We want to show the world as it is

Eighteen months ago, Vicente Pledel, 38, and his wife Marian Ocana , 33, got on board a Mitsubishi Pajero and set for what they call, 'The route of the empires'. From Ceuta, a small Spanish town on the North Africa, across the strait of Gibraltor, they started their journey. After passing through North Africa, Middle East and several republics of the former Soviet Union, Pakistan and India, they arrived in Kathmandu about three weeks back. From Kathmandu, they plan to go to South East Asia, Australia, South America and North America completing the world tour. Vicente says they want to see through their own eyes and their aim is to show the world how the real world looks like. Vincente has studied
architecture in Spain and also tourism in the university of tourism. He then worked as teacher and a travel journalist in several magazines in Spain. His wife Marian is a professor of history and geography in Ceuta. Last week Vincente talked to The Independent about their journey and experiences. Experts:

Q. How did you get the idea of making this journey around the world by road?
A. We have taken many trips earlier. We went to Brazil by plane and stayed there for about a month and then there was another trip to Mexico. Little by little we started taking more of these kinds of trips.
We then thought of taking more romantic trips in our lives, and we d cided to do everything by land like the old caravans, but by modern means. In 1992 we made the first big expedition in the real sense. It
was a 7 month long trip. We started from Ceuta and finished in Kathmandu. Here we are again.

Q. Which route did you take from Ceuta to Kathmandu this time?
A. From Ceuta we took a boat to Europe. From Europe we crossed to Spain. >From there we went to Marseilles (France) and took a boat to Tunisia. >From Tunisia we started the African trip to Libya, Egypt and Sinai. From Sinai we took a ferry to Aquba in Jordan because if we had entered Israel, with Israeli stamps (on our passports) it would have been impossible to enter  Syria, Iran and many other places. Then we started Asia. From Jordan we went to Syria, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia and to Iran. From Iran we entered Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakstan, Kirghistan, China, Pakistan and India. We went to the South of India and then towards the North to Darjeeling. Then we came to Nepal.

Q. From Iran and Pakistan did you take the old silk road?
A. Yes, but only a part. But there are many silk roads. Some of them start from Karachi. Another one through Turkmenistan, still another one was through India. Most of them finish in the Chinese capital. But it is very complicated to travel in China in one's own vehicle and we did only a small part of it in China.

Q. Have you used only one vehicle in the whole journey?
A. Yes, only one.

Q. Do you also know the technical knowhow of the vehicle?
A. No. We do not know anything about the technical aspects. But we have learnt many things. We wanted to do this expedition with a bigger team and we have worked for this expedition for six years. But it was a very complicated expedition. So, we thought a small team could do it instead of a big team. It was also very difficult to find people to accompany us. So, we decided to learn everything by ourselves. We learnt about computers, about camera and videos. We also have two press managers, one in Madrid and another in Ceuta.

Q. What differences did you find in the silk route that you travelled through from what we read about it as it was in the ancient days?
A. There are many differences, but there are also many, remains of those days. In many places like in Pakistan, we can't feel that it is the 20th century because it is a traditional society. Even if you go to
Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan there are many remains; not only architectural, but mental and in the behaviour of the people as well. They still ride horses in the steppes, and in Kirghistan there more
horses than people. This was exactly like during the time of the great caravaneers. In the cities there are cars and industries, but if you go out of the cities, things have not changed much. During our whole journey we usually did not stay in the cities because cities everywhere look the same. We preferred to find the real soul of a country which outside the cities in the little places.

Q. You talk about the real soul of a country. What is the difference of the soul in North Africa and the countries in Asia, especially those of the former Soviet Republic?
A. It is very different although they all are Muslims. In North Africa they have   remained Muslims all the time and they are quite liberal also. In countries like Turkmenistan and others we still can feel the
influence of the Soviet-era. So, despite being Muslims they drink like Russians (laughs).

Q. Which part of the journey from Ceuta to Kathmandu, was the most difficult?
A. The most difficult part was the central Asian republics. Because they are newly independent countries, and corruption there is really awful. Previously they had pretty developed economies but they had a very big economic fall down. Many of these countries were closed to outsiders. Even several years back it was not possible to enter   those countries. Another problem was, no Spanish had ever passed through the route, and we had no information about the routes and the countries. We also had
problem to get  visas. For that we had to go to Ankara because it was the only place where all these countries have embassies. And again, these countries do not like individual travellers. So, getting visa was also difficult. They asked if we had invitations. And also they used to give visa for a few days or a week or so. So, we had to schedule our trip according to the visa. Also, we had to exactly set the date of our entrance into the country. If somethings happens before and you can not enter on the exact date, you lose the visa.

Another problem was the police and the military, who are more corrupt and dealing with them is worse than with kidnappers. You can talk with the kidnappers, but you cannot do so with the police and army because they have the law. You just can say is yes, to the custom and the police. In the old days caravaneers had to pay taxes to the warlords in the mountains, and now the new warlord is the bureaucracy.

Q. You talked about the problems with the authorities, how about dealing with the common people?
A. That is the other side, a pleasant one. The people are as good as we can be to them. They are very friendly and hospitable. The only problem we faced was the language. They speak only their own language or  Russian. But if we had any problem finding a place or if we ran out of diesel, they helped us. You could never ask these to the police. So, we had good experiences with the people, the nomads and the farm people. We mostly stayed in camps or with  nomads and in farms. Usually, we try not to travel by night. After the sunset, we see