Bowler 0 Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 Hey, u ever hitch-hiked before. last weekend i went all the way to Yamagata ken from Saitama city taking a total of just under 12 hours. although it took me for frigging ever i discovered that hitch-hiking in Japan was rather easy with the maximum waiting time being just 20 mins. so, six cars later (including a mini and a rather flash BMW), a full belly of onigiri, 10,000 yen the richer (been given to me by a rather generous ojiisan) and not to mention my beer coupon for two jokies of kirin, i arrived. not bad for a days work. so; you ever been hitch-hiking before? if so, where'd you go? ps. i shinked it back, stuff hiking it back for a bunch of geoffries! Link to post Share on other sites
cal 6 Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 He gave you money?? Link to post Share on other sites
amandanism 0 Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 not long distances. and would never do it alone. just a lift to the train station, down the road etc. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted May 10, 2003 Share Posted May 10, 2003 Hitch hiking in Japan is great. People are kind and take you right to where you want to go. I've been dropped off at my door several times, once with a bike with a punctured tyre. Waiting 20 min for a lift seems on the long side - 10 is more like it. My wife gets really annoyed with me about hitchhiking, but when you have more time than money, or no other option, nothing beats it. Some of the most interesting conversations I've had with people ever, were when hitchhiking. For a lot of people it's like a confessional and they tell you all sorts of funny stuff about themselves. I've only had a few slightly unnerving experiences, and none of them were in Japan. Link to post Share on other sites
snowboard_freak 0 Posted May 10, 2003 Share Posted May 10, 2003 Unnerving experiences aye? Do tell. Link to post Share on other sites
danz 0 Posted May 10, 2003 Share Posted May 10, 2003 I hitchhiked through most of Shikoku and it was fantastic...5-15min was the norm waiting time...like bowler and o11 say, the people are just fantastic and so generous...I was treated to fine meals, out of the way scenic routes, and just good ole fun conversation... a great way to meet the locals and get around... danz Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted May 10, 2003 Share Posted May 10, 2003 Done it a few times in the UK once - no crazy stories to report, just big truckers with their Yorkie bars. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted May 10, 2003 Share Posted May 10, 2003 Ive only done it in BC Canada. I had great times doing it. Got in 2 accidents in 5 monthes though. Ed the local was a character and a half, buddy just wanted someone to smoke with so he picked me up. Link to post Share on other sites
oblivion 5 Posted May 11, 2003 Share Posted May 11, 2003 Never done it, never been interested in doing it. Link to post Share on other sites
mikazooki 0 Posted May 12, 2003 Share Posted May 12, 2003 i must be ugly... took about 40 mins for me and a bud to get a lift in the middle of the mountains, one obon... but we got a sweet lift right to where we were going when it did come. both times i hitched up a mountain in nz i ended up in the hospital on the hill so im off the hitch with a snowboard. had good luck in oz hitching down the great ocean road.. never waited more than 5 mins for a lift, sometimes stepping from one car to another in the same group of traffic. Link to post Share on other sites
Bowler 0 Posted May 12, 2003 Author Share Posted May 12, 2003 Soz for the late reply Cal. yeah he gave me money. i suppose it should be the other way round right? some old geezer and his four old grannies in a camper van. got dropped off at a service station and he basically forced me into taking it. i tried to say no thanks but he was having none of it! as for the waiting time, oceans right. the longest was 20 mins but i averaged about 10 for each. the exit roads of service stations are the place to be for the quickest get away! the best ride i took was the last one. Flying up the motorway in a flashy BMW. top stuff! however, the best one had to be the hippy in the mini with my snowboard sticking out the sun roof! the dude had these fake marjuana leaves hanging from his mirror! top ride! Link to post Share on other sites
enderzero 0 Posted May 12, 2003 Share Posted May 12, 2003 Ha ha! That's great Bowler! You do it mainly for the adventure? I used to do it here and there in the states. Many many times after a back country hike lead out to the road we would hitch back up to the resort. But my best adventure was one summer when I caught a ride in the back of an old 70s converted ambulance that the kids in the back had stuck a fake leg and arm hanging out the back door. Hitch hiking can be great fun, and after you do it a little you are always more likely to pick up a hitch hiker as well. Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted May 12, 2003 Share Posted May 12, 2003 Another wacko yet true story from db: When I was a teenager I would HH quite a bit. My buddie and I were once picked up and got chatting. The driver was about 30yo and we were both 17. He offered us a smoke so we pulled up and had a chuff on the side of the road. Then he says "hey guys, check out the photos in the glove box". They were of some nice looking chick.... naked. "Whad'ya reckon fellas, shes alright, hey?"...... "She's my wife." The chatter and photo looking continued and the driver asked us if we would do him a favour: "hey fellas, do you want to film me 'making love' to my wife?". We were sort of unsure what to say. My mate started to freak out and just kept saying over and over "I have homework to do, gotta go home". The driver was pretty keen to get the camera out so he offered both of us the opportunity to 'make love' to his wife. I was so friggin bent I started to freak out a little as well, but mainly due to my mate repeating "I have homework to do, gotta go home" and going really pale whilst staring at a fixed point in the distance. I don't think he blinked for 10 minutes. The driver spent ages trying to convince us and really started to tell us some rather 'out there' stuff that we were free to do to/with his wife.... while he watched. In the end we declined and he dropped us off in town. After that day I saw he and his wife on the street several times. She was a nice looking lady, I really wish I had of 'made love' to her. 100% true. please feel free to replace the unrealistic 'making love' with what ever verb you prefer. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted May 12, 2003 Share Posted May 12, 2003 db, my sympathies. Most of my friends have been people like that - the 'rather do their homework than shag freak's wives' sort of friends. Bad luck eh? I remember when our car broke down on the motorway once, and I had to persuade my mate to hitch-hike. It took him a really long time to reconcile himself to the idea. But after a while, he began to dig the concept of travelling free just by sticking out your thumb. I then had to stop him jigging about on the hard shoulder jerking his thumb up and down and grinning at every vehicle that went past. He was a big bastard, nearly 7-feet tall with jug ears and a big nose, and he wasn't making a very good impression. I had to get him to sit down on the grass verge and learn how cool hitch-hikers do it. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted May 13, 2003 Share Posted May 13, 2003 db, you have the most amazing bank of stories Link to post Share on other sites
base40 0 Posted May 13, 2003 Share Posted May 13, 2003 Used to do a bit when I was at uni - out of necessity, no cash " title="" src="graemlins/cry.gif" /> Link to post Share on other sites
Bowler 0 Posted May 13, 2003 Author Share Posted May 13, 2003 No way DB. Is that really true? you should've ragged her silly mate! Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted May 13, 2003 Share Posted May 13, 2003 Of course, he mightn't be alive to today if he had... Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted May 13, 2003 Share Posted May 13, 2003 My best ever was on a trip back from Japan. The Japanese lady in the next seat said she was hiring a car and heading North. In the end she took me and my gear from Heathrow Airport to my parents place, some 300 miles away. I've hitched Tokyo-Osaka several times. It's as easy as everyone says. I used to get on the Tomei at Yoga Interchange 20 mins or so from Shibuya. The ramp is 5 mins from the station. Link to post Share on other sites
nekobi 0 Posted May 13, 2003 Share Posted May 13, 2003 anyone read even cowgirls get the blues? just finished it and now i want to hitchhike all over japan. just done it once here. took a long bus to a ski field and hitched back in a third of the time. nothing special about the ride, couldn't speak much j at that point. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted May 13, 2003 Share Posted May 13, 2003 Perhaps me and 2pints,mate could hitch around Nagano. But maybe our complete lack of nihongo would be a bit too much of a downer. Link to post Share on other sites
frannyo 2 Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 I've never done it myself, but it looks like it has the possibility of being either the best of worst kind of experience. Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 yes, it is a true story. I am very glad I never did take him up on the offer. At the time I was pretty young and was quietly freaking out. I would never rag another guys wife at his request and with him present. You guessed it, a mate of mine did a fair few years ago and half way through the act the husband stopped playing the guitar in the corner of the room (whilst watching) and just went nutters. All of a sudden it didn't seem like such a good idea to watch your new wife getting nailed by some guy she works with. My mate pooed himself and ran. Seriously, what is the weirdest? - the fact that the invitee worked with the wife? - the fact that they had been married for only a few weeks? - the fact that he was playing the acoustic guitar whilst watching? - the fact that she had only slept with 1 guy (her hubby) and he felt sorry for her so he invited may mate to boost her hump count? This has nothing to do with hitch hiking. Link to post Share on other sites
Davo 1 Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 True db but it a damn good story so keep em coming. I think the guitar strumming was a particularly odd twist. I used to hitch a fair bit in NZ and mostly it was a good laugh. One scary ride was with this guy who picked me up on the West Coast in rain so heavy that clear visibility was down to 100m or so-real West Coast rain. As he sped along towards Arthurs Pass from Jacksons Pub at up to 140 km/ph he mentioned how he was keen not to write-off his new car. The primary reason for this was that he'd just gotten out of jail after serving time for a drink driving accident in which one of his mates died. Luckily he calmed down on the speed once we hit the Pass road and I made it all the way to Christchurch in one piece. He may just have been pulling my leg (as West Coasters are known to do) about the jail story, but the speed freaked me out a bit. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 Yeah, the speeders unfortunately tend to be especially likely to pick up hitch-hikers. You get where you want to go quickly, but in state of semi-collapse. Some bloke in a flashy Opel picked me up on the autobahn in Germany. He was very friendly to me, but extremely hostile to every other driver. Indeed, not only was he hell-bent on overtaking every single one of them no matter how fast they were going, he was also cursing them and 1 out of 3 times, turned right round in his seat to give them the finger. Not a quick flip mind you, a long, lingering glare and the finger, all at close to 200 kph. I very nearly grabbed the wheel myself a couple of times. One ratty little truck driver also delighted in pointing out that if I tried any funny stuff, he could send me flying straight through the windscreen just by touching his brakes. First he pointed out that there was no seatbelt on the passenger side, then he touched his brakes. I went flying out of the seat, and he let his foot off just before I would have hit the windshield. I had asked him if he had ever had any trouble with hitch-hikers, and he seemed to take this badly. This sort of thing is not very common though. More often I've been sorry the ride has to come to an end. Link to post Share on other sites
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