First Hitchhiking

Background

I joined a group who were travelling from jodhpur to jaiselmer (The World Famous Golden City). On the way we decided to visit “amazing desert camp” which is in the outskirt of jaisalmer around 40kms far from the city which is pretty far.

We reached there late evening. Their traditional tented accommodations is located in the heart of the world famous Indian Great Thar Desert. In the evening we witnessed traditional Rajasthani folk dance, Kalbelia Dance, Gypsy Dance and Traditional music, then we had delicious Rajasthani buffet dinner.

After a peaceful nights sleep I woke up early morning and took the camel safari where the afghani guide took me to watch the beautiful sunrise over the peaceful and private dunes. It was my first camel ride which I saved to experience only on desert. I did some yoga asan on the desert and the guide was very patient to take capture those moments. Wen I came back I enjoyed Indian style buffet breakfast, met my traveler group who woke up late after late night party. They had plan to go to the longewala border but I wanted to visit Jaisalmer city so I decided to bid them bye but it was already mid day and I got vehicles to drop me to the city. The manager of the amazing desert camp dropped me in a petrol bunk where I had to ask for a lift to reach my destination.

Here comes the interesting part, where I stood on the roadside and very self-consciously showed the universal hand signal, i.e. sticking your thumb out, either pointing upward or in the direction of travel. Some hitchhikers may also carry handwritten cardboard signs denoting their intended destinations.

While hitchhiking was common practice in the past, these days it has declined and is often perceived as dangerous for both the hitchhikers and drivers. Some countries, like Singapore, have outright banned it.

Let’s face it — it takes a certain level of courage to get into a stranger’s car. Overcoming your fear and people’s prejudices makes you stronger mentally, and if you succeed, you will feel like nothing is impossible.

After two cars passed by without stopping, I gave up. That was too much rejection for me to handle in one day. I was strictly instructed to not hitch on a bike and once I get into a stranger’s car I should call the manager and make him talk to the driver.

Apart from the obvious safety concerns, I was also extremely embarrassed about standing alone on the roadside, facing the oncoming traffic. And then there was also the problem of not knowing what to do and how to behave if I did get a ride. What should I talk about? Where do I look? What if the driver doesn’t speak my language? What if he/she finds me boring?

For some reason, I always feel super awkward being in an enclosed space with another person, even if it’s a close friend — which is why I avoid going on road trips or taking the elevator if I can help it.

After an hour of standing there, a car slowed to a stop ahead of me. The driver turned around and asked me if I was going to jaisalmer. I shouted, “YES!”, and he motioned me to hop on.

I was practically jumping for joy, load my rucksack in the backseat and got in the car. The driver introduced himself as Bhanu Pratap Singh Shikhawat, had a gentle look on his face, wearing ear studs. Apparently, he also got a desert camp in that area and he is returning to his home at jaisalmer. It was a very comfortable ride — we started talking, got to know about each other, then he offered me to show a place called Kuldhara which is on the way to the city and I said a good deed needs no permission. :-D

Kuldhara is an abandoned village in the Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan, India. Established around the 13th century, it was once a prosperous village inhabited by Paliwal Brahmins. It was abandoned by the early 19th century for unknown reasons, possibly because of dwindling water supply, an earthquake, or as a local legend claims, because of the atrocities by the Jaisalmer State's minister Salim Singh.

While on the way, Bhanu ji asked about my stay and arranged a better accommodation at his friend’s hotel. That’s so nice of him. Then he dropped me safely at the hotel and left. Next day also he paid a visit and guided me to see all the local attractions of Jaisalmer.