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We camped and took baths in the river near
Chope. Other than the locals who use the
river to do their laundry, we were the only
people there. We gave Rover a bath in the
river before being painted.
Panama's buses are brightly painted with
castles, landscapes, favorite sayings, family
names, and super stars. Along with Britney
and Xena, we even saw one with Bin Laden
painted on the back. We'd been wanting to
paint a map with our route on Rover since
we started, and figured Panama was a good
place to get the job done. After asking
a bus driver, he directed us to Hugo Accessories
in Pacora where we found Piri to paint Rover
Panama-bus style.
Piri, the artist, started on Rover around
8:00 in the morning and finished both sides
and the rear tire cover by 5:00 pm. He didn't
use any type of sketch; he just glanced
at a SURF magazine Marty brought and got
started. First he taped two large stripes
down the side and then cut a design in them
with a knife. Then his assistants lightly
sanded and taped off the rest of the truck.
Next, he went to town with a compressor,
about 20 small cans of paint that he mixed
by hand, over a dozen spray gun tips, and
a few paint brushes. When we saw the first
three colors he sprayed, bright yellow,
orange and pink, we got a little nervous.
But, it turned out "awesome" and
was the best souvenir we bought on the trip.
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