An expedition by TAKLAMAKAN WHAT IS IT? F the early 1920 s to the late 1960 s the Soviet Union s Politburo was sending massive numbers of people (estimated around 20 million ) to prison. Many of them died on the way to their camps or in detention due to extreme physical labour, very poor living standards and the undeniable lack of food. Some survived the work and others, like Slavomir Rawicz, took the desperate decision to escape in a way to reject their ordered death. By staying in the camp, they knew they would die. The camps meant death. The only freedom the prisoners were allowed was the choice of whether they wanted to live or die. With this in hand, some like Rawicz or Ossendovski, decided to escape from the gulag. It was their only way to have the ultimate control over themselves and their lives by choosing the way in which they died. After organising and waiting the necessary time some groups tried to make their way through Siberian hell. Some failed, some succeeded. Going East from their Siberian camp, meant joining another war front with the Japanese conflict. Going West equalled jumping into German s hands. And going north would lead no where else then to ice! Heading, south even if long and geologically extreme was the only way that was acceptable. By following this way, they still needed to pass through the iron curtain and the countries attached to it. Walking, riding, hiding in the steppes, forests, swamps, deserts and mountain ranges were only some of the obstacles that needed to be defeated over 6000km for their lifetime escape. WHAT DO WE WANT TO ACHIEVE? B ased on a common escape TAKLAMAKAN.NET do not intend to retrace just one escape effort, but would like to retrace the tremendous efforts made by the hundreds of men and women whose only wish was to breathe freely. We want to find the natural routes and tools they used and finally produce a map of their routes, to make them real. We want to face the difficulty of the itinerary in order to understand better what can push an individual to overpass himself in such conditions. We want to witness for the world. > Because we all remember the Nazi s victims but we never mention the Gulags, TAKLAMAKAN.NET wants to break the ice. > Because remembering them and their courage to survive is a step closer to understanding our current freedom. > Because with hard work, courage and determination any goal can be achieved.
WHO IS DOING THIS? Two members of Taklamakan organisation will be walking: Cyril Delafosse, a modern adventurer and entrepreneur, who has done over 8 international expeditions. Born in 1978 he lives abroad for the last 24 years and has an extensive passion for history and geography so he founded Taklamakan. hard work, courage and determination are the keys of success that made them survive Guillaume Tourlourat, young sportsman based in the Alps. Born in 1982. snowboard and surfing traveller he builts a serious experience in lonely travels. Calm and determined he is the best outdoor mate. The challenge of experiencing the loneliness and toughness of the journey is a deep motivation to understand the escapees mind. And a whole professional team will join us 3 times during the quest: Film crew: one cameraman, one sound engineer from FML Production One photographer
ITINERARY ESTIMATIONS SECTION Duration Month Avg Temp Rain From Magadan to vertical Yakutsk 1 month JUNE 7 33mm 61mm Siberian Taiga to the Baikal lake on foot 2 months JULY AUGUST 19 14 71mm 53mm The mongolian step, on foot and horseback. 1 months SEPTEMBER 20 15mm Gobi desert with horse. 15 days. OCTOBER 20 30mm Cross of the chinese Ghanzou on foot 15 days OCTOBER 15 10mm Cross of the Tibetan L Amdo on foot 1 month NOVEMBER 2 15mm From Lhassa to Calcutta on foot. 1.5 months DECEMBER 0 THE ESTIMATED BUDGET Technical equipement (flares, new gps, survival kits, etc ) Medical (vaccines, tests, etc ) Camera + Memory cards Special clothes (technical shirts / trousers / fleeces, etc ) Airline ticket from Paris to Moscow Airline ticket from UlanBatoor to Paris Transiberian railway ticket Visas (Russia, Siberia, Mongolia, China, India) Money for daily expenses (food, others) 10 x 240 days Horses (500 x2) or Bicycle Local transportation Communication (sat phone card, local phone calls, internet) Total Overhead (15%) Global 500 200 1200 500 300 600 400 200 2400 1000 300 200 7700 1155 8855
WHAT ABOUT MEDIA COVERAGE? Due to our previous experience, we have organized a real result focused media plan on the following means: INTERNET The taklamakan.net website is updated via Satellite phone every four days. It helps building suspense, the scenario and addiction to the website! PRESS on the internet (le Point) or paper, we are used to deal with articles by having professional pictures and writers. Our PR agent makes sure we are seen (European or American press). We do not target only national press but international too. FILM Our producer comes on several occasions during the expedition with his team. We also prepare interviews and a making of. We are usually broadcasted on Cable television. Our latest film had 5 episodes of 26min broadcasted. BOOKS a major picture book is planned, with coloured panoramic/wide pictures. OUR HISTORY This project has been prepared for the last 3 years. The lastest big expedition s (Paris Kabul) media result was: Internet: o taklamakan.net (2000c/d) o lepoint.fr (http://www.lepoint.fr/special_paris_kaboul/sommaire.html) o lemonde.fr Press: o 50.000 signs divided in 30 articles o in 6 languages Film: o 5 episodes of 26mn on Cable television o 1 of 92mn in cinemas Books o «Routes de la soie» Mille et une nuit o «paris kaboul» Hoebeke o «Patrimoine Afghan» report for Unesco