Hitchhiking: essential art of backpacking Shit happens. There is only one bus from Kassiopi to Corfu port on Sundays scheduled at 5:45pm. Grave mistake: I together with Eleni, the owner of the apartment where i stayed thought it was a Saturday where buses ply by the hour. I have to catch the boat that will leave 5:45pm at Corfu and will arrive at 7:45pm at Igomenitsa, for me to catch the 8pm last trip bus that will leave from Igomenista to Athens, Greece. At 1:30pm, I left Kassiopi on foot up to the highway where a distance of 34km to my port destination, Corfu City. Clearly, there was no bus, I have been walking 3 bus stops waiting shed and every waiting shed, a schedule of 5:45pm on Sundays always haunts my eye. A good 3 hour fast walk would lead me to my destination versus waiting for 4 hours at the bus station and not catching the 5:45 boat. After a fast 1 kilometer walk or so, the heat and the crumbling of my feet started to get real... i have to hitchhike! One, two, three cars passed me by... not stopping by my thumbs up signal for hitchhike. Still walking for another kilometer, pickups, motorcycles, a lot of them doesnt really bother or maybe they do not know the term hitchhike in greece. Against all hopes, i kept on raising my hands and thumbs up way way up and Alas! a small minivan/closevan/multicab type stopped. The driver understood english a little bit, he was just going home about 8 kilometers away. Not bad for an 8km walkrest so i did hitchhiked. He is a greek home builder named Carpi who is so proud of his nice beach hometown Gimadi. 8 kilometers less, 26 to go! Another walk uphill and man it was gruelsome! If the road was plain flat, then it would be so easy but it was like a snake going up and up the mountains of Corfu and down and up... all up! Not a single car passed me by for 20 minutes, and suddenly incoming cars behind came rushing in towards their small 2-lane and sometimes 1-lane road, and so did my thumbs-up-arm-stretched hands! A small red car heard my call and an Albanian hard working man came to my rescue named Fatmir, these people who granted my prayers have dirty hands and dirty clothes all over them because they came from work on a sunday. The working class has the heart, the tourist class and middle class doesnt! Thats a fact. For sure in Greece there is no incident of hitchhiker killers at noon, my point is helping people in need doesnt take that much. I dont really blame them for not stopping because its their prerogative not to, cant force em, cant blame em, in the first place, theres a public transport that run just on a little bit late. :p Back to Fatmir the Albanian, he work at a town named Ipsos which is at least 14 kilometers from where I was which gives me only 12 kilometers remaining to Corfu port. Gladly, in Ipsos there is a Blue bus that runs by the hour off to Corfu, hurrahh! for 2 euros only. If it werent for these 2 good workers, I wouldnt have boarded the 5:45 boat. (writing inside the boat) If there is a will, there is a way Elena Mantziou Happy hitchhiker. :) PS. My life would have been easier if i took the 50 f*cking-too much euro Taxi fare from Kassiopi to Corfu, in return with that comfort and expense, there would be no Happy hitchhiker story! which do you prefer guys? fyi. I got the 8pm bus to Athens! 20 minute earlier! 7 hours travel. (writing here at ATHENS GREEEEECE!!! hooha!!!)
Posted on: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 01:09:01 +0000
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