Bank Land Philippine

Hitchhiking is common in Europe as well as in other developed countries. Backpackers stand by the road, put their thumbs out, and more often than not, cars will stop and pick them up. It is an accepted way of traveling in a land where the transportation cost to be saved by hitchhiking can be considerable.

In Asia, however, and in the Philippines in particular, hitchhiking is virtually unheard of. Public transportation is cheap and more than aplenty, since people rely on it more. The tales of foreigners being victimized by scammers and thieves while traveling have all the more made hitchhiking the least preferred mode of transportation in the country, if it is at all considered.

A Hitchhiker’s Experience in the Philippines

A 25-year-old musician, journalist, and traveler from Armenia, however, vehemently objected to the perception of hitchhiking as unsafe and impossible to do in the Philippines. In an interview, Artyom Babayan, also a CouchSurfing member, lamented the fact that even Filipinos themselves don’t see hitchhiking as a feasible mode of transport in the country.