NEPAL – INTERVIEW WITH JULIE TURCOTTE

Julie is our expert in the Himalayas and Nepal. On site at the time of the earthquakes in April and May, she looks back at what happened and the present situation in Nepal.

Hi Julie, can you introduce yourself and tell us about your career?

I’m 30 and I’m from Quebec. I felt the tug of the backpack a little more than 4 years ago.I came to India for six months and I haven’t left since. I worked for 3 years at the New Delhi office. I was able to travel and gain valuable expertise in the Himalayas, Bhutan, Sikkim and Ladakh. Last year I opened our local agency in Kathmandu to enhance our knowledge on the field and to better share with you our love and passion for discovery with a big “D”.

Where were you on 25th April 2015 during the earthquake?

I was in my apartment in Kathmandu on the tenth floor. It was late in the morning and I was waiting for my taxi to pick up my friends Sophie and Francois from the airport. The earth began to move intensely. My survival instinct kicked in, and I left home and went downstairs while the earth shook. For six hours there were strong aftershocks and I stayed outside with fifty Nepalis, around 20 meters away from my building.

How did people around you react to the disaster?

The Nepalese seemed panicked but remained silent, which helped a lot. The first thing they all began to do was calling their families and loved ones who were working or living in the Kathmandu Valley or in the small surrounding villages.

I saw the spirit of brotherhood amongst everyone. I managed to reach my father on the phone in Quebec. I was constantly worried about the aftershocks. It was at that time that an old lady came up to me. She spoke little English but told me not to worry, and that it was over. It was amazing to see this lady comfort me; she had surely lost more things than I had, she had always lived there. But as it turns out, despite the lack of a common language, the feeling of human kindness remains. From that moment on I stopped thinking about myself and started thinking of others.

The Nepalese were listening to the news on their phones and I saw them laughing just 45 minutes post the earthquake. That was how I discovered the wonderful philosophy of life that animates them – they live in the present moment. It made me realize that we in the West are always trying to accomplish something, while these people simply live each day to the fullest.

Where are you now?

Until now, I was with my friends in Tashiling, one of the three villages of Tibetan refugees around Pokhara. The people there have started to make peace with this disaster. With the help of friends installed there, we are preparing to distribute bread in the villages that are affected by the earthquake but are isolated from any international aid intervention.

Today I am in Leh to prepare for the next three months which make up the peak season for the Ladakh trek.

Do you feel safe there?

Ladakh has not been affected by the earthquakes of April and May, so there is no need to worry. I know Nepal has always been a seismic risk zone, as is the case with the north of India too, but this does not prevent me from satisfying my passion for the Himalayas.

What is your advice for people wishing to help Nepal after the disaster?

For the people who are affected by the disaster and for those who have a deep affection for Nepal, the earthquake should not tarnish tourism. We must return to Nepal no matter what has happened! The Nepalese are afraid that after the extensive media coverage of the disaster, tourists no longer come to the valley of Kathmandu. But the guides, porters and drivers must keep working. Think of them and of all the people who depend directly on tourism. Although the situation is dramatic, the Nepalese continue to live. Time does not stop.

The links of the different humanitarian organizations we provide are well-managed structures in which we have full confidence. They are ever in need of donations.

But the best advice I can give to travellers who wish to help Nepal is to come back here. We’ll have to rethink some of our routes and it will take time to rebuild UNESCO sites. But that does not take away the soul of Nepal, which doesn’t lie only in its temples and historical monuments. In everyone’s minds, Nepal will remain what it is and I know that travellers will come back!

What advice do you give to travelers who wish to visit Nepal?

We now have a lot of coverage about what happened. I myself visited several sites that are classified as World Heritage sites by UNESCO. Out of these, presently only Langtang and a portion of the Everest camp trek are not practicable.

Otherwise, all major roads are passable. The majority of sites are still standing and can be visited! Pattan, for example, has lost only two temples out of the ten temples that include the sites that will be reopened as soon as June 15. Only Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Swayabunath are still closed, but we will do another round-up in August.

In any case, I encourage travellers to return to Pattan and Bhaktapur for the people who still live there, and to grasp the importance of these cities in the Nepalese culture. The soul of Nepal shows up in the people who are still living in these places despite such a great disaster. Similarly, the village of Bandipur has not lost its value because of the quake. This tragic event is now part of Nepal’s history just like that of 1934. Even though it is legitimate to ask whether you should go back to these sites or not, for us the more challenging task is to convince you that the soul of Nepal is still there, in the heart of Kathmandu valley!

AUTO RICKSHAWS IN THE US- Can an Uber tuk tuk be far behind

They’re ubiquitous in Asia, swarming the bustling streets of Bangkok, New Delhi and Beijing. Now, a company that manufactures the tuk-tuk- the three-wheeled motorized rickshaws that have moved the masses for more than half a century- aims to make inroads in the US.

The Tuk Tuk Factory, based in Amsterdam, has signed a licensing agreement with Denver-based eTuk USA to allow the company to manufacture and sell an electric version of the vehicle.

The company’s founders hope the eco-friendly vehicles, a far cry from the loud, pollution-spewing versions common in Asia and South America, will become the next hip mode of transportation for urban dwellers and tourists across the country.

It’s too soon to know if Americans will embrace tuk-tuks, but Michael Fox, director of sales and marketing for eTuk USA, says the company has been selling the vehicles across the country to individuals, marketing companies and food vendors for between $16,950 and $25,000, depending on how they are customized.

The three partners’ other company, eTuk Denver, launched a call-and-demand shuttle service in downtown Denver after receiving approval from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, which regulates for-hire transportation services.

The service is the latest entrant into an increasingly crowded field of transportation options that includes pedicabs, car-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft and golf-cart taxis.

Fox is banking that the tuk-tuk’s open-air design will help it stand out.

“When you look at a golf cart and you look at a tuk-tuk, which has more curb appeal?” he asked.

But like car-sharing services, the tuk-tuk has faced some pushback from a handful of cab companies and other shuttle operators- and raised concerns about the vehicles’ safety.

Terry Bote, a commission spokesman, said several cab and shuttle companies were successful in restricting where the tuk-tuks can operate, what types and how many vehicles can be used and how many passengers each vehicle can carry.

The tuk-tuks operate mostly in a restricted downtown area- and are banned from providing scheduled service to the nearby Broncos’ football stadium, a lucrative destination for the competition.

But even with the restrictions, Fox said his service can complement Denver’s bus and light rail systems.

He noted the “last-mile concept,” a term that has been used by urban planners to describe the difficulty of getting people from places like a railway station or a bus depot to their final destination.

The concept originally applied to suburban areas, but also is relevant when studying how people complete their trips in downtown areas, said Carolyn McAndrews, an assistant professor of design and planning at the University of Colorado-Denver.

“Everybody has the last-mile problem, and they solve that problem by walking or we drive our cars,” she said.

But McAndrews also said the market is ripe for new modes of transportation like tuk-tuks to close that gap.

She points to a 2012 study in New Jersey that says “last-mile” shuttles are playing an increasingly important role in connecting people and jobs to rail transit, especially because of the decentralization of jobs and homes in most cities over the past few decades.

“To be competitive with cars, you have to make the point-to-point as convenient as possible,” she said.

And it seems like Colorado’s legislature agrees.

Because the tuk-tuks are classified as motorcycles by the US Department of Transportation, drivers would have had to wear eye protection and get a motorcycle endorsement for the license. Anyone under 18 also would have had to wear a helmet.

But state Rep. Paul Rosenthal said such requirements for vehicles that travel short distances at low speeds don’t make sense, especially for a shuttle service.

“Say you have four kids. They would have to go find a helmet or have them on hand to do that,” he said. “It becomes cumbersome.”

On May 4, the legislature passed Rosenthal’s bill to strip those requirements for 3-wheeled motorcycles with a windshield, seatbelts and a top speed of 25 mph. Each shuttle model also has undergone a standard commercial vehicle inspection to make sure it complies with federal safety standards

Still, most states heavily regulate three-wheeled vehicles because of what some say is the potential for serious accidents.

Sherry Williams, who chairs a committee of independent researchers on motorcycle safety, said helmets should be required and passengers need to be aware of the possible danger in the event of an accident, even at slow speeds.

“Most motorcycle accidents occur under 30 mph, and many of them are fatal. This is a serious issue,” she said.

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