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Upcoming expedition in April 2009 (2008-02-14)
In April 2009, we will commence our 12-month journey traversing the steppes at the heart of the Asian continent. Beginning in the Ural Mountains in Russia, we will work our way through Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan), western China, Mongolia and Siberia.
Our sole mode of transportation throughout the journey will be our purpose-built, custom-designed, four-wheeled, tandem recumbent “Quike”. This vehicle is being built to handle the most extreme terrain, from ice and snow, to sand and mud, from -50°C to 50°C, thus allowing us to venture into areas otherwise inaccessible by car, train, plane, boat or foot. However, what makes this vehicle unique is its nature as truly all-terrain – the attachment of inflatable pods and a pedal-powered propeller completes the transformation for use on water.
Our aim will be to experience and document the lifestyle, traditions and culture of the various nomadic groups and endangered ethnic minorities. Whilst living with these diverse and fascinating peoples for extended periods of time, we will be fully immersed in their lifestyle and culture, recording our experiences on a variety of different media (eg. audio, video, stills). Our journey will be tracked live in real-time and transmitted to an audience via our fully interactive, multimedia website (www.steppebysteppe.com.au).
Every journey begins with the first steppe…
Background & Objectives of the Project
Objective 1: To promote an appreciation of cultural diversity.
As we near the end of the first decade of the 21st century, and the world becomes increasingly integrated and globalised, diverse and unique cultures are rapidly disappearing. The Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages (www.livingtongues.org) reports that on average, one distinct language is being lost every two weeks with 50 per cent of all languages estimated to be extinct in 100 years’ time. In a recent study published in the eminent scientific journal Nature, Sutherland and colleagues (doi:10.1038/nature01607) found that 46 languages have less than 10 native speakers left and 357 languages with less than 50 speakers, with the languages becoming extinct at a far greater rate than animal species.
We believe that cultural diversity is important, and valuable enough to be preserved. There is a lot of indigenous knowledge (natural resource management, care for local flora and fauna, history, medicine) that is only to be found within the hands of peoples that have lived in the region for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Also, as each of these different cultures has evolved throughout unique geographical and political climates, there are many different elements of societal culture, ideas and tenets, that are unique to their situation. Thus, by maintaining the diversity that is present on this little jewel of a planet, we are not losing potential for ideas of how to organize our society. What elements and practices in these other societies might we be able to incorporate into Western society?
This journey and subsequent documentation is not about an unquestioning valuing all cultures as equal, not about blindly promoting tolerance of their customs and ways of life, but rather one of questioning our own lifestyle, their lifestyle, our own beliefs and practice, and their beliefs and practices. tools they use and how they use them – both in terms of locally available resources (land, flora and fauna) and the values and tenets of their social systems.
Learning from other cultures consists of seeing what does and what doesn’t work for certain cultures, what problems their cultures have and what beneficial elements they have. Then, one must ask why it does or doesn’t work. By seeing what faults our culture may have, what solutions other cultures may have to this, and what problems they have, we can better find solutions to the universal problems that plague mankind. Thus, in the process, one ends up questioning their own beliefs, and garnering new knowledge or ways of looking at things.
People often are not concerned with the preservation of the diversity of different cultures and the knowledge they have acquired, not so much because they do not care, but because often they do not know. If they saw and understood the importance of these cultures, they would be more likely to be moved to act. When people can connect first hand, empathise, sharing joy and sadness with these people, they will be emotional attuned to their cultures, more able to see themselves in their shoes, not so far removed. Once people see and understand the beauty and importance of these people and cultures and their indigenous wisdom, they will hopefully understand and promote the preservation of this diversity and its acquired knowledge.
From this problem itself, stems other questions, which hopefully the audience may go someway towards answering or even just questioning. Are other cultures important? If so, why are they important? Are we all part of the same or independent nature/culture? What is our role/place in a world full of many disappearing cultures and indigenous knowledge? We hope that this journey will help people explore some of these (and many more) questions, and move them to search for answers.
When venturing into a foreign environment as an observer, it is a trade off between minimal impact on these cultures (to capture them in their most pure form), and documenting it to help people understand why they need to preserve it. By entering these fragile and uncontaminated cultural areas you often cause change to the indigenous populace by altering, bringing in, taking away or even unconsciously changing them; how much of this is legitimised by the documentation of these people? This may be one of the larger issues concerning the planning and logistics of this expedition, which will require careful attention.
With the help of many research organizations and universities we aim to seek out and record these rare cultures before they disappear. And we hope to do this as observers, without tarnishing the very cultures we are trying to document. We will be capturing all our experiences on film (video and camera), on audio (digital recordings) and physically (artifacts) to document their respective lifestyles. From myths of creation, to fables, to poems, and music, to sports and instruments and clothing, we aim to capture and document the spirit of these peoples on a variety of different media.
Through our multimedia website (www.steppebysteppe.com.au), in combination with pre- and post- expedition talks and presentations, we aim to transmit these stories, in real-time, back to those around the world that are following our journey.
Objective 2: To track each member of the team’s personal journey, and their response to the varied environments.
In a world where we are so focused on surviving in our own isolated economic driven culture, the idea of taking people out of that and placing them in a foreign society without Western technology or material wants - “living to live” - is intriguing. How will we survive? How will we live without the things we take for granted; piped water, electricity, mobile phones? It will also be interesting to find out what draws us humans to seek out these foreign cultures and what we have in common with them - is it something innate, something socially constructed, or something else? How do our experiences of these people change us? How do people cope when they are thrown into foreign culture, a situation of unfamiliarity, people they do not know, alienation, and anomie?
For us, Steppe by Steppe, Side by Side is an opportunity to really grow and learn both as individuals and as a team. There are very real risks involved in such an enterprise and we recognise that we will be stepping well out of our comfort bubbles - our security will be centred squarely on our wits and our reliance on other people, not on our house, or our car.
Our personal journeys will be tracked primarily in the journals (including text, photos, videos, and audio files) present on the website. Also, a documentary will be pieced together for viewing after the journey has been completed. The website forum and personal emails will allow those following the journey to interact with the team, asking questions or requesting images.
The Quike
Our route will take us through untracked territory where no roads or towns exist, weaving our way through the treacherous and water-deprived Takla Makan and Gobi deserts, across many open and windswept steppes, and across Lake Baikal. Our ability to travel long distances on terrain unsuitable for motor vehicles (too technical, too narrow, no petrol, open water areas), bikes (desert areas with no water for weeks on end, snow/ice and sand, water areas), or ordinary boats (mud flats, sand) will allow us to access these areas which are otherwise unreachable. Thus the design of the Quike will allow us to access many areas and a huge variety of cultures that would normally escape the awareness of people in developed countries.
Due to the nature of this trip, the Quike has been built to carry up to 500 kg, as we are expecting to endure week-long stints without water or food access. All spare parts and repair gear will have to be carried on-board, thus making sure we are able to fix whatever problems we may encounter during our 12 month journey. The constantly changing terrain and weather means a large range of suitable clothing and hardware will also need to be carried, to allow us to adapt to whatever situations we may encounter.
The Quike will be unique in that it will be able to be pedaled on water. Inflatable pods attached to the frame, combined with a pedal powered propeller, will enable it to be pedaled across large stretches of water. This amphibious vehicle will thus allow us to access areas, otherwise inaccessible Thus this concept vehicle will give us greater flexibility in our choice of locations to visit and how to get there. This all terrain vehicle is thus a one of a kind vehicle, the first time such a vehicle has ever been built let alone used, a world first!
The Quike will also be unique in that it will have a removable clear protective and aerodynamic shell enclosing it. Many other bike expeditions have encountered problems of frostbite and hypothermia due to being exposed to the elements whilst riding. This Quike will have a custom built removable fairing attached to it, much like the windscreen/shell of a car, allowing us to stay out of the wind and rain, as well as giving us a more aerodynamic profile. Thus safety and protection from the elements will be enhanced compared to an ordinary bike, thus minimizing the risk of injury due to the environment.
There are a number of reasons we decided to partake upon this journey: the challenges that it would present to ourselves and what we presently consider to be important; the opportunity to see and record some of these special people and places; the opportunity to bring to the public the knowledge these local cultures have gathered over the centuries. We think such a journey presents a remarkable opportunity for a group of journeymen to bring the global issues of increasing culture homogeneity and loss of culture and local knowledge, and its relationship with affluent lifestyle, into living rooms through discussions amongst a mix of people that the viewer can relate to.
We hope our extensive experience in communication will contribute to making the journey rewarding, engaging; much more than merely entertaining. As well as having an adventurous side with our all terrain vehicle traveling through very tough and hostile environments, there will also be a more meaningful and beneficial side, of researching and documenting these disappearing cultures.
There are those people today who live the same life, day-in day-out, predictable, risk free, dreamless. They are the harshest critics of those who strive to break free from this mundane existence.
In this world, too many people are afraid to pursue the life they truly desire, too afraid of being criticised by others, too afraid of failing, too afraid of not knowing the way. However, there are also those who choose to follow their dreams, those who choose to rebel, those who strive to be free - those who live.
Stay true to yourself; break free from the chains of society and live.
May you too have the strength and courage to pursue your dreams.
www.steppebysteppe.com.au
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