The Martin Guy

Slightly racist old school guy from Martin. Was going to Germany to work in construction. We had a fairly interesting conversation about life and my travels. He recently had a brain tumor removed. Last border crossing on my trip.

Guy in a Swiss car

Nice Slovak guy in a car with a Swiss license place. We had a really interesting conversation about his life in Switzerland. He was on his way back to Switzerland after dropping off his kids at the grandparents' in Eastern Slovakia. He was actually driving via Martin, but had to visit some friends in Presov, so dropped me off there. Neat guy.

Car delivery guy

Older retired guy, who delivered various cars for a car salon as a side job. Had an interesting conversation about his life – he'd worked most of it at a farm (kolkhoz). Drove me to Levoca.

Strange family

It was a somewhat shady family in a nice new Audi. There was an odd (somewhat gangstery looking) middle aged guy, a guy approximately my age and a little boy. I asked the driver (my age) for a lift expecting a straight "no", but the guy said yes without hesitating. It turned out they were returning back home (Zilina) from Eastern Slovakia, where they'd bought a puppy. Talked a… (read on in Trip)

Half-Szelmencian

Local guy who offered me a ride without me even hitching. Had a fairly thick accent and went out of his way to get me to a good spot. His mother was from my favorite village, ie. Szelmenc.

Slovak Radio!

Nice guy, his car had Slovak radio turned on!!! I really felt that I was home at that moment, even before I crossed border. Used to work in CZ and now lived in Chop with his wife.

Hungarian guy

Nice local Hungarian guy going to the border. Commended me on my pronunciation of "Jo napot kivanok".

Quiet guy going to the perfect location

After a fairly long wait (for Western Ukraine), we managed to hitch a guy going just to the fork we needed, passing a lot of low traffic and confusing places. Didn't talk at all.

Hitching on a bridge

As in all post-Soviet countries, hitching on a bridge (no matter how insignificant) is for some reason considered a terrible crime. This time, some women told us off a couple of time saying no one will pull over. Just as they gave up, someone pulled over :D Took us a good distance along the Ukrainian-Romanian border. Showed us some ridiculously large houses built by… (read on in Trip)

Opting for the marshrutka

As it was getting a bit late (we'd waited more then expected along this route), we decided to call it a day in Tyachiv (one of 4 county towns in this former Czechoslovak province btw) and opted for a marshrutka all the way to Uzhhorod.

Coffee machine repair guy

Buys us coffee and we talk a bit.

Moldovan Officer

Nice lady who took us to the border at a fairly dead road. One of two female drivers on this entire trip.

Marshrutka takes us for free

Guy from Marshrutka yells at us to get in at the border. I explain we’re hitching, but he says no problem :)

Veteran hitchhiker

Really cool guy from Chisinau. Used to hitchhike himself a lot and spent virtually every summer with his wife in Turkey. Had a lot of really cool stories and told us a lot about Moldova. Also took us to a great wine shop and bought us 3 bottles! Drove us through the town to our exact destination. Great guy!

Racer X, Ukrainian version

Drove fairly fast and furious on a wet road. Not the safest ride. Took us right to the border crossing.

Cool doctor

Really nice guy who saw us at the crossing and pulled over faster than I could extend my thumb. He was a doctor and told us about how no one in Transnistria actually pays taxes. Wanted to immigrate to the US, which I tried to persuade him not to do. Spoke somewhat decent English. Also told us that the local militsya has only recently been hiring women. Drove us exactly to our… (read on in Trip)

Terrible location

Guys in a delivery van who finally picked me up after a pretty the longest wait on this trip. I actually took a marshrutka to a different spot along the way to get to this on. Wait is cumulative for both spots.

Badass Trucker

Really tough trucker who used to be a soldier. Told me many stories, especially about he was a UN peacekeeper on the Israeli-Lebanon border. Drove via fields rather than roads again.

Sales Rep for Coke

Cool guy who worked for CocaCola. We talked a lot about our lives and traveling. He talked especially about how employment in Ukraine was extremely underpaid. Finally a proper shitty Ukrainian road experience, as we drove through the fields rather than on the pavement. Saw a guy destroy a small tree (and his hood) while trying to overtake an old driver.

Cargo shipping agent

Really neat guy from Odessa, who was returning home from some exam in Kherson. There was a lot of people trying to get a poputka (post soviet paid hh), but most took a marshrutka once it turned up. He used a lot of English words, but preferred to talk in Russian. Talked a lot about traveling and his newborn. Bought me coffee at a very futuristic Socar gas station.

Long wait, short ride

Another long wait getting out a city in Ukraine… The western I got, the longer the times… This guy picked me up because I reminded him of some friend, so he actually turned around.

Cop Blocker without a Plate

Guy in a ridiculously low suspension on his BMW, which had no license plate. Low suspension is cool, but not on Ukrainian roads. Had to stop multiple times to check if he hadn't destroyed his car. Worked in some MLM scheme, which he referred to as life insurance, however, he seemed to suggest that the way it worked was you'd pay in and then get a payout at the end with some… (read on in Trip)

Marshrutka

Finally in a somewhat reasonable spot and after a long wait, I hitch a van which is not obviously a marshrutka, once I approach it becomes obvious and I tell the driver that I'm hitching. He sighs and says "get in". Direct ride to Dnipro.

Donbass family

After a pretty long wait, I finally hitched a father with his little daughter, however, they were going in the wrong direction. I still asked for a short lift to what I though might me be a better spot. They were from Debalceve, which is right on the front line. Told me a lot of people from there resettled in Kharkov. It quite sobering to talk to someone who had lived in a war zone.

The Caucasian

Nice Lezgin guy who was born in Azerbaijan. He seemed a little too nice, so I became a bit suspicious. He topped it with "Are you gay?" when I told him I had no girlfriend, so I thought "Ok, here we go" and said "No." He actually surprised me and said "Good, there's a lot of them in the West". I told him I thought it was the same everywhere, regardless of the place, but in… (read on in Trip)

The Almaty Russians

An ethnically Russian family moving to Voronezh, having taken advantage of Putin's resettlement program for ethnic Russians. They got a grant for which they bought an apartment and left their old life in Almaty behind. Had a very long conversation with the dad (I sat with him in their van with their dog, while his wife and son drove their second car) about everything, but… (read on in Trip)

Old teacher

Nice old lady (the only female driver on this entire trip so far, ie. in almost 10k km) who spoke such clear and slow Russian that I understood almost every word. As a geography teacher, she actually knew the difference between Slovakia and Slovenia! She was going home from a dacha and we had a really nice conversation about Kazakhstan and fruit. Although she was ethnically… (read on in Trip)

Kazakh trucker

Really nice trucker from Atyrau. Picked me up at a restaurant/truckstop as he saw me hitching. Wanted to pay for a melon I bought on the way, but I didn't let him.

Gazik

Nice Russian guy in a former military minivan (gazik). Gave me lots of food and fried fish!

Kamazista

Nice trucker in a kamaz who took me most of the way. His cabin was one of the messiest I've ever seen. Really liked Putin

The guy from Aksay

Took me all the way to the border, which I crossed on foot, and had worked in Aksay all his life. Knew a lot about companies who helped build it and told me a lot of information I would otherwise have a hard time finding out. I was looking for buildings built by my grandpa and he showed me all the ones built by Czechoslovak companies. Even knew Nitra. Drove me to the "Czech… (read on in Trip)

Old guy in a zhiguli

Older guy in a zhiguli going home from work. Had a good conversation about old Soviet cars.

Longest truck ride

One of the longest rides I've ever hitched. It was a Kazakh guy going to Moscow delivering melons. He was really nice and we talked about so many different things. He was quite religious, but did not mind me being an atheist. We went through an incredibly crappy patch of road where his trailer broke, so we spent some time replacing screws. Once he parked to sleep, I collected… (read on in Trip)

Good soldier Švejk

I was wearing my beige, somewhat military looking shirt and this guy pulls over and says "I look at you and I think: Good soldier Švejk!". Little did he know I was from Slovakia :P Nice trucker, quite educated.

Uzbek trucker

Neat Uzbek guy, really friendly. Wanted to go live in the US.

Trucker

Nice Trucker who gave me a Kazakh souvenir (plastic hand). Wanted to give me a giant Crocodile Dundee knife, which I'd really wanted, but considering I'd pass via 7 more border crossings, I politely refused.