World traveler Hannah Bolder boldly takes a more sustainable method of getting back to Europe from India - hitchhiking.
"Everywhere in the world there is just people, people having the same dreams, fears, struggles, problems and questions as you may have."
What is your name?
It is Hannah Bolder
Where are you from?
I was born in a village in the east of the Netherlands, but I am currently living in Antwerp, Belgium.
What is your occupation?
I am a master student (of) Human Rights
What did you do for your trip this past winter?
Last year I spent 7 months in India. In the summer of 2018 I hitchhiked the entire stretch of the country, south to north. In September I settled in New Delhi for a couple of months, pursuing a semester at a university over there. After the university semester finished, I wanted to hitchhike home from there. Unfortunately I couldn’t enter Pakistan due to visa regulations.. I flew to eastern Iran instead and started hitchhiking home from there.
What made you want to travel across the middle east?
Well, first and foremost that’s the most logical route coming from India, going to Belgium. Apart from that, the countries constituting ‘the middle-east’ are known for a rich and old culture, being the ‘source of all modern civilization’. Who wouldn’t want to see that!?
What were some essentials that you decided to take with you?
Easy! My French pocket knife! I go nowhere without it!
Why did you decide hitchhike instead of renting a car/buying plane tickets/taking a train or bus?
For environmental reasons, I try to avoid flying altogether.. Unfortunately that was not possible this trip! I had to fly over Pakistan, because I wasn’t allowed in.. Apart from that I really prefer to travel by means of hitchhiking as much as I possibly can. I did over 35,000 kilometers of hitchhiking in my life I guess. Not only in the middle-east. In India, morocco (and the Western Sahara) and Europe as well. I once described it as being the way of traveling with the lowest carbon-footprint and the highest cultural impact possible.
Were there any language barriers or are you fluent in the native tongue?
Oh gosh no! Google translate for the win! And if that’s not possible, no shame !Use those hands and feet! Especially in Iran it was close to impossible to speak to the people I met on the road. At one point I got extremely lucky and encountered someone studying French in university. With him I spend about ten days. He was almost fluent in French and he was able to tell me a lot about the Iranian culture and politics. He was very interesting to meet!
What countries/cities did you visit?
Coming from India and going to Belgium I hitchhiked across Iran, Iraq (Kurdistan), Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany and The Netherlands.
What did you gain from the experience? Hmmm.. It is a cliché to say ‘you shouldn’t believe what you see in the news and on other media’. I wouldn’t go as far as saying you shouldn’t believe it altogether. What you should keep in mind however is, those media are getting paid for telling stories; stories that grasp the public’s attention. No-one is interested in hearing about Amir who has a wife, a house, a car, two children and a paid job in the local hospital. In all countries I traveled to, the made-up story about Amir is the most common thing you will hear though. Everywhere in the world there is just people, people having the same dreams, fears, struggles, problems and questions as you may have. Turkey was bombing the area in Iraqi Kurdistan I was traveling through. Still, most stories I listened to were stories about love, life, missed opportunities, paths taken, successful businesses and unfortunate choices.
Did you meet any interesting people? Who were they and what made them stand out to you
So many people to mention. Every time I travel I meet new people who teach me something. The two people that deserve being mentioned here, I met in Iran. It was only the fifth day of my trip when I went through the most unfortunate experience. I hopped in a car offering me a ride. He was a man of around 35 years I guess. He had a friendly face. Like most Iranians, he did not speak English. We had a little chat over Google translate, but it wasn’t very remarkable. He promised to drive me to the next city. After a minute or 20, he indicated that he wanted to show me a forest area next to the highway. I refuses and explained I wanted to continue towards the city. He persisted and told me we would go to the city afterwards. I kept refusing, but he didn’t listen. After 5 minutes or so, he took a turn and we left the highway, entering what seemed to be a park. There were more people there, families. We, still driving, left those happy people behind and went deeper and deeper into the forest. After what must have been a 10 minutes’ drive, going deeper and deeper into the forest, my driver even left the track. We were in the middle of the forest now. He got out of the car and so did I. I was alert, suspicious, but I wanted to scan the area and plan a possible escape from the situation. Unfortunately I found none. As you may have guessed by now, the driver with the friendly face wanted ‘’more’ than just showing me the forest (which was stunning by the way). He asked me to get undressed and have sex. Of course I refused. He unbuttoned his pants and indicated that I had to suck him off. I refused again. I remembered reading an article by another female hitchhiker who had gone through such situations as well. She taught me to sort of involve God into the situation as a last resort. So I did. I gestured to the man in front of me that ‘He’ is always watching and disapproves behavior like that. My opponent was not at all impressed and he kept pushing me towards the blowjob and sex. The situation seemed helpless and I was out of ideas, apart from ‘stay calm’. When he tried to push me to the ground again, I hit him. That must have been both a blessing and a very bad idea. It was a blessing for now at least I did SOMETHING physical to ‘defend’ myself. On the other hand, the situation now really escalated for the first time. He dragged me back to the car by my hair. He got a screwdriver out of the dashboard and pushed me to the ground. For the first time I realized I was not going to make it by myself. I started to call for aid. I yelled ‘help’ a few times. He covered my mouth with his one hand and pushed me to the ground with the other hand. Every time he tried to unbutton my trousers, he used the same hand that covered my mouth, so I had a little while to breath and yell again. Then he used the screwdriver he got from his car. He gestured that he would hurt me if I wasn’t silent after the countdown. I decided to ignore his threat and await the countdown. He started at three, I yelled, two, I yelled, One, I yelled. He lifted the hand in which he held the screwdriver and I saw it swooping in the direction of my lower back. Then the softest touch I ever felt, followed. I honestly laughed at his half-heartedly attempt. This was the moment I realized he was too scared to actually pursue his actions. I kept yelling and after a few more minutes he gave up, let go of me and walked back to the car, weirdly, I was very determined not to let him have any gain out of the situation. My backpack was still in the back of the car, with my underwear inside it and no-way he would have it! I confidently walked back to the car with him and took out my backpack. He just got hold of my phone somehow, but I didn’t care. He jumped in the car and raced away, four car doors still open. I was afraid he would come back (he did), so I hid in the bushes for a while. I was afraid to follow the path in case he would return, so I went cross-country towards the park with the nice families. After a minute or 5 he indeed returned. He drove past over the main track a couple of times, but fortunately he didn’t see me.
I reached the park with the nice people and just then I knew I was safe. I made it.. I survived being kidnapped and a rape-attempt relatively ‘unharmed’. But what now? I had no phone and I looked dreadful.. I started to cry uncontrollably. Luckily I was in Iran and those sweet sweet Iranians hurried towards me and tried to help me immediately. One of them was a young woman whose name translated in English means ‘beautiful moon’. She spoke English and offered me to take me home to hers. On the way home I tried to tell my story, but I was crying constantly, so she bought me food instead. At hers, I met her friend, who speaks French fluently. I was in such good hands, I almost started believing in God. Together, my beautiful moon and my francophone friend took care of me for ten full days, until I was confident enough to hit the road again. Without them, I wouldn’t have continued after what happened in that forest.
What types of places did you stay?
Mostly with people I met on the road. I used couch surfing as well and I carried a tent, but it was very cold to camp.
What obstacles did you run into during your travels and how did you overcome them?
See question above. After the rape-attempt, I freaked out every time a man even hinted toward sex. As a female hitchhiker, I am used to it. But after that one bad experience, I was a lot less confident. Normally I would thug my shoulders, but it wasn’t that simple any longer. A few days after my departure from beautiful moon and her friend, a man asked me for a hand job and I immediately demanded to be dropped off somewhere, in the middle of the road in the dark in Iraq. I didn’t care.. as long as I could get out of that damn car. Apart from that I had gained a lot of (bad) internet attention. I ended up on 9gag and people threatened me over facebook. Many people wanted to see me dead somehow. Although the threats were less ‘real’ than the man in the forest, I was somehow more shocked by them actually. How can people that are unknown to me, disapprove of such a journey in such extreme ways? Luckily I have a thick skin and I decided to ignore the messages I got and to search my facebook profile every 30 minutes for unwanted, aggressive comments, before my grandmother would get to see those.
How did you ensure your safety as a woman during your travels?
Well, as anyone else I guess? I think you should take safety measures regardless your gender.
What were some of your favorite parts of the trip?
That is an impossible, unfair question. I was very happy in the south of turkey. There I met a French/Belgian couple living and traveling a similar route in a yellow van with their dog. I stayed three days with them and for the very first time after leaving Iran I could actually relax for a bit and not worry about where to sleep, what (if at all) to eat and staying safe (especially during nighttime).
What were some of your least favorite parts of the trip?
My first days alone after leafing beautiful moon. I got harassed a couple of more times in another city in Iran and I was completely fed up with the whole thing!
What was the most important lesson you learned from your trip?
If you don’t challenge yourself, you may end up chasing other people’s expectations, even if you think you are being original.
Shame is unnatural. It is a feeling of failing to meet certain bars or requirements set by others. Fuck that.
How did you recover from your trip?
I immediately had to go back to university, so no time for recovering.
What are you doing now?
Still in university.
Comments