Birzhan Shakarim, 22, from Karaganda, cameraman
I'm from Karaganda. I’d never traveled before, and had a dream to go round Kazakhstan and travel to other countries as well. Graduating from college, I got interested in traveling. I told my parents that I’d fulfilled the things they wanted from me and it was time to realize my dreams. Having received the diploma in April, I had my backpack packed on May, 1. I had 150 dollars, that was 50 000 tenge. I made a route and got started on Couchsurfing. First I traveled to Semey, then to Ust-Kamenogorsk, Ridder, Gornyi Altai. Then I went to Almaty, Kyzylorda, Aktau, and came back home. The journey took about a month and a half. I lived and I ate at couch surfers’.
I’d been told to put on clean bright clothes while hitchhiking to be clearly seen by the road. It did not work out. There’s a rule not to stand at one place for more than 20 minutes. Once I changed five points, but there was no a car to stop. Eventually I saw a trucker at the refueling station, I asked to give me a lift to Turkestan. A driver asked me if I was clean, I joked that I’d taken a shower that day, and he agreed. We rode together for a day and a half, we were talking. That was when I realized that the main purpose of traveling is not to reach a certain point, but to communicate with people. During the trip I made friends with about 40 people, considering that I’m not a sociable person.
Hitchhiking changed my life, it helped break out of my comfort zone. After the trip, surprisingly, I entered the university, and got a scholarship. I moved to Almaty, found new friends, and continued traveling. For 2 years I visited 16 countries, a year ago I set myself the goal to go on a round-the-world trip. Now I'm working on it, saving money and learning the language.
I realized the importance of being kind. I think that travel changes people. You create new personality while traveling.
Nadya Wojciechowskaya, 23, from Karaganda, photographer
My first hitch-hiking experience was a year ago. I flew to Istanbul and decided to come back to Kazakhstan by hitchhiking. I wanted an extraordinary experience, to travel on my own. So I visited nine cities, five countries. I’ve been to Istanbul, Samsun, Trabzon, Batumi, Tbilisi, Yerevan. I visited Pyatigorsk and Volgograd, and then went non-stop to Kazakhstan via Kostanay.
I used couch surfing services while traveling. All the people I stayed with were interesting. For example, in Istanbul I lived with a traveler who was a fruitarian and a yogi. We got up at five in the morning, practiced yoga. He shared many interesting things about his way of life. I even tried to eat raw food like him. It was cool. I met a man in Batumi who owned a yacht club. When I arrived, he was busy, even though he gave me a bike. For three days I was living on a yacht and riding around the city. All people are different, but you communicate with them on an equal footing. It's great.
Many said that hitchhiking is dangerous, but everything was fine. In Turkey I didn’t have to raise my hand, as cars immediately stopped by me. Traveling from Tbilisi to Yerevan, I caught a car with an old man driving. We were talking with him all the way long. The road was broken so he was driving slowly. We arrived to Yerevan quite late, so he didn’t go to the city center, where a couch surfer girl was waiting for me. He spent the night at a hotel, but I decided that I'd rather spend the night in a tent outside, as his jokes were inappropriate.
My journey took a month, and I really enjoyed living full life. I started feeling myself differently.
Shyrak Baikenova, 23, from Karaganda, copywriter
In summer 2017 I and my friend Asker decided to go hitch-hiking. Initially, we wanted to go to Georgia through Western Kazakhstan. Not having a certain plan, we started changing the route towards Kostanay. A couple from Tajikistan gave us a lift to Kostanay. Then they turned out to be going to Moscow, and we decided to go with them. It was fun.
We flew to Istanbul from Moscow, then we hitchhiked to Izmir, then went to Alachaty. People in Turkey are friendly and sympathetic.
We had a choice whether to go to Tbilisi or Odessa. We decided to go to Odessa, and then to the Crimea. The most difficult journey was in Ukraine, as we were asked permission in Crimea. We were sitting on the sidelines tired and thinking what to do. As a result, we stopped a car and travelled to Kherson, where we had to spend a night at the bus station.
Sometimes it was difficult. We stopped in unknown cities. We spent many nights in airports, bus terminals. Sometimes we couldn’t take a shower. But it was so cool to rejoice to sleep in bed.
This journey taught me to believe in humanity. Commuting every day is boring. When you go out, the universe starts to take care of you, you meet good people and get into interesting stories.
We’ve been to four countries - Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and have visited 14 cities. We were given a lift by about 40 cars. We spent 250,000 tenge for two for 22 days of travel. People met us warmly, there was no condemnation. Traveling breaks all the stereotypes about people, cities, and countries. You understand how open and simple humans are. You feel life.
Narine Smagulova, 24, from Semei, student
Initially, we planned a hitchhiking trip with my friends, but I went to Romania for a month studying. After the training program was over, I had a week of free time. Not having enough money to travel, I dared to hitchhike. Traveling on your own is not the best idea, especially for a girl. I would never go on my own again.
I took my friend from Bucharest, and we traveled to the Black Sea together. All the drivers told me I was insane and it was dangerous. But the first trip was nice, we communicated with people.
Then I returned to the capital and wanted to visit volcanoes. No one was to give me a lift but finally couch surfers sheltered me and showed me the volcanoes. I was grateful to them.
Once a driver made me indecent proposals. I was outraged and threatened him with a gas spray, he dropped me off. I was terribly angry and scared.
In fact, while traveling by hitchhiking, you meet kind people. Once I met a young couple who showed me the sights, introduced to their mother. She met me and hugged me like I was her daughter. It was so nice!
I traveled more than 3000 kilometers, visited 14 cities and spent about 7000 tenge for a week.
I think that people you come across reflex yourself. I realized is that no one owes anything to anyone. A girl can travel on her own, but it’s not safe.
