Wohoo we did it! Our first time hitchbiking on this trip!
I was always very skeptical if it would work well, and although Hsiang-Hsin had already some experience with it in Germany, and France, it’s a different story with two bikes and two people. But it worked like a charm and we arrived in Eskişehir not just in time, but even hours before the soundcheck!
We left Istanbul really late and when we left the Metro (We first took the ferry to Kadiköy and then the Metro to the last stop) it was already dark. We cycled along the road for a while, but it was quite busy and didn’t feel to good, so we found a nice place to camp. And in the morning we got up in time and started to hitchhike quite immediatly. We didn’t have to wait very long, i had much longer waiting times without a bike before, not to speak of TWO bikes! Although I didn’t try hitchhiking in Turkey before, so maybe Turkey is just very nice for that in general. For sure it is easier to find someone have space for bikes, like pick-ups and Vans, and also willing to take them, than on the over-regulated highways of the European Union.
This experience let me appreciate travelling with bicycle even more, because it shows that we can connect it with my other favourite mean of transportation, hitchhiking, and don’t have to rely on public transportation like busses or trains. Also because we had a couple of bad experiences with taking these, and it’s always unnerving to see strangers stuff your bike in some luggage compartment. Of course with hitchhiking the bikes are not always stored in the perfect way either, but the drivers take more care, or let us just do it ourselves (at least so far). It adds even more freedom to travelling by bike, and it’s good to know that this long distance which is lying in front of us can be also shortened if necessary.
Tired on Tires 