The caste system came to Nepal between 300-800 A.D.
Although it was officially banned in 1963, -
it continues to define the role of people in society.
In the weakest position are those outside the system: the casteless.
They are worthless in the eyes of others, which forces many women into prostitution.
Directed by: Timo Peltokangas
Produced by: Mikael Hautala
This all began in the winter of 2009
when I traveled in Southeast Asia, filming people's lives.
I found myself in Nepal -
in the midst of breathtaking views, -
and an incredibly hospitable people.
There I encountered some of the most difficult life circumstances -
which I had ever seen.
In Kathmandu I met residents of a women's shelter -
who searched for joy and balance -
after others had driven them to a dead end in their lives.
I also met children, who have died by now, -
because they were born into casteless families, -
into completely hopeless circumstances.
I had spent my childhood in Central America.
And from there I knew that poverty does not make a person miserable, -
any more than riches makes a person happy.
The root of the problem is not money, -
but mans inclination to oppress others.
I began to dream, that I could make a difference -
in the lives of these oppressed people.
Alleviating the oppression of the cast system felt like such a distant dream -
so I decided to be rational and begin somewhere practical and small.
I returned to Finland, got married, -
started a business and lived two years of my life.
As an online entrepreneur I had the opportunity -
to support residents of the women's shelter by selling their jewelry in Finland.
Now I only had to come up with a way to bring -
the jewelry to Finland and find buyers.
[Dream Driven]
[The "Dream Driven" project. First take. Tampere, Finland.]
It is recording.
[Day 1. 9431km to Nepal] Here is the most important question for the trip:
[Day 1: 9431km to Nepal] Should I wear these classic Ray-Bans, -
or these slightly more modern... Police?
In the end had pretty slim resources starting out.
We were just normal young people who started doing.
We did not even realize how lost we were the whole time.
[The "Dream Driven" planning video. June 25th, 2012] You mean higher?
[The "Dream Driven" planning video. June 25th, 2012] - Hi!
Hi! My name is Juho, and my...
Hi! My name is Juho, and my dream is to drive to Nepal by car for a good cause.
[Arman Alizad: Producer & TV personality] When we first began to make "Kill Arman",
[Arman Alizad: Producer & TV personality] we were two boys with a dream to create documentary -
about martial arts and Kungfu masters around the world.
Then when our idea went through and production began, -
we had no idea what to do.
How the heck do we get into a Shaolin temple and speak to a warrior monk?
I'll call him and say: "Hi, this is Arman, can I come watch you kick about?"
If we had thought about everything, and made detailed plans, -
then I don't know if we would ever have left, -
because we would have been overwhelmed.
And then it might not have ever happened, -
because we would have started thinking about all possible problems.
A skeptic will always conjure up scenarios.
[Riku Rantala: Producer & TV personality] Driving to Nepal by car is no easy task.
There are many hurdles along the way, and unstable places.
It is challenging from a traffic stand point... and logistically.
I often think about how these enterprises work out when one wants to do good.
It must be something that has been thought through.
There must be a guarantee that the project won't turn into a road to hell.
As we know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
The project must be what is claimed, doing good, and not get messed up.
Traditionally charity is thought of as an emotional thing.
For me it has always been a rational question.
The inequality and foundation that I have in life is an extreme privilege -
which results in a rational responsibility
[Juho's first trip to Nepal 12.20.2009] - to narrow the gap between people.
[The "Dream Driven" planning video.] Hi! My friends...
[The "Dream Driven" planning video.] My friends also had dreams
[The "Dream Driven" planning video.] - and we decided to combine them all into one plan.
My name is Mikael Hautala, and I am going on this trip as a driver and photographer -
from Helsinki to Kathmandu.
Before the trip, when telling others about what we were doing, -
older people tried to scare us asking: "What is the point?"
"You will die out there. Something will happen.
Your tires will bust... bla bla blaah."
But when telling our age group, everyone said:
"That's cool! I want to come along!"
Often the obstacle for people to fulfill their dreams is that -
they let other people affect their faith in the dream.
Many people told us that "Kill Arman" will never been seen on TV.
One producer said that I should have stayed in the clothing business -
and left producing to the producers.
But we just had a crazy passion to do it, and that is probably what kept it alive.
The passion and love for the project was greater than everything else.
Everyone is responsible for their own dreams.
This is just the way it is, because no one else will fulfill your dreams for you.
Here is our ride: a Volkswagen Transporter
It's the postal service's old van, -
which is why the steering wheel is on the wrong side.
Two and a half liter turbo diesel. Before leaving, it has been driven 250,000 km.
I thought that if in the 60's some missionary grannies -
have driven there alone in a Kleinbus, -
then why couldn't three fit young men travel -
the same route today, or at least the same distance?
What could be so difficult?
As Top Gear puts it: "How hard can it be?"
Now we are going to a junkyard in Kangasala -
to see if we can find some seats for the back.
Jackpot! - We found ourselves some seats.
One of our big problems is that we take ourselves way too seriously.
[Saku Tuominen: Creative Director, Idealist Group]
I believe, that we should have a balance in life -
where self-irony and self confidence are proportional, -
which means that we don't think too highly or too lowly of ourselves.
When we first heard of the "Dream Driven" project we wanted to boost it forward.
There are too few projects like this in Finland.
The first time I heard about it, I thought: "That is awesome!"
The passion and love for the work has again been victorious -
against challenges, possible difficulties, and whatever may come along the journey.
When attempting big projects, there will always be challenges.
It radiated a great love for doing good.
For good values and right things. It was amazing in my opinion.
I thought: "Yeah, how sweet!"
This has got to be the world's sweetest crew. This is cool.
[Day 1. Tampere, Finland] Now we started rolling from Tampere.
Bus station. Hello.
The police station on the left.
Everything is OK. We should have everything.
I'm honestly quite nervous about whether we have everything, -
because if we don't, what do we do?
I find it amazing, that we live in a time, where everyone who sees this film, -
can do incredible things that are globally interesting.
I think that is pretty sweet.
[Reporter]: "Three young men have departed toward Nepal in a van.
The journey will take a few months -
and the goal is to bring back jewelry made by residents of a women's shelter.
You are now on the road to Anjalankoski. We have Juho LeppÃ¤nen on the phone. Hello."
- Hello. - Mikael Hautala is also with you -
and the plan is to spend the night at Anjalankoski, right? - That is correct.
And then you will cross the border and pick up the third companion Rico PircklÃ©n.
- Yes. - Hey, how do you feel?
It has now begun, the two month trip.
Yes it has begun, and the excitement is quite intense.
I have no idea what is ahead and yet I want to complete this -
and get to our destination, and back as well.
Yes, lots of excitement. But are you scared at all?
Because I would not quite go on a leisure drive through some of those countries.
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan...
Yes, in some sense it is scary, there are many things that can go wrong.
Though in another sense it is just normal driving and living, .
but in another it is still scary, -
not knowing the countries and not having driven the route before.
Good, so you have to succeed in this if I am planning to order jewelry in a few weeks.
Yes we must. And now the pressure increases a bit.
Juho LeppÃ¤nen thanks for this. And a very good trip. Good luck!
Thank you, thank you.
Why does Rico take the train to Vyborg, if we are traveling by car?
Simple. Our car is registered for two people in Finland -
and there are three of us. So we couldn't take Rico along or install the seats."
When Juho contacted me and told me about this "Dream Driven" idea, -
I thought it was a good idea, of course.
Everything that has to do with traveling and charity is good stuff.
My travel partners were my close companions.
Rico was a groomsman in my wedding, -
and Mikael had become like a brother to me in the past year.
We will now lock our steering wheel.
Okay! No one will steal it now.
Hi! We are in St. Petersburg. Here is the courtyard of where we're spending the night.
The car is brand new? About 10 years old? - Yeah!
Rico.
[Day 3. St.Petersburg Russia] - And now you decide to head out?
[Day 3. St.Petersburg Russia] How often have you driven a bigger car like this?
The last time was during my military service.
Which was how long ago? - 3 years.
Okay. When have you last driven with right side steering?
Never before.
So you are driving for the first time in three years, in a van with right side steering, -
and we are in the center of St. Petersburg. - Yep.
Ummm, it started well.
Here we go.
Music for the first time on this trip.
Maybe we'll stick to our own.
Rico, what did we learn just now?
There seemed to be large speed bump.
Immediate reduction of speed... a giant bang!
120 and I plowed right through.
I don't feel like speaking to the camera right now...
But since we decided to film, we are going do this filming thing.
The passing lanes are quite short here, approximately 400-500 meters.
And I began passing a truck.
The passing lane ended, but it continued... striped.
And I simply drove about 50 meters on it, and there happened to be a police patrol.
The threat was to end up before a Russian court for driving in the wrong direction.
The options were to either wait for the decision -
of the Russian court at the police station -
or continue without my license and skip the court session, -
which would mean I would be a wanted person in Russia during our return trip.
In panic I called Vadim in St. Petersburg, -
who explained the purpose of our trip to the police in Russian.
The police considered the options for a while -
and in the end decided to not file any papers, -
telling us to greet the Dalai Lama and Bruce Lee.
Maybe I was just shocked -
and couldn't think very much, hoping for the best.
At least it will be more interesting to watch, but it certainly doesn't feel good.
Well, we got to continue, so on we go.
We'll learn from this, that's for sure.
It was cool when we started doing this project -
and a few months before leaving our friends got excited.
They helped us prepare the car, and with sales and spreading the word etc.
Then the radios began calling, such as Radio Nova.
The newspapers wrote about us before heading out.
And when we started out, our Facebook likes rose.
It felt like: "Yes, now we have a good groove on."
We were excited and it was cool when others were excited as well.
Once on the Russian side we started receiving criticism on Facebook.
Things like: "Hey, you are funding a leisure trip to Asia with charity money."
But every expense that we had came either from our own pockets or our own hard work.
And everything that we sold, such as advertising space etc -
went straight to Nepal to further children's education.
Social media has come to stay. It has its good and bad sides.
It can no longer be avoided or removed. It's a good thing.
But then there is the completely unjustified commenting behind anonymous aliases.
That is a bad side of social media, -
that often on the surface level those opinions have the same value, -
even though in reality they're not. Some are more justified than others.
I fully understand that the guys received criticism.
Many people will ask if this is just some trick by the guys to get themselves a trip.
Someone might want to go on a similar trip, but has not achieved it.
There are many motives: jealousy, anger, the fear of being different.
All these normal human feelings drive us online to comment things.
Not only excitement, love and good feelings, as we would wish of course.
The entire sprectrum can be seen.
3.5 hours now and 106 kilometers behind us.
- St. Petersburg Moscow
This highway. - Yes. Three hours, 106 kilometers.
Today we drove from St. Petersburg to Moscow.
700 kilometers and 14 hours in traffic.
Now I am worn out... get some sleep.
Moscow is back there, and Kazan is 800 kilometers ahead.
We've been on the road for an hour now.
I took my foot off the gas 3.3 kilometers ago.
6 kilometers ago I took my foot off the gas... and still going.
[Day 7. The Russia-Kazakhstan border. Far from home]
We're getting Fluffy ready for the night.
Here is the current situation, so plenty to do.
The chemistry between us worked very well.
Most of the time went by with one person driving, -
another reading the map, and the third filming.
So there was no need for anything, there were no factors that could create conflict.
So this is where we sleep. Where are we?
We're in Kazakhstan!
We are 50 meters from the Kazakhstan border... at a gas station.
I get to come between you again, right?
You are the smallest. - Mm-hmm. That's enough for now. Good night.
A Kazakh morning.
We just drove 10 kilometers straight.
Completely straight. I did not need to touch the steering wheel.
Well maybe I did, but didn't need to.
The roads look really good now... We'll see.
There Juho goes off to poop... In the bushes.
A flock of sparrows? - Still like a cable.
The fifth gas station in this city that -
we've tried to find that either takes euros or a card.
Get it? - I got it exchanged.
Now I have 7000 local money and for that reason I thought I'd bring you some breakfast.
These are some warm pastries.
Did you know you're a good man Juho? - Yes, I knew that.
Driving over the endless expanses of Kazakhstan -
gave me time to think about the project.
Driving proved to be hard work, -
as did writing down our experiences and keeping up our video blog.
My own thoughts took me to Nepal, and to the people -
that had gotten me moving in the first place.
Soon Rico and Mikael would see the beauty of Nepal, -
but also the cruelty of the cast system.
[Day 10. Balkhash lake, Kazakhstan, 4742km traveled] To Finnish eyes the casteless are just poor people -
[Day 10. Balkhash lake, Kazakhstan, 4742km traveled] but in their own culture they are worth less than animals.
When shaking the hand of a casteless person, they are completely stunned, -
because normally touching a member of the casteless is considered unclean.
Thinking about the oppression for too long would make one feel powerless and small.
It was better to focus on the mission, since at least we were doing something, -
even if it did not change the whole world at once.
The first camels of the trip! I will run after them!
The first real mountain roads of the trip are here.
Welcome to this Folke West journey to the plateaus of Kyrgyzstan.
Today a giant turtle has gotten stuck on the windshield.
So please be careful while driving at these altitudes.
Now we are in Naryn, Kyrgyzstan which is a town of about 40,000 people -
before going to China.
This is so far the most nerve wracking night, -
because we are at a small gas station, -
we don't know if this place closes.
This country is significantly poorer than Kazakhstan.
Yeah and this is a village and people keep passing by.
This is not some gas station by a major road, where no one walks by during the night.
So several things make this a bit nerve wracking, but... that's it for now.
This night's in the Lord's hands as well. No one will rob us... maybe.
The most important thing is that we get rested.
We'll wake up at 05:30 to make it to the border on time.
[Day 13. At-Bashi Plateau, Kyrgyzstan, 2011 meters above sea-level.]
I just saw the most beautiful scenery I have seen in a long long time.
Whoa, it sends shivers up my spine how the soul can rest in these views.
[Day 13. Torugart Pass, Kyrgyzstan 3670 meters above sea-level.]
Found the bag! - Nothing important, just the passports.
There is a peak that rises above 7900 meters.
Is that a lake?
Basically Pohjanmaa... Yes, very basic Pohjanmaa.
[Day 14. Karakul-lake, China, 3900 meters above sea-level.]
Juho's travel tips:
[Chinese guide] Don't buy... a scorpion inside a piece of amber.
Don't buy a scorpion inside of amber, even though it looks unique, -
because when you buy it 30 more appear, which look exactly the same...
And you don't get your money back.
And then you get quite annoyed.
Because? - Because it...
How much did it cost? - It cost a lot.
Plastic? - Seems to be plastic...
We just arrived at the highest point of this leg of the trip, 4100 meters.
We won't go any higher today.
After all these events that we've had, -
half an hour later everything went smoothly.
Now we're in China, and I have faith that -
if this continues like this to the end, we have nothing to worry about.
Finally the food came. We waited an hour. - Longer!
We waited more than an hour! - But we'll eat now... so see you.
You have now puked all over the bathroom, the toilet seat, the sink...
Yes. - Mikael's shoes and bed...
Your own bed. - It came so freaking fast.
And there are pieces next to my bed.
Really? I tried looking for water there... and it gets stuck in my beard... -
When I try to block it like this so that it doesn't come out...
It just spread everywhere with an incredible speed.
It was a little embarrassing with the bathroom door...
I was pounding it to try to get in, -
and then I puke against it. After everything is out...
I realize that it is a sliding door.
Now we left the hotel. The Chinese border control is 5 minutes from here.
We were charged 10 yuan (1.28 Euros) for Juho's puking in the night, -
for the mess and a towel that had been destroyed during cleaning.
Quite cheap in the end.
When we began climbing, it went just as Wikipedia predicted, -
Juho started getting altitude sickness.
It made us think a little.
It is a little alarming when something dangerous might be happening.
Soon we will be at 4600 meters, and I am in terrible shape because -
my stomach was completely emptied yesterday -
and I haven't gotten fluids to stay inside -
and the air is really thin.
But soon we will begin descending, so this should be it. Keep moving forward.
[Day 15. Khunjerab Pass, China/Pakistan. 4713 meters above sea level.]
Our VW can handle everything.
I'm not always sure if I should wave, when the guy has an AK-47 in his hands, -
but he waved back smiling, so maybe this time it was a good idea.
Could this be the Pakistani border station?
I still feel quite terrible, but the reason is no longer the lack of oxygen, -
so something else is wrong with me.
But that was the least of our worries at the moment, -
because when we arrived at the Pakistani customs area, -
we were told that the Karakoram highway was closed.
Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to this Folke West tour of Pakistan.
Pakistan has some troubles at the moment, -
because the Karakoram highway has been damaged for the past two years, -
because in 2010 there was some water damage, -
resulting in 27 kilometers of the road being cut off.
- And that segment needs to be crossed by boat... This is news to me.
It means that first we must drive an hour to Pasu...
- Where we spend the night. And continue by a ferry...
- Which will take this car, and us...
- 27 kilometer over the lake, and from there we can get back on the Karakoram highway.
- and the locals say the drive from there is 20 hours.
At least this isn't a rope bridge.
The nauseous feeling has left now -
or it is no longer a problem, but now I have a fever.
Zero energy.
And I'm also pretty homesick.
I miss my wife.
I thought I'd have too much to think about during the trip, -
so that I wouldn't miss her.
Juho had a few moments when he was really homesick, -
and it's hard when emotions overflow to take hold of the situation rationally -
that we're now here and nothing can be done. We have to go on and that's it.
A day forward after giving it some time -
then the mind wins and the emotions fade.
Then the goal comes back into view and we continue on the journey.
Those moments always come, especially during long travels.
Feelings come to the surface. Culture shock for example.
Sometimes after the honeymoon phase -
a reality check comes: "What's going on here? It's rough."
"It is polluted here and the people are in a hellish situation."
"There are so many poor people. Why don't the rich do anything?"
But good conversations always helped. It might be a little bit of depression.
Sometimes one gets worn out during travels, and one gets a bit tired.
Those things need to be dealt with, with friends.
One can't make it alone, that is clear. That's one thing I've learned.
How are you feeling?
Yesterday was terrible.
I withdrew to sleep earlier, and then got really homesick.
I don't know... Then I just cried myself to sleep.
Mikael came and prayed for me at some point that I would get well, -
and when I woke up in the morning: nothing.
Food tasted good. Oh my goodness.
Can the boats be seen in the background?
Yes. Incredible, but true... With those boats we need to cross 27 kilometers.
There are these long beams that we will drive the car on, horizontally.
And then hope for the best.
A little nerve wracking. We have quite a bit of valuable stuff with us.
This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. Completely crazy.
We got a deal. It will cost 170 euros to cross the lake.
Expensive, but better than nothing. We'll see what happens.
The boat was completely ridiculous. Just crazy.
In itself it was unthinkable that -
a large highway bridging two nations, a world famous highways, -
can just disappear for a stretch of 30 kilometers, and become a lake.
That in itself is quite strange.
If in Finland the Third Ring Road became a lake...
We wouldn't use row boats to tow cars across.
That shouldn't be possible.
I took the responsibility to load Fluffy. As I crawled half a tire at a time, -
I could only think about how bad this could end financially.
I felt the boat tilt forward, and thought: "This is it."
"I'll deal with this debt the entire next year."
Oh wow!
We're at the end of the ferry ride, and now the only nervous bit is the offloading.
Supposedly last week a car fell of a boat and that was it.
Stepping outside of our comfort zone. It's a fashionable phrase, but it is true.
That is where the magic happens. Where growth takes place.
Usually people consider it a risk to go wander around in unknown areas -
where one hasn't been before, doing something one hasn't done before.
But it is the only and best way to do a new refreshing thing.
Just step on it!
The mountain has come onto the road, and now two tractors are cleaning it up.
We'll see if this takes a moment, day, or week for them to clear it.
Cleared!
362. - 362!
Looks good. Looks good.
I hope things turn out well.
There was a bridge.
...not anymore.
We're in Gilgit.
Did you say 1,400, or?
Yes. 1,400 Rupees (12 Euros) per night for three people -
and it looks pretty good. Cheapest so far. Okay, lets get packing.
When we arrived in Gilgit, the local police chief asked to speak with us.
The victory feeling after the ferry crossing faded,
when we realized Pakistan was Pakistan.
So, we were just told that the road to Islamabad is somehow dangerous.
Something happened yesterday and now no one has gotten through.
We could not speak about the "what if?"-question there.
We attempted to speak to the camera. All three of us went in front of a mirror.
We never had a shot with the three of us drivers at the same time.
We went in front of the mirror to talk about our feelings, -
but it's a load of crap when Finnish men try to -
speak about their feelings as they're happening.
How did that conversation make you feel?
You are still laughing, but I bet -
even Juho will soon realize how fucked up things are.
I wonder what we just discussed. "No one bombs anyone here."
No one has bombed anything!
We don't know what has happened.
They were saying that the road had been targeted.
The only thing I picked up was that there had been a terrorist attack.
A terrorist attack that claimed lives.
It sounded like a bridge was blown up or something.
The locals won't even let us go to Islamabad... yet.
The feelings were primarily some mix of survival and a state of fear.
Or more of a panic.
I primarily thought that we need to get out of here -
before things really get life threatening.
As an extreme optimist and positive person Juho -
seemed completely oblivious to the situation.
That people are really being killed around us.
And that we were stuck in the city.
It didn't break our chemistry -
but dealing with Juho began feeling like work.
I cannot comprehend how someone can be so relaxed, as if on vacation, -
when we're stuck in Gilgit because of a terrorist attack.
I don't understand.
I don't know about death. Thinking about it now...
I have never been so close to a real possibility that I could have died -
as was the threat in Pakistan.
Should we risk driving the last 650 kilometers, -
where there might be terrorists on the road.
Is the risk worth it, because we'd leave our wives alone.
I'm going to fly out of Gilgit... I'll take the fastest route out of this country.
I didn't like the idea of coming to Pakistan, and now I like it even less.
This is completely ridiculous.
Rico. Tomorrow we'll go to Islamabad first thing in the morning.
Watch me go.
There weren't many options. We'll continue onward.
We had to keep moving forward since I didn't have a visa back to China.
[Day 17. Gilgit, Pakistan, 650km from the mountains] Juho what is happening?
[Day 17. Gilgit, Pakistan, 650km from the mountains] I'm cleaning the van.
[Day 17. Gilgit, Pakistan, 650km from the mountains] Because we're getting two Norwegian stowaways.
Norwegian stowaways? - Yes, they have them here in Northern Pakistan.
So we can leave tomorrow? - Yes!
Oh wow. - Only delayed by one day.
What does Rico think about this?
I feel safer with those extra human shields.
If things get screwed up I might get away.
It was probably the biggest fears of mine, -
- that I make it fine, but something happens to one of the other drivers.
How could I live with it, if one of my companions falls into a lake in Pakistan?
We left Gilgit in the morning, because we could. Yay.
But when we turned the engine on we noticed a leakage of yellow fluid.
Our power steering is busted.
It turned out that the oil had leaked from the power steering...
We couldn't do anything but let it bust along the way.
Because we simply had to get out of this country.
You can hear our power steering dying with a terrible squeaking.
We were driving on beautiful roads, but we couldn't focus on the views -
because a few days ago terrorists killed -
over 20 people on these roads, including women and children.
We came on Karakoram Highway North. We're headed on Karakoram Highway South.
And on that road 20 people were killed the other day.
I'm quite scared.
[Day 17. Jaglot, Pakistan. 500km from the mountains] - Louder? I'm pretty damn scared.
[Day 17. Jaglot, Pakistan. 500km from the mountains] We don't know what's ahead, -
and have everything to lose.
Let us hope we get out alive from this country. I'll never come back.
It's the first time I wish I had a gun in the glove compartment.
When the other guy has a gun, -
it would be good to have something to defend oneself with.
So we'll get extra protection in the car. The next 10 kilometers is a dangerous area.
I had a man with an assault rifle by my side.
The broken power steering made steering difficult.
The 100 meter cliffs by the road didn't alleviate the tension either.
At the previous police checkpoint we got rid of the cop who sat on Mikael's seat.
But I don't know if this is a safer area -
because now we have a police car behind us with three armed police.
When we realized the boxes on the cars were caskets -
we began to count the kilometers, hoping we'd get out of the mountains by nightfall.
It's quite crazy here in Pakistan.
From the right, left, front, back, top and bottom... and who knows where.
Animals, children, cars, mopeds. You name it.
Abbottabad!
We were unfazed by the arrival to Abbottabad, -
where Osama Bin Laden was killed, because we were out of the mountains.
The next day we could drive all the way to India.
We would not return to Pakistan.
Welcome to India. India. India.
That counted! - That was the second hit.
Who's driving? - Who do you think?
[Day 21. Butwal, Nepal, over 9000 km driven] We're in Nepal.
[Day 21. Butwal, Nepal, over 9000 km driven] Ta-da-da-daaa!
Welcome to Nepal! - La-la-la-la-laa.
Not much happened today but we had fun.
[Day 22. Shreenagar Village, Nepal]
We're walking to Shreenagar village.
Before continuing to Kathmandu I showed Rico, Mikael, and our followers -
the school which we had raised money for.
We had to walk a good while to Shreenagar village -
because society had driven the casteless out from the bigger villages.
The village had changed in the past three years.
The school was bigger with twice the children.
It was nice to think that the few thousand euros -
that we had raised in advertising, could help the education of these children.
Bye bye!
Front page.
We got on the front page. Yesterday we had a reporter with us at the village -
and now we're on the front page in a local newspaper.
We're at the finish line. There! 400 meters.
Na-na-na-na-na Batman!
What's happening? Where are we!? - The finish line!
Rico, where are we? - The sauna.
Misa had flown to Kathmandu, and he would take Mikael's place for the return trip.
We had to figure out how to get Fluffy and the jewelry back to Finland -
without driving through Pakistan.
We arrived at Princess Beads, after an extremely long journey.
There is jewelry of all colors.
So many colors that a Finnish man's brain goes like this...
So many colors and shapes etc, but you ladies can find yourselves suitable ones.
Misa seems to be modeling with a few.
He is a little too excited about this jewelry.
Just missing a few, and tomorrow we'll get our order loaded into the van.
And then we'll head back to Finland. Whoohoo!
Now we are going to the Finnish consulate in Kathmandu.
There will be a press conference about us.
It almost got out of control in Kathmandu.
All of a sudden all of Nepal was reporting about -
young men from Finland coming to help the casteless.
The small creek started growing into a river.
Helping the women of shelter opened the doors -
to the larger dream of shaking oppression.
When we found out that Nepal's largest telephone operator -
wanted to speak with us -
we couldn't wait to hear what they had to say.
An incredible meeting with Ncell.
They will support this project for many years to come.
[Mikael singing]
What's in the trunk?
I don't know. - Look.
I'm expecting a flock of goats. - Are those goat heads?
Hey! Jewelry. Lots of jewelry.
For the surprise of the day, Rico got plane tickets to Finland.
Originally when planning the trip we thought it would be 5 weeks.
That is how much time I had allotted for the trip.
School had started for me in Finland and I was worried what would happen.
How long would the trip back take? I had to then weight the options.
We discussed with Juho if they could make the trip back without me.
They could, so I decided to fly back to Finland.
Bye bye.
This is beginning to get quite rough for me.
I just got the feeling all of a sudden.
Mikael left, which was planned. Rico left, which was a surprise.
I was homesick in Pakistan already. To the point of tears.
This doesn't help the situation, seeing others get to go home.
But I'm not in absolute agony here.
We'll get to Finland eventually, but it just doesn't feel that great now.
We were stuck in Kathmandu with the car and jewelry.
I had placed a security of 7500 euros to -
the Swedish Driver's Union to obtain Fluffy's passport.
The security would be released, once the car was back in Finland.
I had borrowed the money, so I would be in a mess if we did not make it back.
We dared not go back to Pakistan. Tibet in the North was closed off.
And we could not go around the Himalayas in the East.
We finally found a shipping firm in Mumbai, India -
that was willing to ship Fluffy to Iran.
We set off knowing that each kilometer was a step closer to home.
It was a risk with just the two of us.
We began to doubt that we could make it.
We began asking if someone from Finland wanted to come as a third driver.
Can they get to India or Nepal? If so, how?
The plan was still the same. To go through Mumbai in India.
That was the direction. We had to go through India.
Today we got the car fixed. We'll also get a third driver in Dubai.
Looks like we'll head out tomorrow.
[Day 34, Kathmandu, Nepal 2317 kilometers and 7 days to the ship.]
We're going to Finland.
Misa is behind the wheel for the first time.
This is going great. - Stop, police.
The sticker is on the passport. Misa and I are officially out of Nepal.
The whole process, with the guys driving and with me supposed to be there, -
it was a little disappointing that I couldn't be there sharing those moments.
Behind me is Taj Mahal. It's an incredible sight in the evening sun.
[Day 36. Agra, India. 1414 km and 5 days to the ship]
We left at dawn from Jaipur toward Udaipur.
I just drove 325 kilometers here in India and I don't want to any more.
Luckily after tomorrow we don't need to drive in India.
It's just so draining. Anything can appear on the road.
Cows, dogs, pigs, camels, people, tractors. From behind the bushes.
Something could really happen here because the speeds go up to 100 km/h.
And an accident at 100 km/h is quite a big thing.
I dreamed of the winning gold at the Vancouver Olympics for a long time.
After the first round I was within my goals.
I was the fastest and led the competition.
In the last turn of the second competition, I made a simple mistake.
I almost fell. Got driven into another lane, and dropped to fifth place.
Crossing the finish line I felt like it wasn't real.
It felt unreal. I wondered when I could retry.
This couldn't be it. It was a weird feeling.
I hadn't experienced very big disappointments in my career so far.
But this felt huge, as if everything was crushed.
I'd wasted four years of hard work.
It really put me in a tough spot.
What gave me strength to over come it was -
realizing that sports isn't everything, and that I had another chance.
I'll move on from here. This will make me a stronger athlete and person.
As you may have noticed, we were in a wreck.
Fluffy is in terrible shape.
I have no idea if it can be fixed.
We're in Udaipur and Mumbai is 700 kilometers away.
Transportation is being arranged. We'll travel on the back of a truck.
No need to drive in India anymore.
When the accident happened, it made me think -
if somehow it could have been prevented with me there.
Maybe if the drivers had been switched every few hours.
We came to the police station, and they kindly contacted someone -
who will arrange a truck and crane.
We'll load Fluffy on the truck -
and then ride in it to Mumbai.
The one driver will drive 20 hours straight.
I don't know if we'll be in another accident while sitting in a wrecked car.
This is proof that things could always be worse.
It wasn't a fun thought to drive 14 hours to Mumbai -
but now we're sitting 20 hours on the back of a truck, in our car. Not more fun.
Two hours behind us. - Four hours now.
Sixth hour. - Hour 20.
We're stuck in Mumbai traffic.
[Day 40. Mumbai, India. 64 km and 1 day to the ship] The last time we ate was breakfast 28 hours ago.
It would be nice to be there already.
I miss my wife.
This is where we're staying in Mumbai.
It is nice to have kind people who have arranged this place for us.
It's safe. We have AC and everything we need.
Though we do have one big need...
When young men haven't showered in 48 hours -
and have been in the same clothes.
I have never been this dirty or smelled this terrible before.
In the worst case fixing Fluffy might not be worth it.
It might not be financially tenable.
I'm not really sure.
Tomorrow will bring its solutions...
But if I could get some warm food, bathe and sleep, -
and maybe contact home, then I'd be happy.
Pizza!
I came to check what they've accomplished with the van in a day.
When I finally got a hold of the people at Volkswagen, -
then things began to move forward -
but we're still on an extremely tight schedule.
Third day of repair. Let's see if they got the part numbers for me.
The main problem with fixing Fluffy was that -
the VW Transporter had never been brought to India.
The closest parts were in Turkey.
We were in the largest Volkswagen workshop, -
but the mechanics saw the Transporter for the first time.
The blueprints and part numbers had to be figured out from Germany.
Miraculously the frame was fine. We knew that the motor and gearbox were fine.
This part must be changed on both sides.
Soon we'll get a list of the parts -
and we'll post them on Facebook in case someone has some of them laying around.
It was an incredible hassle. 2-3 days and hundreds of phone calls.
Tens of people and car mechanics -
questions like: What is wrong? -
What parts need to be bought and from where?
We were in a hurry because there was a ship from Mumbai to Iran only once a week.
So a days delay could mean a week longer stay in India for the boys.
We had already been on pause with nothing moving forward.
We constantly lost followers.
If nothing happens in a week people lose interest.
That was also a fear. We had to get going and get the ball rolling.
An evening behind us. Let's see what the boys have done.
They have accomplished quite a bit. If we're lucky we'll catch tomorrow's ship.
Woke up to a Mumbai morning. - Cockadoodledoo!
I came here in the morning to see if things are ready -
and it looks pretty bad, so maybe we won't get home a week early after all.
I had already hoped for so long that we'd get home a week earlier.
We'll let the mechanics confirm it but it's not looking like we'll get home early.
Thanks everyone who fought so hard for us to be able to get on this week's ship.
It would have been important.
Seeing Juho there... I wondered how he had endured.
He unrelentingly went through each day and gave it his all -
despite feeling so bad.
Okay bye.
So... a part is missing on top of it all.
[Day 51. Mumbai, India. 4 days to the third ship]
Just let it all out.
[Day 54. Mumbai, India. 1 day to the third ship]
After three weeks of sickness, battles with customs, -
and three ships having passed, things were close to ready.
Let's go!
We don't have time to stay here and watch it get sealed, -
because we need to catch our flights.
I hope to see Fluffy again. And hopefully it doesn't flip in the container.
When I heard that Juho was asking around about getting another driver -
I immediately felt that I must go along.
The first day in Dubai. Today we need to get Misa and myself an Iranian visa.
But most importantly we found a famous sight: A Finnish Heikki.
Hi! - Hi!
Hello. - Hello.
We got to the port 5 hours ago -
and now we've gotten on the ferry and had some food.
We must sleep this night on these benches.
In Iran we were stuck in a small port city, before Fluffy was freed from the container.
First time turning Fluffy on since Mumbai.
[Day 71. Bandar Abbas, Iran. 7925 km to Finland]
How is it so quiet? I remember it being a terrible screamer.
It has lights as well.
All our worries about Iran had dissipated during the two weeks of waiting.
Iranians are the embodiment of hospitality and friendliness.
We were brought pomegranates and grapes from moving motorbikes.
Being guests, the toll roads did not charge us.
And at the regulated gas stations someone always -
shared from their filling right with a smile on their face.
We would have enjoyed the country more, if we hadn't been in a hurry home.
[Day 75. GÃ¶reme, Turkey. 4807km to Finland]
You probably know the expression: breathtaking.
I literally couldn't breathe normally. This was such an unbelievable sight.
I can't explain it. Maybe you can see how much I'm enjoying this.
I hope you can.
When we finally crossed the Bosporus strait and were in Europe, -
nothing could hold us back.
There would no longer be troubles with customs, late ships, lost containers, -
ferries or terrorists causing a stir.
If the car broke down in the EU, we would not be fined.
There was only free paved road ahead and we would be in Finland.
[Day 79. Belgrade, Serbia. 3128 km to Finland] Every meter took us closer to home.
We had shared stories on blogs and Facebook -
from the hot air balloons in Turkey, to the incredibly friendly people of Iran -
but the project had taken so long, that people had lost interest.
We remained a medium sized phenomenon.
A few advertisers had still joined in Dubai, but we knew this was it.
The project would not longer reach new people, or raise more money to Nepal.
I hadn't seen my wife in 2.5 months.
I hadn't checked my email, or cooked my own food.
I was a tired traveler. Driving north, autumn come as if speeded up.
We organized a final party for the project, because we felt it was time.
It was great to see so many interested people in one place, -
but for those involved the night was a relief.
We could return to our normal day to day lives.
We had given our all, and this was it.
Or so we had thought!
I was invited to speak about the project -
to high schools and universities around Finland.
Inspired by our story, some went on to dream about charity work.
And some even completed their own projects.
We realized, that the more people hear our story, the more would go out and dream.
We went to crowd fund a film, and the public responded positively.
When you follow your dreams, surprising things happen.
Using their profit the Princess Home shelter has built a children's home.
The Store of Hope web store got a great businesswoman to look after it.
Store of Hope now employs more people in third world countries -
having expanded in its first year with product lines in Nepal and Kenya.
The most surprising turn in our dream was the Nepalese -
participation in developing the villages for the casteless.
We couldn't even have dreamed of anything like it.
The Nepalese government built walls and a well for a school, and employed a teacher.
A local rich land owner gave the village the land -
on which a school had previously been unlawfully.
The biggest thing was the partnership with Ncell, -
which resulted in the building of two complete school centers -
with toilets, yards, and walls.
These were such great things, that we had to see them for ourselves.
[Shreenagar Village, Nepal. February 5th, 2014]
We just arrived with Mikael -
and we've tried to speak about technical things -
so that our emotions don't well up.
Luckily we have technical things to talk about.
It makes a Finnish man's life significantly easier.
The kids have uniforms...
And a school I guess.
They're wondering why I'm crying, when this should be a positive thing.
Too many emotions to recognize.
Two years ago I could never have believed what this project would achieve.
Walking here and seeing the school.
I got to touch the first brick.
I thought about how much work this has been carrying all this here.
And we've been a part of it.
That this school is here.
Right here in this casteless village. Nowhere else, but here.
There are now 125 students who can go to school.
Four teachers. Here are three classrooms, and there are two in the old school.
I don't think anyone close by has as beautiful of a school as the casteless do here.
Namaste.
It's crazy how just a few balls can stir up such a commotion.
Five balls. The whole village is here and balls are flying everywhere.
Look a dog.
"I saw you in a dream."
"As you ran toward the plateau."
"You carried the fear in secret."
"I remained standing."
"I crossed the border."
"And hoped that maybe -"
"I could forget the pain."
"I fell asleep with open eyes."
"If I gave my hand, would you hold it?"
"If I gave you time, would you trust me to stay?"
"If I looked in your eyes,
- and touched you,
- would you believe that I loved you?"
"As I lay awake, I see your eyes."
"A look that slowly fades into the darkest night."
"I will return."
"I'll go even though I'm afraid."
"Through the deserts, I will return."
"If I gave my hand, would you hold it?"
"If I gave you time, would you trust me to stay?"
"If I looked in your eyes,
[Shreenagar village, The old school] - and touched you,
- would you believe that I loved you?"
"If I gave my hand, would you hold it?"
"If I gave you time, would you trust me to stay?"
"If I looked in your eyes,
- and touched you,
- would you believe that I loved you?"
"Would you believe that I loved you?"
Resulting from this project, two new school buildings were built in Nepal, -
and buildings for three other schools were completed.
Much to the surprise of the boys, this crowd funded movie -
made it into theaters and was shown around Finland.
The proceeds enabled the building of another school in Nepal -
and the provision of health check-ups and medicine for 4500 children.
When a dream is born I feel that something -
inside me is unconsciously above all else.
It's something that keeps me awake and drives me forward.
A dream is something one is ready to work for.
Many people confuse dreams and wishes.
The difference is simple.
A wish is something that one is not ready to work for, -
but a dream is something one is prepared to work for.
A dream is what you think, your goals, -
what you want to happen in the future.
It is something that I have no peace about until it is completed.
My biggest dream was to create "Kill Arman" -
a documentary about martial arts.
It was something that bothered me for five years.
For me it is constantly in my head, -
and that is why I'm encouraged to take steps toward it.
How does a dream differ from a wish?
I don't know... is there a difference?
I like the idea that one can see life as full of possibilities -
to see life filled with ideas.
That is what this is all about.
Subtitles by: Matias von Bell