it was super easy to go on. The otogar is situated next to a highway, so I held up a sign saying "Denizli" and after 30 seconds maximum, a truck driver stopped and we were heading to Denizli. I think that was around 7/7:30pm.
• Unfortunately the driver took another route than I needed, so he dropped me 2 hours later at a highway junction 15min away from Denizli center.
• From there I walked off the highway to a main route (E87) and was picked up after max. 5min. They brang me almost to the front door of my CS host. :)

coming soon: hitchhiking in Denizli:

• to Ulubey Canyon
• Güney waterfall
• lake Salda

next stop: Kapadokya