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\u00a0<\/em>A little over half a dozen years ago, two friends decided to go on the ultimate road trip. The plan was to drive to Nepal. One of them was Michael Kobold, a renowned watchmaker. Seven years later the road trip has turned into an expedition whose members include Hollywood stars, world-famous musicians, a legendary mountaineer and Nepali celebrities.<\/em><\/p>\n The evolution from road trip to expedition has been painful and protracted. But it\u2019s on track to happen in 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n Kobold was recently in Kathmandu to launch his book\u00a0<\/em>Nepal Needs Fire Trucks<\/a><\/strong>. He spoke to Kapil Bisht about his plan to ship fire trucks from the US to Nepal, then drive them all the way from Birgunj to Kathmandu.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Where did the idea for the Fire Truck Expedition Nepal come from?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n A good friend of mine was the late James Gandolfini. At the height of his fame, because of his TV show \u201cThe Sopranos\u201d, he couldn\u2019t leave his apartment because people wouldn\u2019t leave him alone. He couldn\u2019t walk down the streets of New York without people taking his pictures. The paparazzi shadowed him. Some celebrities love that. He hated it. He wanted to come to Nepal because I had told him that the country was beautiful, the people were amazing \u2013 kind and gentle and welcoming \u2013 and that nobody would know him. Which was true\u2014except maybe for some tourists in Thamel. He really wanted to come to Nepal.<\/p>\n I thought this is great. Two guys going to Nepal. Then I came across this old fire truck at the side of the road. It was beautiful. It was in good condition and on sale for a relatively small amount. Every boy wants to drive a fire truck. So I said to James, let\u2019s take a fire truck with us to Nepal. That is when this whole thing about the expedition started. Then I contacted Scott DeLisi, who at the time was the US Ambassador to Nepal. He became a good friend. He suggested that since Nepal was due for a massive earthquake anytime, I should make the expedition about raising awareness about earthquakes. He said that I should bring somebody famous and use the publicity thus created to raise awareness about earthquakes.<\/p>\n That was the plan. But then\u00a0James died. I basically did nothing for eighteen months. I was depressed. Eighteen months later, I told myself that I can\u2019t be upset forever: I need to start the fire truck expedition again.<\/p>\n I called up a couple of celebrities who I am close with and told them about the expedition and asked if they would come along with me to Nepal. They all said yes. And a couple of months later, an earthquake struck! Those celebrity friends were like, Oh my God! We have to go now! I said, No. Why should we do an expedition on earthquake awareness\u00a0after<\/em>\u00a0an earthquake has happened?<\/p>\n That is when the government of Nepal came in and suggested I make the expedition about Nepal tourism. I decided to do it. I would bring the celebrities here, we would make a film and a TV show for Western media to promote Nepal tourism. The idea was that that would draw high-end tourists here.<\/p>\n We have plenty of backpackers coming here who don\u2019t spend very much. We need big-spending tourists here, like in Bhutan. We need big spenders for infrastructure, industry and, most importantly, for the grassroots, because money trickles down. That would mean Nepalis don\u2019t have to work in Qatar in slave-like conditions, people don\u2019t have to sell their children to traffickers. It\u2019s like a goose that lays golden eggs. It solves all the problems\u2014at least the important ones.<\/p>\n So from two friends wanting a road trip, it grew into an expedition to help Nepal recover from the earthquake. Now we have 25 celebrities who will be on the expedition. We have ten fire trucks. We have guarantees from huge media outlets \u2013 PBS, AOL,\u00a0Outside<\/em>\u00a0magazine \u2013 for coverage. It\u2019s going to make national and international headlines. That\u2019s important because Nepal for a long time, since the Maoist insurgency, has continually got negative news coverage in the West. Audiences there only hear about earthquakes, floods, Sherpas fighting with Western climbers, Westerners and Sherpas dying on Everest, Sherpas going on strike on Everest.<\/p>\n We only have thirteen fire trucks in the country. It\u2019s important for the country to have more. But the fire trucks are only the wrapping paper. The real present is the international media exposure. We estimate, conservatively, 50 million people will see the expedition documentary film or hear about it on social media. That is excluding India and Nepal! That is huge PR for Nepal. You can\u2019t pay for that kind of publicity.<\/p>\n We are also promoting Nepali products: tea, coffee. Think about it: if we\u2019re helping tea and coffee growers, we\u2019re helping the people at the grassroots.<\/p>\n Between now and the beginning of the expedition, will you add to your fleet of ten fire trucks?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n No, we don\u2019t need any more fire trucks. It takes too much of my energy. I\u2019m not Jesus; I\u2019m a businessman. Time is limited. I have to make a profit at the end of the day. I have to be able to look back and say, OK, I left my company [Kobold Watch<\/a><\/strong>] in tatters for a while, but now it can go back to normal again. I\u2019m not going to do this forever. I\u2019m going to get the fire trucks here, call it a day and move on. Other people can be motivated when they watch the programme, learn about Nepal, learn that it only has a dozen fire trucks and then maybe they can say, Oh, if Michael Kobold and his friends did it, maybe I can bring fire trucks, too.<\/p>\n Where are you now in terms of progress on the expedition?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n We need more money. Our biggest sponsor recently backed out. So I am looking for more sponsors.<\/p>\n Your website says that\u00a0Sir Ranulph Fiennes<\/a>\u00a0might not be able to join the expedition. Is that a certainty now?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n We don\u2019t know yet. He\u2019s had a couple of incidences with his back while on other expeditions. Given his age [72], back problems can be pretty severe. So we can\u2019t risk his health for anything. He has told us that if he can, he will join us. But it\u2019s up in the air. Right now, I\u2019m more concerned about getting the money for the expedition, ship the fire trucks here. Once the fire trucks are in Nepal, we can contact the celebrities and see who is actually free. We can\u2019t guarantee 25 celebrities. They are the ones who have said they\u00a0want<\/em>\u00a0to come, but it\u2019s a matter of\u00a0can<\/em>\u00a0they come, because some of them might be filming or on tour when the trucks arrive. It\u2019s a matter of availability because they\u2019re donating their time, they are doing it for free. It\u2019s a very important feature of the expedition.<\/p>\n So how\u2019s the fund-raising coming along?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Although our biggest sponsor backed out, we have several smaller sponsors. We just started a crowdfunding campaign, both in the US and in\u00a0Nepal<\/a><\/strong>. The one in Nepal, we just launched. I think it should go well. But it\u2019s always a fight. And it\u2019s worth fighting for because it\u2019s such a worthy cause, the entire country benefits.<\/p>\n What are you doing to raise funds?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I wrote a\u00a0book<\/a><\/strong>! To get people excited about it, to show them the new fire trucks, to show some of the celebrities. And to tell the story of how the expedition came about.<\/p>\n Are you selling memorabilia too?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s for the\u00a0crowdfunding campaign<\/a><\/strong>. We don\u2019t want people just to donate. We don\u2019t want anything for free. We are giving people something in return, whether it\u2019s a book, or a challenge coin, or a hat, a coffee mug or the expedition watch.<\/p>\n What about your plans to build a new fire station for Kathmandu?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/english.onlinekhabar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/kobold2.jpg\")
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