Free around the world.

Thumbs up: The Russian Krotow Anton has 16 years of 600,000 kilometers hitchhike back. He traveled the Sudan, Yemen and Afghanistan, was robbed, slept in prisons - and enjoyed overwhelming hospitality. blogs ONLINE betrays his best Trampertipps.

 

The life work of Anton Krotow is limited to two tables in the living room distributed. On the one brave wobbly towers of colorful picture books to the laws of statics. Opposite are more than 20 stacks of his books in Reclam format, with small price tags. "The practice of free travel" costs 25 rubles, 60 rubles for the band is "134 Questions" to have.

The text and photos are the essence of Krotows travel, the lessons and memories from 16 years of new encounters with foreign cultures. Like hardly any other has tried Krotow how to work with as little money as far to travel. The 33-year-old Moscow has more than 600,000 kilometers and hitchhike back to the club
"Academy of Free Travel" founded. In the international scene Tramper Krotow is a legend.

Between the two tables are overloaded crowded the colorful sleeping Krotow larvae and six guests in the living room floor. Another visitor is in the single bed in Arbeitskabuff next door, a force built Russe slumbering half in the hallway and a half on the floor of the tiny kitchen.

Krotow has ever visited in his 40-square-meter apartment in northern Moscow. The living and traveling artists with the growing luxuriantly bearded Rasputin-has itself Thousands Free nights spent in strange houses. For others, it offers the same at - on Internet portals such as
Couchsurfing or
Hospitality or
its own website, a phone call away. The double metal door of Apartment 547 in the fourth floor of the gray panel next to the Ramstor supermarket is always open.

Holiday in Tajikistan

An alarm clock is ringing, the people in the Schlafsäclen stir themselves. Krotow is to be the first. Instead of having a good morning to be desired, he says: "This is communism," satisfied grin, pointing to the purple and green wrapped visitors.

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Only two days ago he came back from Egypt, where he is in the Siwa oasis for two months, a rented apartment, which he with friends and strangers vollpackte. He does not need much to live, therefore, the revenue of his books for the cost. In the summer, he wants a house to rent in Tajikistan.

Not that Krotow would gradually settled down - of course he also went to Egypt hitchhike from Moscow. Too long at the same place to linger, which is not on. "I travel about 8000 to 10,000 kilometers per month, so I have enough time, cities to explore the local lifestyle and make good to sleep", so reads the confession of the restless in his best-selling guide "The practice of freedom to travel" that in Russia about 100,000-times has been sold.

Krotow While it is still far away from the Tramper-record mark of Alexsej Vorow from St. Petersburg, the 1.8 million kilometers hitchhike back to have. But in 16 years, he has more of the world view than most in their entire life. Almost two years he traveled through Africa, was from Egypt to Mozambique kutschieren, then continue through Congo to Mali and Mauritania. "In Africa, it is easy to be taken, because it is different than in Russia is no limit how many people fit in a car," says Krotow and grins. A large part of the track, he holds or on roofs of trucks back.

In Dongola in the Sudan, however, once he had four days to wait for a lift, because no cars passed, but only pedestrians and riders on donkeys. The locals were so moved by the tenacity of the strange visitor, that they him with bread and water supplies and beds offered.

Buckwheat for breakfast

One thing remains for Krotow with every new country the same: "When you arrive somewhere, people are strange and everything is expensive. But the longer you stay, the cheaper things become and the less people are strange," he says. Even in Moscow can be very cheap to live. If not its guests to cook for him, he usually comes with rice, coleslaw and mayonnaise on the table.

ON TO ONLINE blogs

GPS Scavenger Hunt: What Vladimir 59 ° North, 35 ° east conquered (05.03.2009)

Hitchhiker in Ireland: from the roadside into the no man's land (19.01.2009)

Crazy travel: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Antarctica (17.05.2007)

Photo Series: The freedom of the road

And for breakfast there is only Buchweizenbrei since he bet his beard on it for five years neither marry nor drink alcohol. He won the bet, got to 50 kilograms of buckwheat, in large bags over his Kinngestrüpp and was allowed to keep.

"So, food, food!" Says the Lord in his house brittle English and presents a pot with the typical Russian dish. On the kitchen wall hangs a poster that Krotow on a Syrian bazaar bought. It shows the former U.S. president next to Adolf Hitler Bush. "Same shit - different asshole" is underneath. "If you go with a weapon in a country, you will experience violence. If you come in peace, you will find peace", which he had so far confirmed each tour, says Krotow.

An Afghanistan tour he made in 2002, "a very hospitable country," the only constant checks by police officers or soldiers who used it for a al-Qaeda member held, had annoyed him at that time. In one of his albums Krotow posing with a Kalashnikov in his hand between a group of children in Kabul. In his living room wall hangs a picture, a smiling Iranian President Ahmadinejad shows.

He was in Yemen and Pakistan, Angola and Iran. He was attacked and robbed, suffered car accidents, and slept in prisons. Nevertheless, Krotow the "truth fearful journalists" from the crisis areas, and "rogue states" report for Panikmacherei the everyday with the little spot to do. "The reporters go recklessly into danger, and then write how dangerous it is," says Krotow.

He inquired whether Western Europe is currently not a pretty uncomfortable place was. This is but in the newspaper every day. "You should eat a lot to buy in Moscow, Crisis in Europe, there is no gas, no food, and you've got 20 kilos of baggage," he says and laughs his boyish smile. When he speaks, he looks unlikely to call, he constantly wuselt through the apartment, typing on the computer, or what sorts the print flags of his next book.

"The Europeans all the time sitting in cafes around"

That is the spirit of travel act, once again, and the errors which he so many tourists that are multiples for much shorter trips spend. "Most Europeans sit the whole time in cafés, and confused about the travel," says Krotow.

A mix of prosperity and coercion, in the shortest possible time plenty to do, make people blind to the joys of genuine adventure. "For unto you is hitchhiking damn expensive. If you are one hours at the roadside stands, it costs you the 20 euro on it in the time you could earn. For the Russians, is cheaper." A year or two at a time to be on that for most would not call into question "because it all the time just remember how much money they are missing."

He is now upset about his own travels, he wants to suddenly no longer talking. "Look at the photo books halt," he says in morose tone. Perhaps he has his stories too often told, in countless hours on the passenger seats of heavy trucks, cars, snow caterpillars, dog sledding, motorcycles, and free travel in long distance, cargo ships and even airplanes.

As it creates, even by pilots and captains to be taken away? "A clever Mundwerk takes you everywhere," claims Krotow in "The practice of free travel." Many shrank back from such a driver for a lift in the cab to ask - but especially for freight trains in less civilized regions had the opportunity not so bad that it works. In earlier books, he even gave tips on how to survive Zugdächern or in the baggage compartment of trains can hide. From such a youth, he sins, but now the distance.

From outside, the noise of the six Leningradskoe Shosse to hear. It is one of the main arteries, it leads north from the city. Every day thousands of cars that drive into the distance. Thousands of possibilities still to break, in each there is a different fate, a different conversation partners. Krotow is only 33, he still has a lot to go on the road to Tramper world.