# Hitching from Paris to Tbilisi to Issyk Kul, doable? Many questions



## subornopeligroso (Feb 21, 2018)

I'm 26 and feeling restless. Always wanted to travel to Central Asian and the Caucasus, but never got around to it because I was stuck in an LTR with someone who didn't want to travel. Now that I'm out, I recently met a girl who has gone on my dream trip, from Europe across Turkey into the Caucasus and then into Central Asia. I don't know many of the details, because I only briefly met her, and now I'm wondering how to go about it.

I had always envisioned taking on this trip as a hitchhiking adventure, primarily due to cost constraints on my part and the desire to meet and interact with locals. It would also allow for ad hoc adjustments of travel plans if I happen to be in the area of something I want to see, or if I meet some cool people I'd like to hang out with. This hypothetical trip would be my first serious voyage abroad farther than Western Europe alone, and so I have many questions. 

First and foremost, is this something I should be doing alone? Is it common, or even recommended, to take on journeys like this with at least one or two other people? Where would I meet people in my area, or globally, who would be interested in embarking on a similar trip? I don't know a lot of people in my city, and I've asked nearly all of my close friends, only to be turned down.

How do I approach budgeting? With the improvisational nature of hitchhiking, how do I properly anticipate what I would need to set aside for accommodations, food, potential additional transit, etc.? Currently I have a little over 1500$ CAD to my name, and I could probably muster more after I file my tax returns. Maybe another 1000-2000$ CAD max. 

If I'm not keen on visiting Western Europe, would it be smarter to take a flight closer to my intended destinations (say, the Balkans)? I've looked at flights from Montreal, and the farther out you go, and the less-frequented the area (Paris vs. Zagreb), the more expensive it seems to get. Going straight to Tbilisi, or Zagreb, is astoundingly pricey. 

What do I pack, beyond obvious basics like shaving razors, a basic pair of clothes or two, a microfibre towel, a multitool, small first aid kit? I'm a photographer and I'd like to take my camera. I do, however, realize that bulk and weight are serious limitations. Many reels of film and an old SLR might be too much bulk.

How do I meet people once on the road? Is it possible to interact with the locals in a genuine and not overbearing or obnoxiously touristic way? Is excessive charisma necessary to smooth over language barriers? Should I be looking around online to meet people who might be open to hosting me or making my acquaintance? How would I do that? This girl I met had implied she already knew people to visit before she even went to Tajikistan, for example. Is it rude to seek shelter from strangers? More than anything on a trip like this, I would like to be respectful of those around me. 

On a related note, is going as solely a bilingual Anglophone/Francophone a serious limitation, to the point where it's not worth trying to meet people there?

Would the combination of visa's necessary for such a trip be prohibitively expensive? I did not realize so many of these different places have visas that each cost something. With the potential for passing through Iran, would I be at any risk as a dual Canadian/American citizen and the son of a military man (not loudly, but I'm afraid they'd know or find out, and take issue)? Are any other countries a potential concern for getting hassled by the state?

Is it foolish to attempt this in the summer? I realize now that so many of these countries are at differing latitudes and longitudes, with climates that range both internally and across each other. Would that make packing and preparing difficult?

How integral is to get specific vaccines before leaving? For the span of Balkans > Turkey > Caucasus > Central Asia, are there any endemic diseases that are a significant concern?

I'm not sure if hitchhiking is the most appropriate way to cover these distances, due to a lack of experience.

Some of these questions I'd like to answer myself through research. Wherever your wisdom of experience may be helpful, I would be grateful if you shared.

Lastly, are there any important questions or considerations that I'm not making here?

A pre-emptive thank-you to any and all who reply.


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## Whereamiwhatdoido (Feb 21, 2018)

Dude, you can do it, Visas is a concern you should handle before going other than that it's all a question of getting off the couch and find trust in something that will get you through it.

"Hand to mouth to India" By Tom Thumb is a read you should consider getting, he went from UK to Goa beach wihtout a dime and only on the generosity of strangers. What he brought was the Visa to get through Afghanistan or Pakistan and left the rest to fate.


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## T Paradise (Feb 21, 2018)

You don't need a travel partner. Most guys that intented to travel together for an extended period of time went different ways after some time anyways. If you find someone who is interested in the trip that doesn't mean you shouldn't start together of course. I wouldn't recommend hitching with more than two people though, at least not if you actually want to hitch together. You can of course split every now and then.
Meeting new people shouldn't be a problem, indepently of your language skills. If you want to get hosted by locals couchsurfing and similar sites can be worth a shot. At least for couchsurfing you should have hosted people before, else it can be hard to find a host. Getting invited to spent the night at the drivers place isn't uncommon either. You would probably want some shelter in case you don't find any host.
Moneywise it's hard to tell whether 3500CAD will do it. Depends on how comfortable you want to travel, how much you want to rely on locals, how long you want to stay etc. You only really need money for the flights and visas if you are hardcore enough, so 3500CAD should cover that.
Where you should fly to depends on where you want to start hitchhiking. Do you want to hitchhike through turkey, or would a starting point even more to the east be preferred? You should be able to get to georgia pretty cheap by flight form europe. I wouldn't pay much more for a flight to the balkans instead of flying to paris. From Paris it should be possible to find a cheap short distance flight east (Bulgaria for example), or just hitch there, getting to the balkans shouldn't be too hard.
For visa costs and vaccines you have to look into it yourself. 
For any hitchhiking related questions check the hitchwiki page of the respective country
The poorer the country the more common it is that drivers expect payment (that's how the locals travel too) in my experience and from what I have heard. I don't know if that is the situation in central asia, but that's something you should consider. It is still possible to hitch in such countries by writing "no money" or something more elaborate on a paper in the local language or getting the point across somehow differently. It just feels wrong to me to come from a rich country and expect to get driven around for free while locals pay for the same ride. As said it is still possible to hitch and travel with almost no money, but it is something to be prepared for, especially if you don't want to ride in such circumstances you should adapt your budget and travel plans. Even though those rides don't cost much usually, they can add up and it might then be cheaper to take public transport or something. But hitchwiki should give a good general idea.
Maybe check out Matt's book for general travel advice, gear lists, etc. Or just dig in the forum there should be everything said you'd need.


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## subornopeligroso (Feb 21, 2018)

Who is Matt? Are you referencing the "Anarchist's Guide to Travel"?

You do highlight something that makes me uncomfortable about the idea of hitchhiking, having not done it before. I am wary of being a burden to others, and I would not want to ride for free or any other way take unfair advantage of the hospitality of hosts/drivers.


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## T Paradise (Feb 21, 2018)

Yes thats the book I am referring to. Matt is the author and the owner or admin of this site.
Don't be discouraged to do your trip! I don't even know if it is common practice to pay in those countries. You should check out what hitchwiki got to say. And even if it is expected to pay the driver you can still do it if you would feel uncomfortable otherwise and still have an awesome trip. Certainly not every single ride you would get would expect a payment.


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## fig (Feb 21, 2018)

you'll be fine. with that much money just go, don't spend like a moron, and if you freak out too heavy just go home. maybe get a tent or tarp in case of rain, be smart about your clothes, if you don't know how to dumpster dive or shoplift then figure something else out, there are markets everywhere. personally I wouldn't bring the camera, I tried bringing a stripped down typewriter to mexico and ended up trading it for a night inside in manhattan the day before my flight. heavy. ow. but that's up to you, you can take care of yourself. fear is important and rational. but you're smart enough. the biggest thing is just getting up and going. hostelworld is a good resource, and workaway and wwoof. good luck, be a badass.


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## OutsideYourWorld (Feb 22, 2018)

Well I did pretty much that exact trip in 2016. Started in Budapest( $350 ish from Vancouver to Budapest one way at the time). Made my way down to Greece, down through Turkey to south coast, East through the middle and cappadocia... As far East as Erzurum, then north to Georgia.... Travelled all over Georgia, then down to Armenia, back up and around to Azerbaijan, ferried over to Kazakhstan, hitched/trained a bit over to Almaty, then hitched down to Bishkek and traveled a bit of Kyrgyzstan.

For about 10/11 months of travel I think I spent a few thousand bucks... Maybe less, I can't remember. From the Balkans and East it's pretty cheap living, and if you're getting food from grocery stores and sleeping outside, you won't spend much. for visas its 50 euro for Turkey for 3 months I believe, Georgia is free, Armenia is around $20, Azerbaijan wasn't super cheap but I just got a transit visa which gave me 5 days I think to get through it.... Kazakhstan wasn't super expensive either but not exactly cheap. The ferry to Kazakhstan was around $110 I think at the time (Getting the ferry ticket can be a bit hard so if you want I can try and dig up the ferry info because you gotta dig through google to find it all).

Hitching all the way is pretty easy overall, and this is coming from a bigger bearded, bald-headed guy in darker clothes with military'ish gear  I was even in Turkey during that attempted coup and it was still easy to hitch around. You will get people inviting you over to stay or buying you food a fair amount. I loved the people everywhere. IF you go to Armenia and plan on going through Azerbaijan (Iran is kinda off the menu if you don't want to go with a fucking tour group), DO NOT go to Nagorno Karabach, because Azerbaijan will not let you enter if you have been to that disputed region.... They won't care AS much if you just went to Armenia, but they seemed disappointed in me for doing it 

As someone said above, hitching in Central Asia is a bit different. From Azerbaijan on a fair amount of people expected money for rides. I tried as best I could to get across that I was hitching for free, so that they could leave if they didn't agree... But at least half the time they didn't understand and it was a little awkward when I was leaving. Just try and be polite and understanding, and don't get angry or frustrated unless they get aggressive. 

Through the summer, it's gonna be hot. Very hot if you go to Southern Turkey like I did in the middle of the hottest season. However, I also ended up in Kazakhstan in the winter, which equally sucked.

Overall it's a really good trip. I loved it. Spend time in Georgia, especially in the northern mountainous areas if you like to hike. The most beautiful natural areas I have ever seen were in the Mestia region of Georgia... Just... Stunning. You'll meet a lot of Europeans there as well.

I usually travel alone, but I ended up meeting an Austrian girl and traveling with her for a bit, then a bit later I randomly met a couple Czech girls in the back of a police car (Georgian police are awesome, and will give you rides a fair amount of the time)... And I wasn't even looking to travel with people. It just happened.

Be open, man. It's going to be a great trip.

Oh, and learn a bit of Russian, it will help in many of these countries, especially Georgia and East from there.


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## T Paradise (Feb 23, 2018)

Iran supposedly opened up quite a bit and shouldn't be a problem to travel without a group.


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## OutsideYourWorld (Feb 23, 2018)

Where did you hear that? As far as I know, Brits, Canadians, and Americans have to go with a tour group. It is THE reason I didn't go there. There at least used to be workarounds where you'd basically have someone in Iran fake the whole process so you could go in alone, but when I tried contacting these people I never got a reply.


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## T Paradise (Feb 24, 2018)

I heard this from an iranian and some other traveller who has been there. Both told me that travelling there got a whole lot easier, that you can easily get a visa on arriving etc. 
I just checked that and appearantly you are right and that doesn't apply to Canadians. Sorry for spreading wrong information.
What makes it even worse for you canadians, brits and americans out there, is that both people thought that Iran was the most beautiful country they visited so far


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