A few days ago we hitched hiked from Osaka to Kyoto. We are new to hitch hiking so this was a really good test for us since hitch hiking is going to be our main way of getting around in North America.
We checked out of our hotel at 8.30 am and ran some errands before going to the closest Expressway Inter Change where we were hoping to get picked up. We were both so excited! I was laughing and singing to every car that passed by and really sent them my best smile along with the longest thumb I could manage! But no luck. I remembered Thailand when we tried hitch hiking for the very first time. We wanted to go to a restaurant a couple of towns away but didn't have enough money to go there so we decided to hitch hike. We found a good spot and stood there for about 30 seconds before we got picked up by the very first car that drove by. What luck!
Anyway, back to Osaka. We stood there for maybe 30 minutes before we were approached by a pedestrian on the street. The pedestrian spoke little English and looked concerned. "This way is not to Kyoto". We saw the pedestrians hand pointing in another direction - "Kyoto!". Then we were told to wait and saw our new Japanese friend disappear behind a corner. Suddenly the pedestrian came back and told me to follow them. We walked for about a minute to a small room in an alley. The pedestrian picked up a phone and gave it to me. It was the police! Clearly I was meant to ask them how to get to Kyoto. I was feeling scared at first because I didn't know if hitch hiking was even legal in Japan! But I don't like lying and this person was so nice trying to help us so I decided to be honest and told the police officer on the phone that I was trying to hitch hike to Kyoto and was wondering which highway I should be at. The police officer just laughed and said "Haha, I think hitch hiking might be hard but there is an Inter Change on the main road just outside the booth you're standing in, maybe you can try there!". I was relieved and felt happy about telling the truth. Our Japanese friend said goodbye and I thanked them so much for their help. Ironically the Inter Change the police officer was talking about was the one we were already at. As I was leaving the booth I ran in to two other police officers. They looked at me and said "Okay?" I said "Okay!" and we all laughed and said "Okay" a couple of more times as I left the booth.
Back at the main road we decided to try for a while longer but we had no luck. This was a bad spot for hitching a ride. We decided to take the subway to a more convenient location. I had read online that 7-elevens are a good place to get picked up. At the 7-eleven we were staring to lose hope because we were in the center of downtown Osaka and it didn't seem like the cars could pull over anywhere. But we were standing pretty much under the Expressway so I decided to find the closest Inter Change instead. After a couple of minutes I found it and we decided to relocate there. At this point we were talking about taking the train instead because we were really close to the train station. But Sab got my spirit up and we tried again. This time it was really hard. I mean, we were standing in the middle of perfection. Everyone was dressed like dolls and just looked amazing and I felt like a total bum standing in the middle of all that with my thumb up. People were staring and laughing and I felt like an idiot. But once again Sab encouraged me and it was such a great challenge for me to keep trying. I had decided to stay out there for at least two hours before giving up this time. My arm was really hurting. I never knew that hitch hiking could take such a toll on ones body!
I can't remember exactly how long I stood by that road but suddenly a car actually stopped. The window was already down and I heard a voice say "Doko made?! Kyoto?" - "Where to!? Kyoto?". Such. A. Relief. I wasn't an idiot after all. It was totally possible to hitch a ride from downtown Osaka. We got in the car and we were off!
It was a very interesting drive because I knew about as much Japanese as they knew English. But they were such nice people. And we communicated the best we could. Actually they were just bored when they picked us up, meaning - they weren't even headed for Kyoto! We had a great drive there and talked about Sweden, Japan, veganism, music and other things. We got to hear some really cool Japanese music and we played them one of our songs. When we arrived they took us to the Kiyomizu-dera temple and we explored together before they dropped us of at the train station in Kyoto. Wow, what a great day!
It was getting late when we finally arrived at the train station so rather than finding a very pricey Japanese hotel we decided to take a night bus to Tokyo instead. And here we are now. In just 4 days we are boarding the ship to Canada. SO EXCITED! I can't wait to do more hitch hiking in Canada!
Until then,
Blue skies,
Berra
