Facing extremes of both heat and cold and entering regions with less than stellar human rights reputations, the couple from Sint-Niklaas spent seven months crossing desolate landscapes, playing power games with border guards and enjoying more hospitality than they ever knew possible. Gaea, 33, is a journalist, and Trui, 49, is a photographer, so a book about the trek was inevitable. It’s called Meisjes, Moslims & Motoren (Girls, Muslims and Motorcycles).

Flanders Today: The one thing everybody wants to know is why you embarked on such a trip. It does seem kind of dangerous, particularly for two women.

Trui: When I was18, I lived in Finland for a year. I've had my eye on the horizon ever since. I backpacked on my own and later made two journeys with my girlfriend to India on our motorbikes. Gaea and I decided to start driving east, but turn left in Iran. We wanted to visit that fascinating cluster of countries in Central Asia, like Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and also the Pamir Highway.

Gaea: There is just so much world! We went east because that's the only direction that allows you to keep on driving.

Trui: And it offers you the great experience of undergoing the transition of cultures, from our Western civilisation to the former Eastern bloc and onto the Muslim countries. And even further you reach Buddhism and Hinduism. We wanted to see the background of all the TV images.

How did you experience the Muslim culture?

Trui: The fact that we were women was actually not that important. First, we were travellers, then we were travellers on motorbikes, and only then did they notice we were women. For Muslims, it is a duty and a blessing to look after travellers, and that came first.

Gaea: Of course, we didn't look like normal tourists on those bikes. The bikes were really a big hit with them.

Trui: Sometimes the fact that we were women caused confusion. Since they flocked around us as soon as we arrived, we were often already “friends” by the time we took our helmets off and they realised we weren't men. I think they mainly felt admiration for what we were doing. But that doesn't mean they would allow their wives to do the same.

Gaea: Because we were westerners, we were allowed to do things the local women aren't. We could sit on the men's side in the restaurants for instance.

You are a couple; did that never lead to any trouble?

Trui: No, the thought didn't even come to their minds that that could be the case. They thought all kinds of things – that we were sisters, or mother and daughter. But not that. They just didn't consider it.

Gaea: We did have “fake husbands” though. We carried pictures of ourselves with men and told them they were our husbands. It just saves you a lot of explaining. We could not tell them we were lesbians, and they really cannot understand that someone is single. Then they pity you and think there's something wrong with you. [laughs]

Trui: Sometimes I found it hard to lie, especially when we met people who we connected with. But you can never be sure.

How was it to wear the headscarf?

Gaea: In Iran, you don't have much choice; it's the law. But elsewhere, we never wore it, and nobody made a remark about that.

Trui: It's really hell in the heat because you don't only have to wear the scarf but also some kind of mantle. So you're fully dressed all the time. And when someone knocked on our door, there was always some panic because we were “in our hair”. But in the end you get used to it. We met a lady in Iran – a photographer and a very progressive woman. She thinks that in the west we focus too much on that headscarf. She says that Muslim women experience totally different problems that are much more fundamental.

Gaea: At least the headscarves offer the women the chance to go outside. In Iran, the women wear a chador, but you see as many women on the streets as men. And that's something you can't say of all Muslim countries.

You also went to the Arabic peninsula, but that was not your plan from the outset…

Gaea: We were supposed to drive back through Turkey, but it became clear that it would just be too cold. It was minus 20 degrees there. On top of that, the problems between the Turks and the Kurds reached its peak around that time. So we decided to start driving south. We doubted about going to Yemen because of its reputation concerning kidnappings and women's rights. But we went; it turned out better than we anticipated. The people are very concerned about their bad image and asked us to tell everybody at home what a great country they have.

Your experience with the locals in general seems to be have been very positive. Does that also apply to your dealings with the authorities?

Gaea: Central Asia is renowned for its visa and border problems. You are confronted with the old Russian system that starts to break down over there. You need a hundred documents to be able to travel, and when you're lucky enough to find out what you need – because nobody tells you – you still have to manage to get them. But there wasn't that much corruption against tourists. And always helpful was the trick with the cigarettes. When they stop you, you hand out cigarettes to everyone. It’s just lubricant for the negotiations. The worst was Turkmenistan. You're obliged to pay for everything in dollars, but because they see that as an exchange transaction, they charge you for it!

Trui: You have to switch on your Zen attitude. When they want to sit on your motorbike, for example, you just let them.

Gaea: Actually we complemented each other very well. Trui was brisk and wanted everything arranged quickly; I played the innocent woman who really needed the custom officers to get us into the country. One or both usually worked.

You asked people to send you mail to different post offices, where you could pick it up. Wouldn’t email have been easier?

Gaea: Getting a letter is totally different from getting e-mail. It's nostalgic, romantic, tangible. But a lot of it got lost. Once we went to the wrong office to get something. It turns out that the man who had to help us had Alzheimer’s, and he got more and more confused because we were convinced something was there for us. Our apologies, we were wrong !

Trui: But it was great to find our mail in small corners of post offices. It usually meant we lost half a day because we always had to go to the main post office and then find someone who knew what we wanted. It's an old fashioned system, but if you want to mail something like a book or a motorcycle part, it’s often the only way.

What was your best experience?

Gaea: The fact that the people were so warm and open. We often rang a doorbell late at night to ask if we could put up our tent and were promptly asked to come in and eat and drink. When you consulted your map on the way, people always stopped to help. If you didn't need their help, they returned with a gift, like some fruit or a cookie. People over there find it normal to take you home and get nothing in return.

Trui: Of course, there is also a downside : as a guest you have a very active role. Sometimes you long for a hotel room where you're just left in peace. Gaea: In Oman, a desert state, literally everybody stops when you're standing somewhere. In the end, we rode a kilometre into the desert to get some peace, and still they came with their 4x4s.

What did you miss the most during your travels?

Trui: A good museum. And international news, which was hard to find.

Gaea: I mainly missed good coffee. Halfway across Turkey, that just stops.

When you returned, what did you miss from the journey?

Gaea: The people. The Iranians, for instance, were so sweet and open, so warm. Nobody asked us if we were Muslims. In Afghanistan or Pakistan, that's usually the first or second question. The people in Iran just want to know what you think about their country. They are really proud of themselves.

Trui: In Iran, they feel the religious rules are forced on them, while on the Arabic peninsula they're more a part of the culture.

Gaea: A journey like that is very good for your ego; you're treated like a hero all the time.

Trui: It is also addictive. It's a different life, and everything is reduced to its essence: where will we sleep and eat, and will the motor keep running.

Gaea: I learned one big lesson: if you're afraid of something, just do it. Usually, it's not so bad.