“People depend on meetings that they envy travel. I answer them that they are also free and can go,” says Pavel Liška in an interview about the trip to Papua New Guinea, which he undertook on motorcycles with Jan Révai and Hynk Bernard. The film about their adventure Tramps on the island of cannibals is now in theaters. “The first thing you need to do is mark the date of your visit in your diary,” said the actor.
Five years ago you spent three months in Central America and made a documentary about your trip. Was the two month trip to Papua New Guinea a step out of your comfort zone at all?
She was, we go to countries like that because it’s always a challenge – we’re dirty, we’re hungry, we’re sick and we’ll fall off our motorbikes. That’s part of it. We don’t like to fall, but we like to overcome obstacles. We know that if a person wants to know and know something, it is not free. However, it’s true that when we walked for three days through the jungle to the village (and one day for 23 hours straight), we thought we didn’t need this anymore. But once we raised that complaint above, we knew that we needed such a trip and that we would have received a reward.
In our 50s – just halfway through our lives – all three of us agreed that we had never experienced a bigger physical bottom. At the same time, we gained a lot of knowledge. You hit rock bottom, you think you can’t do it anymore, and you find out you still can. And then you’re at an even bigger rock bottom and of course you can’t and … you still can.
Did this or any other learning from the trip change you in any way?
Traveling is a process that constantly changes you. As you learn about other things, you will continue to answer different questions. Already in Central America, I had seen several moments that I thought I had to remember. People there do not have an easy life, they live on little and rejoice. In these moments, you will be very aware of how stressed we are here and how sad we are when things go wrong. Even now, at certain times, I thought to myself: “Wait a minute, dig into me, because I will need you so much at home.” It’s engraved, but in the end it’s just plain information that doesn’t help much. After a few weeks back, our European civilization and way of life captures me again.
People envy us when we travel
You have been on an adventure for the past ten years. Have you ever wanted to travel?
Instead, I was lucky that I was able to naturally find the things I like, connect the special activities and still treat them as work. I love motorbikes, theatre, film, travel and when all of these intersect. The reactions after our film are amazing and I can see that our project makes sense. For example, I am happy when people tell us at meetings that, thanks to our documentary, they decided to go somewhere, to experience something. Usually, the audience confides in conversations that they are envious of such a trip. And I tell them they are free and they can go out too.
Someone will object that it is easy to say …
Yes, the complaints are that they have a family, a job and won’t let them go. I have a family myself and I know it’s not easy. But if you go away for a month once every five years, you somehow make up for your absence from your family or take them with you. It’s up to you. A trip like this will make you a more sensitive person and you will never forget it. Traveling is beneficial in many ways. I can imagine such a stupid lesson, but there is a similar situation here and when someone is thinking about whether they should have children. At such a moment I say: “Hey, get it, because you will see that you will love it.”
Ok, so where do we start?
The most important thing is to make a decision. Then find a week, two or a month in your diary that you will go out completely and when the train will no longer run. After that, it is important not to soften. You must really want to travel and understand that you are taking this step for your own good. And of course for the good of the people around you.
But what about money? How will you finance the trip? In addition to the travel expenses in Papua New Guinea, you also produced a documentary, a special film and published a book.
We are doing the current project ourselves. We pay part of it from our own money, we are looking for partners, and the rest we pay from meetings all over the Czech Republic. The production itself guarantees us creative freedom. We don’t want anyone to tell us how the film should look. However, with a certain film, we enter professions that we do not completely master and learn as we go. That’s why we invited our friends director Marek Najbrt and producer Michal Kuchyňka to make the film.
Your talks are very popular, in some cities you sold out twice in a row with the previous documentary from Central America. What do you think is behind such success?
I think several factors came together. On the one hand, we mediate very interesting and interesting experiences, and in addition, we are there for ourselves, we do not play anything. It certainly helps that people know us, that we talk to them and laugh a lot.
The rag scared us
In Central America, you broke up with Honza Révai and Hynk Bernard over the submarine. How have you managed the difficult time together now?
Now that we know each other a little more, we can complement each other. When I needed time to myself, I lost myself for a while at the right time. On the other hand, Hynek had an order that if something bothered him, he had to speak up, be against it and not keep his displeasure to himself. In addition, we knew that we could not secede in Papua for security reasons. The biologist Vojta Novotný, who spends part of the year in Papua and part of the year at the university in Budějovice, warned us that we cannot travel on the island as we are used to – that is, by hand right, left, and when the sun is low, build a bivouac somewhere. He explained to us that every piece of jungle belongs to someone, and even if we think we are alone, the natives know about us and there could be a problem. You have to come to a village and ask the leader if you can spend the night or spend some time in the village.
Papua New Guinea is also known for its crime. They almost surprised you too. Weren’t you afraid?
Almost, they tricked us, luckily they didn’t take anything. Many people who were in Papua warned us in the Czech Republic, even scared us. They said you can’t ride a motorcycle there, they will cut us down… But it was Vojta Novotný who always calmed us down and set everything in reality. He assured us that it is possible to travel around the island, but we have to follow certain rules. We received instructions from him on which areas should definitely not go, where you can and should be lucky, and where the situation is completely safe.
At the same time, he withheld some information from us, which I now think is a blessing. For example, he did not tell us that his station, surrounded by a wire fence and protected by security, was raided not only a few years ago, but also just a few months ago when we arrived at the island. It is good not to overdo it with negative information, because if you enter a country with a dirty mind and prejudices, the stupid energy will start to stick to you. However, the ambush definitely scared us. Until then, we felt that nothing could happen to us because everyone was very friendly to us. We were lucky that the raiding party was even more confused than we were.
Now you have also decided to travel with a puppet theater and play the story of the traveler and ethnologist Miloslav Stingl for the native tribes. Why?
When we travel, we want to stay in a certain place for a while, get closer to the local people, gain trust, open up and experience a lot more. But after Central America, I had this strange feeling – even though it wasn’t like that – that we were just taking and taking away the filming material. I was thinking how I could give something more than just a bag of rice and money to the local people. He kept bringing me to our post, until we came to a beautiful traveling puppet theater, which we tried with the artist and author, Josef Sodomka.
Furthermore, the idea gained more meaning when the traveler Míla Stingl told us that if he could go anywhere else, he would go to Papua New Guinea. Then when he died, it all fell into place. We play a play about him, bring him with us, make his dreams come true, and we also have a good communication channel with the local people.
Already have an idea for your next trip?
Yes, but I don’t want to talk about it. I can only say that our destination will surprise everyone. However, I feel that this may be my last mobile trip. I feel that I should also go somewhere alone and focus only on myself, be there completely, without a camera. Although our project may look fancy, it is still work. In live broadcasting, we always give moments that we get, but we especially think of the viewer, so we are not fully immersed in the last moment to give, which is often fatal.
