Michael Carøe Andersen

Tag: hitchhiking

  • A few days in Scotland

    (I just got home from a trip to London, but I have a couple of blog posts I want to get written before to catch up so come back soon.)

    I had booked my tickets for the wedding in Scotland so I would have a couple of days before going back. I didnt plan much but asked Jamie – a Scottish friend in Prague – for ideas of where to go and what to see.

    First leg of my trip was from the place of the wedding in Dunfermline. I was thinking of hitchhiking but it was raining so instead I got a lift with the newlywed couple on their way to their honeymoon in the Scottish Highlands. As we were driving north the landscape changed from flat scenery similar to Denmark to higher hills, less civilization and more sheep. They set me off in Aviemore a cosy little town at the beginning of the highlands. They have Scotlands highest funicular by Avimore but I didnt have time to make my way out to it. Instead I saw the town and jumped on a bus.

    Aviemore

    Early in the evening I arrived in Inverness where I found a bed for the night at a hostel. In the evening I went out to Hootananny where they have live music every night. I saw a cool Scottish band (didnt get their name tho).

    The next day I had a beautiful walk out of town along River Ness.

    Inverness

    At the end of the city I arrived at a spot I thought would be good but saw that there was another hitcher. So I sat down with my book behind some trees. A few minutes later the other guy had apparently been lucky and I stepped up to the spot. The third vehicle that passed me was a truck with a very long trailer. He slammed his breaks and I jumped in and I was rolling. The easiest ride I have ever had I think 🙂 Here we are driving by the castle at Loch Ness as the driver talks of the difficulties driving on the roads by Glen Coe.

    I got a ride with the trucker for the length of Loch Ness, the biggest of Scotlands lochs or lakes. The weather was great and I had a couple of great hours talking about Loch Ness monsters (he gave it a 50/50 chance of being real), Scottish culture and politics and life on the road. My driver was toothless (or missed at least a bunch of teeth) and was very talkative but after we had been quite for a few minutes he would start making fart-whistling noises with his gums funny guy. The roads in these parts of the country are very narrow and not built for big trucks (and busses as you will later see). There were a couple of times where we were very close to the oncoming traffic but I made it to Fort William in one piece and said goodbye to the driver. I had a lunch break in Fort William and a pint of hand pumped beer at a pub with an outdoor patio with a nice view. Here is a picture from the church in Fort William.

    Fort William

    Then I continued on in a bus to Glen Coe. I made it to Glencoe Village late in the afternoon and walked a couple of miles out of the village to find the hostel and a bed for the night. Before the sun set I went for a walk in the beautiful scenery.

    Glen Coe
    IMG_5085

    Next day I tried to hitchhike southwards but there was hardly any traffic so I ended up taking a bus instead. This was the view from my hitchhiking spot by Glen Coe not the worst place to spend an hour.

    Glen Coe vistas

    Riding in trucks and buses is actually really great in this part of Scotland because you really get to enjoy the vastness of the nature in big panorama windows. However for the drivers its another story. As our big bus was speeding through the bends along Loch Lomond there was a truck coming from the other side. The drivers avoided collision but our bus ended up scrapping the stone wall along the whole side of the bus.

    Bus crash

    The result was that all the luggage compartment locks broke and the bus driver was not allowed to continue before that was fixed. So we ended up being stuck for a good hour until a replacement bus arrived.

    Later I finally arrived in Glasgow. Jamie had said I could stay at his parents house in Glasgow which I was really grateful for. I found their house and talked a bit Scottish history with his mum. All I knew of Scottish history before I went was Braveheart and the story of William Wallace. The rest of Scotlands history is just as interesting and sad with events like the The Highland Clearance.

    In the evening I went to explore Glasgow on foot. I was expecting something out of Trainspotting but found a very warm and friendly city.

    Glasgow
    IMG_5126

    Scotland in three days is definitely nothing more than an appetizer and I feel I was rushing when I could easily spend a full day or three in all the places I stopped. It is a country I would love to go back to. I think it would be great to go to an area like Glen Coe for a couple of days pull the plug out and just enjoy the wonders of nature.

    Glen Coe vistas

    Thanks to Jamie for his suggestions and help. Jamie Smith is a folk musician and has just moved back to London. I will definitely go see him play next time Im in London. So should you 🙂

     

  • Videoblog: Prague – Århus Hitchhiking

    I decided to try and hitchhike the 900 km from Prague, Czech Republic to Århus in Denmark. Here is my story.

    Music is Virus by Mikael Simpson.

  • Hitchhiking from Prague to Århus

    I’m back in Denmark for a while. Spent two days hitchhiking the 900 km from Prague, Czech Republic to århus in Denmark. It’s going to be a couple of days hanging out with friends and family back here in the Mothercountry. It was a fun trip home and it’s really nice to be back 🙂 I’ll write more when I got more time. A video should also be coming up.

    Update the video is here:

  • Hitchhiking video: From Copenhagen to Aalborg

    I finally got around to edit the clips I took from my trip to Jylland.

    I had four different rides, all of them was with interesting people. The trip took 5 hours which is pretty good. The only lag I had was in the beginning where it took about 40 minutes to get the first ride from the entrance of Holbækmotorvejen.

  • På tomlen – et alternativ til DSB

    Når man bliver gammel efter DSBs definition bliver det ret dyrt at rejse i Danmark, især hvis man er studerende. En returbillet fra Aalborg til Vojens koster for eksempel kr. 548 uden mulighed for rabatter med mindre man køber et 10-turskort til kr. 2200.

    Med køreledninger der falder ned, gamle skinner og cola-dåser er det langtfra altid at en tur med DSB er så glidende, som man burde kunne forvente, så hvorfor ikke blaffe?

    Der er ikke så mange der blaffer i Danmark, selvom det er en billig og nem måde at rejse på. Jeg tror en af grundene er en (ubegrundet?) frygt for at det skulle være farligt, men de blaffere jeg har talt med har ikke haft ubehagelige oplevelser. På Hospitality Club diskutere et par af de erfarne oplevelser og holdninger til faren. En anden grund kunne måske være at man ikke har lyst til at tale med ukendte mennesker. I USA er small talk i bussen, supermarkedet og ved fodgængerovergangen meget almindelig, men det er ret sjældent det sker i Danmark.


    I USA er hitchhiking stort set ikke eksisterende i dag, hvorimod det i 60erne var ganske udbredt.
    Hitchhiking

    Jeg har selv blaffet i Danmark omkring et dusin gange og har kun haft positive oplevelser med det.

    Det eneste problem har været at man ikke kan vide på forhånd hvor lang tid det tager at komme fra A til B. Som hovedregl er jeg dog kommet frem til min destination omtrend samtidig (+/-1 time), som hvis jeg havde taget DSB. Min sidste tur fra København til Aalborg tog 5:30 time, DSB tager 4:20-5:00.

    Positive ting ved at blaffe er prisen, jeg har endnu ikke betalt en øre for at rejse. Derudover møde man næsten altid nogle spændende mennesker (og et par kedelige).

    Jeg blev i går spurgt efter nogle råd til hvad man skal tænke på når man blaffer, så her min tjekliste:

    • Hav noget lyst tøj på og se ordentlig ud (hvis det kan lade sig gøre)
    • Brug ikke hat eller solbriller
    • Smil og skab øjenkontakt med dem der passerer
    • Lav et skilt med din destination eller et delmål (KBH, Aalborg, Jylland, Kolding)
    • Få fat på et gratis kort over danske motorveje Kan downloades her eller findes ved alle rastepladser.
    • Sørg altid for at komme af ved en tankstation så længe du kører på motorvejen. (Det er så meget hurtigere)
    • Ved tankstationer gå rundt til biler og spørg om du kan få et lift
    • Hav tålmodighed

    Hvis man gerne vil vide mere om at blaffe, har følgende ressourcer været til stor gavn for mig:

    Hvis man ikke har lyst til at blaffe er der også to danske sider der formidler samkørsel, hvor man kan få et lift og deles om udgiften; Pendler.net og GoMore.dk.

  • Turen hjem

    Det tog lang tid at blaffe til Sønderjylland i dag, men der var et par sjove rides imellem. Her kommer en længere smøre, så klik på More hvis du vil læse mere.

    Det startede rigtigt elendigt med at støvregne i Aalborg. Jeg ved ikke om det også lægger en dæmper på folks lyst til at samle blaffer op – men det vælger jeg at tro på.
    Efter næsten en time på min flise var jeg ved at miste modet fuldstændigt og mit tøj, sko og tasker begyndte så småt at være gennemblødt. Men lige da støvregnen gik over i “rigtig” regn dukkede min redningsmand op.

    Første lift var med en styrmand, han var cool. Han havde læst procesingeniør i Aalborg og arbejdede på Ørstedssatelitten som sit speciale tilbage i slutfirserne. Men da han var færdig var der ikke arbejde at få, så i stedet blev han erhvervsdykker og var blandt andet med til at forberede hævelsen af den ubåd som Den Blå Avis sponsorerede engang i halvfemserne. Dykker-livet var han færdig med efter at han havde dykkersyge, og derfor havde været lam i dele af kroppen i ½ år. Nu var han så skipper eller styrmand.

    Det næstsidste lift var med en 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 – en mo’fo’ af en skude. Ejeren var en politimand, der efter 4 år på Nørrebro var vendt tilbage til det sønderjyske. Og han kunne så fortælle at Toftlund var den værste af de små byer, når det kom til kriminalitet sådan generelt set. Det er så gået hen over hovedet på mig, men det er vel også godt nok…

    Derudover var der læreren på vej til sin søns afskedsdag på efterskolen, en randrusianer der skulle til en ret vild polterabend og endelig fragtmanden, som jeg lovede en øl på Kløften i morgen, for at han skaffer mig et lift til Kbh på søndag.

    En ganske god tur, selvom den tog lidt længere end nødvendig. Jeg kvajede mig ved at blive sat af ved almindelige afkørsler i stedet for at komme af på en tankstation. Det går som regel hurtig at finde et lift på rastepladserne, og mange af dem der kører ind på rastepladser er folk der kører længere ture.