Hitching around the world
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Gu Yue and Liu Chang in front of Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Photos: Gu Yue and Liu Chang. |
Gu also noted that the Beijing to Berlin trip was not without its troubles. Even before they left, Gu said that visa applications for 13 countries often involved hours outside embassies and days of cutting through red tape. Then, each carrying a carefully-packed 40-kilogram backpack, simple language translations and three places to hide money, Gu Yue and Liu Chang finally set foot on the road.
"The most difficult part of the whole trip was getting out of Beijing! It took us almost four hours to get a ride and we were told to leave the gas station we were waiting at," Gu recalled.
A woman finally agreed to take them to Shijiazhuang, 324 kilometers north, after scrutinizing their identifi-cation and calling The Travel Channel to confirm their story.
"For me hitchhiking is very basic, a very root way of traveling, it is very cheap, but also it allows you to connect to the local people, because you really need help from them. Because of this neutral help, you get the sense of humanity of everywhere," Gu explained.
"You never know what will happen each night, where you will stay and where you will arrive," Liu Chang add-ed. "You can have the happiest time every day, especially when a driver agrees to take you on the road."
During the trip, the pair encountered a drunk driver who almost drove them off a cliff, as well as a kind driver who helped pay for their hotel room. They met different types of people, visited different places and encountered happiness, sorrow, surprise and many touching moments. Gu said one of the most memorable was witnessing a wedding at an orphanage in Romania.
Gu and Liu's next trip is ambitious - 180 days, 16 countries and 33,000 kilometers, from the tip of Alaska to the bottom of Argentina, setting out in autumn.
"If you make up your mind to step out the first step, you will solve 90 percent of any problems," said Liu Hang, a travel documentary producer.
"The countries of South and North America are quite beautiful, we would like to take the chance to see them and it is the longest trip across the land, very exciting," Liu Chang added.
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