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Getting
around Russia hitchhiking
Equipment. You will need a backpack, raincoat, good shoes,
warm jumper, perhaps a tent, some cash (and not credit cards or
cheques), also a gas cooker will help. Don't take too much stuff
or you won't get a lift.
Where to start. You can wave down any car anywhere in Russia,
and a driver (either taxi or a normal private car) will give you
a lift, but only for money in a city. The good thing is that just
a moment after you wave down a car, somebody will stop ready to
give you a lift. The bad thing is that they will definitely want
money. Usually it's about 8-10 R ($0.25-$0.3) for a kilometer inside
a city.
So, it can take quite long to hitchhike from the city. It's much
better and more efficient to go slightly outside of the city (by
a local train, for example), go on a busy motorway and hitchhike
there. The best places to hitchhike are gas stations (where the
cars come out), special stops for trucks (where the driver have
little picnics), next to traffic police stations or other places
where drivers have to slow down.
Who'll give you a lift. Mostly truck drivers (but not international
cargo trucks, because it's forbidden for them to pick up anybody),
other people, who want to communicate.
How to increase your chances. The fastest way to hitchhike
if you're a boy and a girl, because the drivers will always want
to help a girl, and as there'll be a boy, the girl won't have any
problems.
It's better to hitchhike when it's still daytime, somewhere around
8am and 8pm.
It's also nice to have a paper with your destination written. You
can try to do it both in Russian and in English (to increase your
chances that someone stops), but then the person who stops might
want to just rob you
Relevant websites: You can read an interesting report (with photos)
about hitchhiking
in Russia by Peter Reitsma from Holland.
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