A rundown of yesterday's events before arriving in Barca... [~ORIGINAL POST~]

Crossing the border to spain twice, in the same direction lol. Because the first time we were walking along the motorway/autoroute and were escorted off by police and so the second time we had to walk round the mountain for miles along the national road instead. Ran into the police again in spain and we're like "what now" but turns out they just want to tell us they've seen 3 other hitchers already, aw. We then walked 15 miles or so to the nearest town but since it was a sunday- couldnt get a ride with any lorries until 6pmish. That drive was cool but dropped us in the worst place ever. We then thought it would be a good idea to walk into the nearest town just outside barcelona to follow the autoroute, find another petrol station and carry on to barca. Big mistake, was impossible to continue on the autoroute, we discovered after half an hour of doing just that, ran into a group of 10 or so spanish teenagers when it was getting dark who claimed to want to help us until instinct kicked in, it got dodgy when they started to ask for money so we left asap realising they could've robbed us, which then gave us renewed strength to walk alllll the way back to the petrol station where got dropped off a couple of hours ago when we finally got a lift to barcelona in a funky little van seconds before we were gonna call it a night. The fun doesnt stop there, oh no. We decided spain is awful for hitching so got ourselves to the nearest train station where we were happy to crash for a few hours, when at midnight it announced it was closing til 4am. Great. We bumped into some nice americans who gave us their map to the youth hostel district happy that the night air is warm. Until it started to rain. Really. Hard. We ploughed on but after 40mins decided to take shelter at a (closed) cinema until the rain stopped a bit. Clearly wasnt going to, our feet were blistered, back and shoulders aching, we were knackered too so got out a sleeping bag, huddled up and slept intermittently til 4am when we returned to the train station, bought a ticket each for malaga (€57- bargain for a 13 hour journey, no joke) and got on the train at 8am. Had a sleep but still pretty tired. So yes, eventful! Anuj and Hetal are in malaga and are waiting for us to arrive! Cant wait to get to Morocco and get a massage!!! X x x

The pain in spain! [~ORIGINAL POST~]

Finally got a lift with a nice spanish dude to just outside Barcelona to Montmelo or something like that. We would love to go to Barcelona but because it took us 5 bloody hours of walking and waiting to get a lift at the border, we just wanna get to Morocco asap! It's so warm here though, haha so not jealous of you lot in england! Mwahaha :P X x

Crossing the border... Twice. ON FOOT! [~ORIGINAL POST~]

France/Spain border which we crossed by foot. Then we were sent back the way we came by the police so we walked about 1km back hoping to find the service station we drove past earlier until we were escorted off the motorway altogether by the patrol police onto a route nationale in the middle of nowhere on the mountainside. We then crossed the border AGAIN, by foot, a couple of hours later!

"Route Nationale" photos below. We had no idea where we were or if we were even walking in the right direction! Turns out we were though...

So this is where we stayed last night! [~ORIGINAL POST~]

In last night's hitch- a lorry driver- Marc's apartment in a beautiful town near Perpignon. After he picked us up in his lorry and he had finished his journey, he parked up the lorry in a car park in the middle of nowhere and asked if we wanted to get into his car. Sounds dodgy but if we hadn't already've had such a good, long journey with him where we talked a lot, we would've run like hell lol. He drove to a supermarket and at this point we didn't think we were staying with him, but it was clear that we had no accommodation or food, so I think he had decided it long before he asked us to stay. Best decision we ever made!!

We had meat fondue which was gorgeous! We also had an excellent deep conversation in pidgin french between us about life, death, zen, spirituality etc., and then the best shower and night's sleep.

He's now taking us to the border. Gonna hitch along the east coast of spain today, see where we end up. Really gonna miss le francais since we literally only know 5 spanish words lol. Bon chance a nos! X x

Au revoir France :( [~ORIGINAL POST~]

On our 10th hitch (our 4th today!) heading to the france/spain border on the east coast. Met some fantastique drivers today, had so much fun. Bumped into 2 groups of 3 hitchers from england too, which is weird! We are really gonna miss speaking francais when en Espana because we've got so good as a team! Oh well, just means we're 1 country closer to MOROCCO!! :d X x

Look at the weather now! [~ORIGINAL POST~]

Yep, it IS as nice as it looks :D we're feeling refreshed, relaxed and happy as we've arrived in Bordeaux, looking to get to Toulouse by tonite, if not further!

Ever wondered how lorry drivers sleep? [~ORIGINAL POST~]

Eternally grateful to this driver for picking us up in the POURING rain where we were stood waiting for TWO HOURS!

So about 1am here we stopped at a service station and parked up with loads of other lorries and were looking forward to an uncomfortable night until, voila! a bunkbed was revealed. As it happens it was freezing last night but it doesnt matter cos in about 200miles' time we'll be in Bordeaux! Woop! Yesterday was defo worth waiting in the rain for almost 2 hrs to get a hitch with our first lorry, then 3 hours later a ride with this spanish dude. Love it. Better go freshen up. Laterz X x x

Hey, we just got on our 7th ride so far [~ORIGINAL POST~]

Hey, we just got on our 7th ride so far with a spanish driver who's going to spain so we're gonna go as far as the stone language wall allows us. Its no longer a language barrier as the driver doesnt know french or english and we dont know any spanish apart from some words from a french-spanish dictionary i bought lol! Which we cant even read in the dark right now anyway ha! Having said that, simon seems to be enjoying some banter about football, very impressive! So we'll hopefully catch up with Hetal and Anuj who got to madrid this morning! Or not since cities would be a NIGHTMARE to get out of! Good luck to them haha! But us? The beach: here we come!!Xx

Shout out to the CouchSurfing community in Rouen!

The reason why Nickolas, the French guy from this post:
http://journeytomorocco.blogspot.co.uk/2008/03/hey-everyone.html 
was so accommodating for us when we were stuck in Rouen with nowhere to stay was because of the CouchSurfing community. THANK YOU CS!

http://www.couchsurfing.org

About Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing is a community of over 5 million members in 97,000 cities — and every country — around the world. Our website connects travelers and locals who meet offline to share cultures, hospitality and adventures – whether on the road or in their hometowns.

Our Mission is simple: Create inspiring experiences.

We envision a world where everyone can explore and create meaningful connections with the people and places they encounter. Building meaningful connections across cultures enables us to respond to differences with curiosity, appreciation and respect. The appreciation of diversity spreads tolerance and creates a global community.

At the Couchsurfing headquarters in San Francisco, we’re working tirelessly to create the greatest possible online platform for our community to achieve its goals.

hey everyone! [~ORIGINAL POST~]

Simon & I got to Rouen and realised we were stranded with nowheere to sleep s the youth hostels were closed and hotels too expensive. thankfully, whilst we were looking at the town map wondering what the hell to do - a young french man who can speak english started chatting to us and we've ended up in his little flat which was nice of him! we've been on a tour of Rouen today which has been historical (it's where Joan of Arc was burned alive) and beautiful (lots of gorgeous little york's 'the shambles' streets & cathedrals) so we've definitely been having an adventure even though we hadn't managed to travel far :)

tomorrow morning Nickolas (the nice guy we are staying with) is going to show us to a good motorway to get a good hitch down so we are hoping to at least get to Tours and hopefully Toulouse so we can start catching up with hetal & anuj!

pretty knackered now; walked SO MUCH today- feel like i've lost a stone!

over & out guys- loveee xxx

p.s. the french keyboard is weird so sorry for any mistakes!

Pont (bridge) de Normandie [~ORIGINAL POST~]

Change of plan; our second ride said Caen was a little far out so we're going further in the other direction to Rouen. Our collective GCSE french is getting quite good... Almost lol! Enjoying the sunshine and the warmth too! Jus'qua demain mes amies... X x

Nous avons arriver en France [~ORIGINAL POST~]

And after being stuck in Le Havre til 3pm, finally got a lift out of there by a student (go students!) and we're now on our way to Caen! It's been a long day but it's been fun and we were so so happy when we got our 1st lift! Hetal and Anuj found a trucker who's taking them to madrid then malaga- lucky! I guess our hitch will be more of an adventure though!

Waiting for the overnight ferry... [~ORIGINAL POST~]

Met lots of hitchers here in portsmouth! Including our guy partners, yay. Can't wait though to start the hitch from Le Havre in France tomorrow morning!! Feeling much more confident about it after chatting to other hitchers :). Sonia x x

Photo Post: Leaving Cheshire...

Hetal and I all packed and ready to go! 

Photo taken at Cheadle Hulme train station, Cheshire, at 07:38 AM.

Still looking fresh-faced later that evening after meeting the boys in Essex and on the coach to Portsmouth...

Hetal and I are best friends from high school in Manchester, 20 years old here in March 2008 and in 2nd year of our respective universities.

Test [~ORIGINAL POST~]

Testing mobile blogging

One more home-cooked meal left... [~ORIGINAL POST~]

Today I had the ingenious idea of laminating pre-made printed signs.

Super excited now! Groups have been sorted (in pairs in case we get split up but we're aiming to do it together):

Sonia and Simon are 342
Hetal and Anuj are 445.
Track us here: http://hitch.lcd.org.uk/hts

Just need to pack tonight and then tomorrow morning Hetal & I are setting off by train to Essex to meet the boys and then we're going to Portsmouth to get a ferry to Le Havre, France!

So excited! Catch you all later!

Sonia xx

Almost gone! [~ORIGINAL POST~]

Well, after a few minor set-backs (a crucial male partner dropping out on us 6 days before departure; finding new males to hitch with but have our plans clash & finally finding a stable pair) we are officially on track to start the hitch on Wednesday March 26th!

Just need to buy maps and some sort of white boards/cardboards for our hitch signs tomorrow and then we will be gone! I will try to update on our journey as much as possible!

In the mean time, you will be able to track us via the Hitch charity's website:

http://hitch.lcd.org.uk/hts

We are doing this hitch-hike to Morocco to raise money for Link Community Development - a charity dedicated to improving the quality of education in Africa.

Link Community Development 

Charity Registration No. 1048007, Scotland SC037959 

LCD believes all children have the right to a good quality education. The charity works with schools and their communities in the most impoverished areas of Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, South Africa and Uganda. By sharing and developing skills its work is bringing about some remarkable, long-lasting changes in education, helping over a million children to have a better start in life.

LCD have a sophisticated tracking system which helps keep us safe during our Hitch – and brings our journey to life for all our family, friends and sponsors back home.

Since 1992, over 8,000 people have taken part in the Hitch, raising more than £4,000,000 for Link and travelling a combined total of almost 10,000,000 miles - that's more than 400 times around the world!

http://www.justgiving.com/soniagoestomorocco

Here's how your donation can help:

£10 can pay for a desk

£20 can pay for literacy training for two teachers

£50 can pay for 5 teachers to attend an HIV/AIDS training session

£100 can give 10 community members fundraising training.