By Dan Zak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 23, 2007
As you read this, three local guys are driving from Germany to Cambodia in a Trabant. A Trabant is a squat Soviet-era car built in East Germany and discontinued in 1991. It's made of plastic. Its horsepower is 26. It is, as the guys say, an oversize lunchbox running on a glorified lawn mower engine.
The guys are John Lovejoy, Tony Perez and John Drury, globe-trotters with ties to Washington. (Perez and Drury, both 26, were born in the area. Lovejoy, 27, and Perez graduated from Bishop O'Connell High School in Arlington.)
During backpacking visits to Cambodia the past five years, they were struck by the plight of the country's homeless children, whose population grows by 1,200 every day in the capital city of Phnom Penh. They decided
to embark on a road trip to raise money for and attract attention to the
problem, which they say backpackers observe but soon forget.
The guys are leading a caravan of three multicolored, 20-year-old Trabants on a zigzaggy 15,600-mile route through 20 countries to raise $300,000 for charities that help Cambodia's homeless children. They are a little over 6,300 miles into the trip, and as of press time they were $294,000 short of their goal; in both respects, they have a lot of ground to cover. They've named the endeavor Trabant Trek.
Throughout the trek, the guys have been posting video and blogging on their Web site and MySpace page. Both are accessible via http://www.trabanttrek.org, where donations are accepted. Additionally, a friend of the group is hosting a happy-hour fundraiser Oct. 11 at 5:30 p.m. at the Big Hunt (1345 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-785-2333). All of the $10 entry fee will go to the charities.
Lovejoy, Perez and Drury (plus five multinational 20-somethings they've met in previous travels) left Zwickau, Germany, in July. They aim to ride into Cambodia by November. Right now, they're probably somewhere in Kyrgyzstan. We were supposed to catch Lovejoy by phone while they were in Azerbaijan but -- irony of ironies -- his SIM card was stolen by street children. So instead, we've chatted back and forth via e-mail. Here are some edited excerpts from the three of them as they traveled from Azerbaijan to Tajikistan.
Describe a typical day and week.
Lovejoy: On average we probably stop every third day somewhere, but drive between 200 and 600 kilometers most days. In a group of eight, it is hard to get everyone moving in the morning, and we often end up driving well into the night. Hotels have been few and far between. We have spent more time in people's homes and camping -- oftentimes on the sides of the road -- with the intention of saving money.
Perez: Basically the only time that we really have a real bed and shower is when we arrive at a major city and cannot find a place to camp. Even in some of the cities, we have found empty parking lots to set up our base. On the longer routes, we switch drivers constantly and make sure that everyone is awake and alert.
Are you stopping in specific places or just drifting along the route? What are your tasks?
Lovejoy: The route was planned out specifically to see as much as possible. Obviously, there will be drifting if we hear about certain sights, events, organizations or people en route, but visa expirations and money dictate the amount of time we can spend in each country. Besides filming as much as possible, the tasks are arranging press en route and visiting with NGOs [non-governmental organizations] we lined up prior to departure.
How does a Trabant handle?
Perez: The Trabant is a wonderfully simple car to drive. The cars themselves shake and rattle a lot, and for the most part I always feel like something is just about to fall off the car. Luckily, the Trabant Klub in Budapest beefed up our suspension system with rally parts, or else the cars would
never have stood up to the punishment on the road.
So you're funding yourselves. How much is it costing you per day and week?
Lovejoy: It is hard to calculate per day or even per week, as countries and costs vary so drastically. For instance, in Turkey we were paying over $8 a gallon, and in Azerbaijan, right around $2 per gallon. Visas cost nearly $900 a person, all the cars cost $11,300 and China was an $8,500 expense [to cover licenses, a mandatory guide, insurance, etc.]. Daily expenditures per person rarely exceed $20, even when staying in hostels.
How do people on the road react to your mission?
Perez: Most people think we are crazy when they figure out what we are doing. Others find it humorous, but for the most part everyone just looks and shakes their head.
Drury: People, particularly kids, love the cars. Which was the idea. We cannot go 10 meters on any road without a honk, a flashing of lights or a yell from a car window asking us where we're from and what we're doing. Most react to our response, "driving to Cambodia," with a mixture of awe and disbelief.
Your diets have probably taken a hit.
Lovejoy: The long days on the road through nothingness such as the Karakoram desert left us with a loaf of bread each for the entire day. It amounts to about one main meal a day, though there are days when we even miss that meager portion. Starch has been something lacking from our diets.
Shaslik, busah and kebabs are the main meat dishes. The roads tend to be lined with small shacks stacked four feet high with hundreds of watermelons. I will say that right now the three of us talk constantly of eventually finding a Burger King and pigging out on a Double Whopper.
Anything crazy or notable happen so far?
Perez: We had a small run-in with the Armenian military at the Azeri border and have had our fair share of car problems. Busted oil pans, flat tires, broken metal from the steering column and cars that refuse to start for a small period of time.
You'll be traversing the Semipalatinsk nuclear testing site in Kazakhstan and then the Gobi Desert. Thoughts?
Lovejoy: This portion clearly has us worried. By every account I have read -- and I did quite a bit of research -- there are massive amounts of lingering radiation. . . . I was assured by two physicians that the brief amount of time we plan to spend there will not be detrimental to our health. . . . We are attempting to arrange a visit with an NGO there that works with radiation victims to highlight the atrocity of nuclear testing and the havoc it wreaks on innocent generations of locals around Semey.
Drury: I haven't really thought about the Gobi Desert. We've left plenty of time to get through it; the only question is if we will remember to bring enough water.
What happens after the trek?
Lovejoy: The three of us have been talking about opening a bar in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, to cater to the growing backpacker crowd. It will double as a fundraiser and awareness spot for backpackers. Unfortunately, the schedule of most backpackers doesn't permit them to stay long enough to make volunteering worthwhile. Hopefully this will encourage them to do so.
There is also talk of beginning work on a second Trabant Trek, but all of that rests on the success of this one.
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