Hitchhiking

"Hey, there are these two-port USB things for the standard 12 V socket (the "cigarette lighter") in my closet! Maybe I should actually write a word or two about them on that community!"

So, let me spill out something about useful hitchhiking paraphernalia

• That 2-socket USB. Outside Europe it is still relatively common that the only USB port a car has is used for charging the driver's GPS or phone. I'm carrying a 12 V plug with 2 USB sockets so that I can plug the driver's device to that and still also charge my own phone.
• A small laptop with a 7 hour battery life, plus a laptop charger that can be plugged into the 12 V socket were a wonderful combination! Even in middle of the complete emptiness of Kazakhstan I never ran out of battery on my laptop because I could charge it in every car. Obviously this meant my laptop essentially ran on gasoline, which is not necessarily the most eco-friendly way to charge your computer. But, it's possible.
• A low tent in a dark colour. I had a dark-green Forclaz 2 tent, which is tall enough in one spot to sit upright, but otherwise had just enough space for my legs not to hit the ceiling. It was surprising how easy it was to camouflage it almost invisible! That tent model is now discontinued, but the concept was of a lot of use for me, until a horse stepped on the tent and broke it. Meh.
• A small cooker that can be fed with branches. It produces so little smoke that you can hide in almost any roadside ditch and nobody will know you're cooking with fire right next to the national arterial road!
• Cooking oil, garlic, soy sauce, spice powders. With those, you can make a different food each morning and evening, out of just a few ingredients! Also, cooking oil is good help for starting a fire in some circumstances. It needs to heat up to quite a high temperature so that it starts vaporizing and is able to burn. But once it burns, it is able to help even relatively wet wood start burning hot enough that the rest of sticks will catch fire as well!
• A very thick marker pen. Because there are situations where it is very useful to write a sign saying which way you're trying to go.
• Duct tape. And: They basically don't sell duct tape in Asia! Everything I was able to dig up in central Asia, China or Thailand was of a very low quality compared to what I was used to back home! So, bring enough from back home if duct tape is a necessity for you like it is for me 🤣

And of course: On highway service areas you can very often find food people have left uneaten and clearly untouched. Easy way to stay fed! I kept bringing dirty dishes to the rack where they are supposed to be brought. When the workers see you help them while waiting for leftover food to appear, they don't seem to care of you being in some corner where you don't disturb the paying customers.

Happy travels! 👍

A while ago I was talking with friends about Ätken-Chai (or Atkan-Chai), a drink made of black tea, milk, salt, and butter. That's made by uyghurs and while hitchhiking through East Türkestan, I fell in love with that drink!
They also taught me how to make it by myself. I've never been able to get it quite as tasty as the various Uyghurs I met along the way made it.

The black tea must be strong, but not too strong, the amount of milk must be correct, it must be added at the correct time, there must be the correct amount of salt, there must be the correct amount of butter. It's basically nutritional quantum chemistry.

But okay, I decided to learn how to really make it properly. It was made in front of my eyes, but I also asked for the instructions. So, the insturctions I received in East Türkestan went about his way:
– "The tea should be made strong"
– "How strong?"
– "Suitably strong so that the taste is best possible for you."
– "And how much milk?"
– "According to taste."
– "Salt?"
– "According to taste."
– "Butter?"
– "According to taste."

Okay. That's one very useful recipe I had received! Hooray.

So, off I go to the depths of Internet. I get told that I can also add sour cream instead of butter? Probably yeah, but everywhere the made ätken-chai for me, it was always with butter. And there seemed to be something of a standard taste I got used to. I cannot find any reliable information for how to really make the perfect ätken-chai.

My ätken-chai is probably a lot worse than that made by any Uyghur on this planet, but it is probably among the 5 best ätken-chais made by Finns without Uyghurs in their family.

But how does this text fit here? It does, because if I had travelled in a way almost any other than hitchhiking, I would either not have encountered that tasty drink at all, or at least I would not have enjoyed it at people's homes. Nobody would have taught me how to make it.

One of the reasons I love hitchhiking is in the many cultural contacts you would otherwise never make!