TRAVELING AROUND THE WORLD BY HITCHHIKING

Writer: Ayça Olcaytu İşçen
May 2008

We were invited as guest speaker to a TV show called ‘Biz Bize’ on Kanal B, one of the national TV channel in Turkey. During the TV show we met with Jeremy Marie from France. He was 24 years old and traveling around the world by hitchhiking. We offered him help to organize his trip in Cappadocia. We got in contact with Mustafapaşa Municipality and Güzelyurt Province and thanks to them they hosted Jeremy, organized trips for him and helped him to meet with the people and discover the culture of the region.

A glance to Cappadocia from Uçhisar Castle
The first stop for Jeremy was Aksaray Güzelyurt; there he has visited Cami Church (Mosque Church), Sivişli Church, Yüksek Church (Tall Church), Kızıl Church (Red Church), Monastery Valley as well as Gaziemir Underground City, Ihlara Valley and Belisırma. He has also had the chance of tasting the local tastes as he has been hosted by one of the houses in the district for breakfast. After Güzelyurt, he has gone to Nevşehir and there he has visited Kaymakli Underground City, Göreme, Ürgüp, Mustafapaşa, Uçhisar, Avanos, Çavuşin, Zelve and Paşabağları.
He says that from Uçhisar Castle he likes gazing Cappadocia that captured him by its landscape. One of the natural beauties that touched him a lot was the chimneys surrounds Göreme. He was tranced by the changing view of rocks and chimneys almost every single hour. He was also impressed by the old houses of Mustafapaşa and Güzelyurt. But still he summarizes his Cappadocia as: “The traditional hospitality of the people and their never ending smiles together with the silence of the region give tranquility. Here one feels the freedom”. Jeremy pointed out that four days he spent in Cappadocia were not enough for him and he adds “I will be back in Turkey around 3 years later, at the end of my world trip. Then I would like to spend more time in Cappadocia, walk through the valleys especially and to board on a hot air balloon.”

Jeremy Marie’s Project; Traveling around the World by Hitchhiking
Marie started his traveling in Europe; he reached Turkey via Italy, Slovakia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia. If there would be no change in his plans, he would follow of the route of Syria, Jordan, Egypt, East Africa Cost, South America Countries, USA, Canada, Alaska, the New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, China, India, Pakistan, Iran and he would be back to France via Turkey. To complete this route would take around 3 years.
Including the sea routes, all the stages of this trip will be by hitchhiking. At the end of his trip we will learn how many different kinds of vehicles that he uses for this trip because he is writing down each one he takes. In every place he visits, he is being hosted by the people whom he met beforehand through internet with the help of various tour sites. In addition, he is able to find sponsors for himself.
Jeremy transfers all his experiences stage by stage to a website. As he goes back to France, he will share all his observations and experiences with the pupils. Another aim of Jeremy is to make kids dream about being a traveler.

In order to have more information please visit:  www.tour-du-monde-autostop.fr
Turkey links: http://www.tour-du-monde-autostop.fr/carnet_de_bord-details_en.php?id=16
http://www.tour-du-monde-autostop.fr/carnet_de_bord-details_en.php?id=17