Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Hitchhiking 6 countries 10 days part 2

...After we paid off the cops we noticed that the car wasn’t doing anything. The night before we used the headlights to light up the area so we could put the tent down and that killed the battery. We pushed the car back a bit till we were close to a main road. There we found someone who could jumpstart it and the guys took us back to town. From here we hitchhiked towards Italy. A woman took us through the mountains to Tarvisio. It was probably one of the most awesome and horrible roads ever. The view was just stunning but the road was like a rollercoaster and made us all feel pretty sick. We got dropped off at the highway entrance in the direction of Villach, the first city in Austria. The sun was still burning and we had no place to hide from it, which seemed to be the theme of the trip. Doris leaned on a small plastic pole on the side of the road, which turned out to be hollow. I heard a snapping sound and Doris was laying on the ground, laughing like a crazy person. The big canon camera that she had around her neck fell on her mouth so she looked like she just got out of a fistfight. Luckily an old Italian guy saved us from the heat and brought us to a gas-station on the highway at Villach. A truck stopped to take us to Vienna but he only had place for 2. Doris and Laura went with him and I tried to catch another ride. After half an hour or so an A-Team van pulled up with 4 guys from Sweden who were completely drunk (except for the driver of course). I knew I had to catch a ride with these guys even though it would mean taking a de-tour. They were on their way to Prague so I could drive with them till Linz, about 200km away from Vienna. They had lots of booze and beer in the car and they told me they just got kicked out of a camping in Italy because of all the noise complains towards them. They invited me to go with them to Prague and when I told them that I have to catch up with my girlfriend and another friend in Vienna they offered to take me there, which was pretty sweet. Then they asked what our plans were after Vienna. Laura had to take the train back to Romania from Budapest the day after that so then they offered to take us to Budapest the next day. Probably one of the most awesome hitchhiking experiences so far. When we got in Vienna we parked the car at a camping that was already closed for the night (which meant we couldn’t check in, which meant we didn’t pay) After going out that night we found the camping again at 03:00AM. Sleeping with 7 people in one car isn’t something I can recommend to everyone, but it sure was fun! The next morning at 8 we left before the camping opened again and we we’re on our way to Budapest. The Swedes wouldn’t go anywhere before buying beer somewhere though so first they restocked their supply and we hit the road again. In Budapest they wanted to park the car somewhere at a secured parking lot and when they couldn’t find it they decided to go to Prague anyway. They took a 2 day de-tour just to bring us to Budapest. Some people are still genuinely friendly! We slept in the same hostel as the one where we were before. I felt so relieved to finally be able to take a shower again and to sleep for more then 4 hours. The next morning it was time to say goodbye to Laura and for us to go towards Linz. The ride to Linz went really fast we had some drinks with our hosts and the next day it was time for the street performance festival. It was a lot bigger and diverse then I imagined. It’s a once a year event so if you’re in the area next year be sure to visit! Here we met a blues artist from New Orleans who was on a hitchhiking trip through Europe, completely funded by his street-music. We hung out with him for a while and he got us a beer and gave us a city. For anyone into blues/country go check out Outdoor Protestant Blues-band! After Linz we went to Wankham to visit our friends there and to finally relax a bit after this tiresome trip. In conclusion this trip was probably the best one so far. Met a lot of great people, had a lot of fun, suffered a bit every now and then but it was worth it in the end! I hope we can do something like this in the near future again and this time stay on the road for a longer period. Pictures of the trip are on the facebook page for those interested. Till next time!