Bulgarian Transportation of the Week: The Thumb!
Friday, April 11, 2008

The Thumb! (палецът!) Better known as hitchhiking (пътуване на автостоп)

It’s a great way to see the country, meet new people and add adventure to your adventure. Personally, I’d never hitchhiked before and was a little weary of doing it in a foreign country with a language I have a minimal grasp of. However, my fears were assuaged and I struck up conversations with some awesome people. Other PCVs have had similar experiences like former vafla aficionado and all round bad ass, Thomas Lodwick.And yes, I did steal that sweet pic from the linked entry. I have no qualms or apologies. For the lackadaisical PCV (like Mr. Lodwick and myself), hitchhiking is merely a mode of transportation in our arsenal. It's not a necessity, but spices up our trip and eases our wallet. However, other PCVs living remote areas (especially the illustrious ones in the Rhodopi mountains) find hitch-hiking indispensable and often times, inevitable. Villagers in the Rhodopis, where I first learned how to hitchhike, are very friendly and understanding of the circumstances for hitch-hiking (namely, the lack of a frequent bus schedule). Hitchhiking here is a way of life. However, The Word From Upon High That Bans All Things Fun (also known as the Peace Corps Policy Manuel), states in Section 23, subsection 1.2.5 "Hitchhiking is strictly forbidden". On the other hand, Lonely Planet, the premiere tour guide book, declares:

Lonely Planet makes a habit of warning against hitchhiking in its standard text section in the back of guidebooks; ignore that here. Bulgaria practically begs you to do it - or at least pick people up. It's an everyday means of getting around for people who often lack their own transport. Grandmas pile bags into cars on the side of the highways, lone children hold out hand to stop strangers' cars to get to school - the only fear is whether or not the driver will be playing chalga -nauseatingly joyful, relentless, bouncing disco music ('truck driver music,' one Sofian hipster scoffed).
I couldn't say it better myself. A few tips to successfully hitchhike:
  1. If you're in a large group, split up into groups of 2 or 3
  2. Be sure to keep that thumb up when you see a car coming
  3. Tourists don't tend to pick up hitchhikers
  4. Always be gracious when you get picked up
  5. Swap awesome stories

However, the absolute MUST after a successful hitch is to brag about it to your suburban friends. You'll quickly been the envy of everyone (or least get a "Dude, we know you're doing awesome things. Stop making us feel bad about it").

Sometimes the driver may ask for money. This may not alway be a bad thing as the driver can be more hospitable. For instance, I and a few other PCVs, caught a ride with a guy going to Plovdiv. He only asked us for 8lv (the bus ticket was 9lv) and he would be faster. We took him up on his offer. About an hour and a half later, he wanted to know we want to take a side trip to a monastery. How could we refuse? He was an excellent tour guide.

All that said, hitchhiking, although strictly against PC policy, can be an interesting and rewarding experience that lets you reap the fruits of your integration skills. I for one, will plan on including hitchhiking into my next Bulgarian adventure!

J-Dub "The Duke" Paperstax

Posted byJimmy at 11:41 AM  

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1 comments:

Thomas said... April 13, 2008 at 8:51 PM  

here's hoping PC doesn't read this. At least I'll go down fighting for something I believe in: bezplaten transport

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