With a mixture of illusion and madness, Daniel, Francisco, Duarte and Bruno set off for Qatar. Some are childhood friends, others met in college. They have a project together with a Youtube channel where they share videos of various adventures they are going on, and suddenly he came up with a “pretty crazy idea” to hitchhike to Qatar.
“We went through 15 countries, we hitchhiked more than 8,000 kilometers and got more than 70 trips”, says one of the friends. They left Lisbon on October 6 and arrived in Qatar on November 22. It’s practically 50 days, hitchhiking to the host country of the World Cup. For the adventure, but also for the Portuguese team. Young people bring a card with the word “Qatar” in capital letters. It is a role of great importance, because it was the one that accompanied them from Portugal to the Middle East. The card is so sacred to these friends that an autograph from Cristiano Ronaldo on the item would be the icing on the cake. They are going to try that with the head of the captain of the team the day after Portugal’s match with Ghana.
A trip also has its critical moments. The most tense situation occurred on the border between Bulgaria and Turkey, where there is a refugee crisis and there they confused them as such: “We were going to sleep at a man’s house in the middle of the hill and they were talking, at night, three men shouting – passport, passport, passport! – and we didn’t know what to do”, recounts Francisco.
So what happened when the cars that gave rides had no room for people? “Rock, paper, scissors,” they all say in unison. Some stayed behind, others gained a few kilometers, but then ended up meeting up ahead, at some destination. They did not always find accommodation to stay, sometimes they had to spend the night on the street, but the tents they carried on their backs, in their backpacks, served as a “remedy” for a few nights. Regarding the economic values of the trip, each one intended to spend €25 a day, however, they have not yet sat down at the table to do the math.
Arriving in Qatar was another conversation. A country so strict in terms of border control forced Daniel, Francisco, Duarte and Bruno to buy accommodation in advance to spend a few nights and also tickets for the matches in Portugal, to ensure justification for entering the country. This Thursday they will be in the stands of the 974 stadium vibrating with the selection of corners.
Source: TSF
