Hitchhiking in Turkey

By pushpedal | Pedalling Continents | 4 Jun 2019

We thought about visiting the Anzac Services in Turkey, but didn't think we would be in Turkey in April. With one week left before April 25th, we were only halfway across Turkey. It was decided that we would go by hitchhiking via the southern coast and up towards Çanakkale. This city is where everyone in Turkey remembers their world war soldiers too.

21/4/2019: Mersin to a random beach

Our first day of hitchhiking was not too bad. We started a bit late because it was sunday and our wonderful host Cahit had prepared us Türkish breakfast for brunch. We were too shy to say no and leave early. Cahit gave us the first ride to the edge of the city. Sometimes the cities are right next each other so you barely notice a gap in between. We held our thumbs up on a busy street hoping someone was going the same way out.[caption width="800"]We were very optimistic with our signage[/caption][caption width="800"]Our bikes will wait for us here[/caption]After a bit of waiting (30 minutes), walking and smiling at drivers, we got picked up by a shuttle bus driver. He said "No money" because we were hesitant at first. We couldn't understand where he was going, but it was along the highway towards Antalya which was our goal for that day.

After an hour, we got dropped off and continued the same routine:

Walk to a nice pick up spot
Hold up our sign and smile
If not picked up after a while, keep walking to a better spot

In the end we didn't get far, 140km, but impressively had three different drivers stop for us. See our Instagram post for the drama that unfolded on our first day.

22/4/2019: A beach to Alanya

The night in our tent at the beach was horrible, we barely had any sleep. The wind moved our tent and wouldn't let us have quiet for no more than 20 minutes. We literally had no sleep so by sunrise we packed up, skipped breakfast and walked to the highway to start hitchhiking. At 8am our thumbs were out for every passing vehicle.

Not too long after, a paramedic heading to work took us. We were surprised how soon we got picked up actually.[caption width="800"]Snacking on a banana as we wait[/caption]The next challenge we encountered was where people would drop us off. We had no choice where as it could be at the beginning of the town, or the middle, or wherever they turn off. That meant we were always required to walk out of town for a better chance. In total we walked over 15 km that day.

[caption width="800"]Sharing pizzas together with our driver[/caption]See our Instagram post of two friendly drivers that helped us get closer to Anzac. A host in Alanya magically accepted our last minutes CouchSurfing request to stay at their place. We always tried to organize a host with ample notice but with hitchhiking you could be dropped off at any town!

23/4/2019: Alanya

We were getting a bit anxious for time. Our efforts to reach Anzac Cove by hitchhiking wasn't going to work. We decided to take an overnight bus and enjoy a sunny day in Alanya.[caption width="800"]Cleopatra Beach, Alanya[/caption][caption width="800"]Pirate ships touring around the harbour[/caption]

Our host was a friendly and fun host, he took us to cool places and made us fall in love with the city. The city has a castle, standing walls, clean beaches, cobblestone streets and pirate themed ships! It was a resort city with tourists at every direction. However the city still had it's historical buildings, beautiful harbour and beaches.

Our bus departed at 9:30pm and we fell straight to sleep (not comfortably of course). The bus was scheduled to arrive in İzmir at 5am and then we transfer to another bus for Çanakkale at 6. That was the plans anyway…

24/4/2019: Anzac Cove

Matt woke up and saw the clock on the bus said 5am. We were still 140km away from İzmir and supposed to have arrived already. Our connection bus was 6am and unfortunately the bus didn't make it on time.

We tried our best to get some refund before buying new tickets but they gave the "unfortunately delays do happen, sorry". Frustrated and annoyed, we paid for new tickets and carried on with our plans. Maybe the lesson here was to allow ample time between bus/flight connections.

By 3pm we arrived in the city of Çanakkale. There is a beautiful harbour flooded with tourists on the promenade. Everyone, including us, crowded around the famous wooden horse for a photo. It was used in the "Troy" film and later donated to the city. It has now become a famous attraction.[caption width="800"]A cat patiently waiting for a fish[/caption][caption width="800"]Matt making a friend on the boat to Anzac[/caption]By 6pm we were ready and hopped on the ferry. It was a very cheap ride (3.75₺ each). We didn't take a tour for attending the Anzac Services because we preferred to do things our way. Also we are travelling poor.