From travel to engagement and back again

Project wich has taken the time of growing up in our pre-travel spirit and to really take form during this rice-eater trip.

It is thus eating rice at the foot of the peaks of Ganesh-Himal, and by questionning inhabitants of this area poor in tourism and governements funding (well,... poor!), that our ethical project is born.

We didn’t wanted this area, embrassed by tamang culture, to suffer the same faith than Annapurna’s or Everest. Tourist will come one day, with his numerical cannon on the shoulder, a pinch of dollar turned into bundles of roupies, and with him the whole tourism industry.

Very simply, to resume as Desproges, the nepali guy, he does want those roupies, he does think that they can help his village to build some toilets, because he get bored of shitting on the ground (to remind you, this is the top of the world, and we are under...), he don’t care about i-pod, he does’nt know what it is. But those roupies, if the nepali guy does’nt pay attention, he won’t even get a look on it, all transactions will take place in Kathmandoo. And to the well-meaning tourist he’ll have to wave from far away, because he’ll be escorted by a patrol of ten or twelve porters underpayed from the capital, carrying table and chairs and all the stuff of this flashtrekfulloption, wich would have cost him an arm and a leg. Well, why not? And he won’t want to walk into shit the yankee guy. In short, everybody get ripped off : villagers, porters and tourist. One of the goal of our newly born association will be to skip this scenario in one of the most miserous part of the world. I don’t have time here to tell you about our methods and ressources because i have to promote our website and the basecamp we are holding in the pierreuse street, so just keep in mind the adress, come and we’ll discuss about all this.

thib’s (translation : arthur)