We received a visit. A very special and awaited visit from Kyrgyzstan, Ana, Sergi and Roger. In other words Somriures of Kyrgyzstan. They have returned home, without their companion: their ambulance.
They brought us 1001 anecdotal stories and backpacking experiences to share.
“While we were in route, we did not think we were doing anything different”, Roger explained. “It was just our daily routine. Now, as we start talking we feel the same. It is difficult for us to crank up the conversation and to explain each and every of our unforgettable experiences”.
Among the anecdotes, they specially remember when they broke the ambulance in Zurich. They were stressed, and they strongly believed they could not continue, the cost of the repair was high, the insurance did not understand the damage, and the minimum delivery time was a week. “After some calls and some strategic negotiations things worked out, and we had the ambulance repaired within a day. It was without hesitation the worst moment in terms of stress. After that, we thought it could have been useful to have taken a photo with the app Stamphoto, thus providing the insurance company the irrefutable proof of what happened”.
When passing through Russia, they came across the difficulty of the language. In many areas no one speaks English. At some point, they were wary and taking a picture with Stamphoto of the police licence plate might have done some good, just in case. “For security reasons, you know”, added Roger. Regular pics are easily photoshopped, manipulated and even deleted. Pictures taken with Stamphoto are sent by email, there is trusted third party safekeeping it, so there is absolutely no way to be deleted, and we could be easily located.
Another critical moment was when the ambulance got buried in the mud in the middle of the Russian steppe. “The nearest town was 30 kilometres far away. Bumpy, empty roads”. For a moment, we thought we could not get the ambulance out of the mud and would have to contact the embassy asking for help”. “It would have meant the end of our journey”, Sergi commented while Roger nodded.
For all of them the project has marked their lives and has probably enabled them to undertake other cooperation projects.
They are already thinking about repeating this life lesson. Same feelings, different destination. What about Africa?
“We need to be updated to choose a place where we know we’re going to give something”, Roger said adding “so now we know under what circumstances it could be useful Stamphoto.
“We’ll take it, and we’ll certify it!”