A look into Yannick Daoudi’s Taiga Quest.
Yannick Daoudi’s Siberian expedition was a year in the making. In order to prepare for his journey, he volunteered on a ranch every Saturday to become familiar with horses and learn how to care for them; he also planned a 6-week menu ahead of time, looked into the necessary travel permits, and researched the terrain and the cultures he would encounter.
Once on the ground, things proved more complicated than he had anticipated. The muscle-powered expedition was to last 6 weeks, the estimated time necessary for completing the 1000 km loop following the Northern Mongolian border with Siberia – a route purely constructed in Yannick’s imagination from various maps, satellite images, stories and pictures. However, logistical problems in reaching the area, acquiring the horses, and getting authorization from the military, meant that the seasoned adventurer left his base camp a week late: a fact that guaranteed failure, according to every nomad he passed. While most predicted he would never make it back with his horse, some feared he might not make it at back at all.
The Taiga is the subarctic forest that stretches from Asia to Europe. It is a beautiful but unforgiving land of extreme weather conditions: from hail, gale-force winds and snow-covered mountain passes, to blistering heat down in the valleys. It is also home to small populations of nomads, such as the Tsaatan or “Reindeer People”. The Tsaatan live in tipis, and their survival relies entirely on their herds of reindeer, which they use for transportation, food and clothing.
The difficulty of travelling through the most sparsely populated country on earth, without signs or roads and where the inhabitants are nomads who speak only the local dialect, cannot be overstated. Yannick had to use all the navigation skills he learned over his 10 years of expedition on 4 continents. It was no easy feat to navigate through swamps, bug-infested valleys, dense forests with large wolf populations, and an area known as the Wild West of Asia for its lack of security. But the beauty and the peace of the landscape made it all worthwhile. Snow-capped mountains, crystal-clear lakes and rivers, meadows of wildflowers and untouched forests make Northern Mongolia one of the most pristine environments on earth.
The challenge of escaping society and finding refuge in his own head equated to a deep spiritual journey for Yannick. As they overcame myriad obstacles together, the bond that he forged with his two companions (a horse named Fart and a dog named Shaman) created one of the most profound relationships one can experience. Adding to the enormous challenge of accomplishing such an expedition was the fact that Yannick had taken on the task of producing a film that would document his journey. In addition to carrying all the survival gear and food required for over a month, he carried along all the necessary filming gear, and set up and filmed every scene by himself.
Back in Canada, after three months of intense editing, the result is Taïga Quest, a feature-length documentary film that chronicles the adventure of the three unlikely travelers. While it transports the viewer to a surreal and timeless place with scenes of breathtaking beauty and untouched wilderness, the tone of the film is also light-hearted and entertaining. Yannick has become known for the humanitarian spirit of his ventures abroad, and this film is no exception. Admission is free, and DVD sales of the film will go towards improving the living conditions for women and children in Northern Mongolia’s only prison. The screening will also launch Social Justice Week on campus, a week during which internationally- and socially- focused clubs band together to raise awareness of problems facing humanity around the world.
This month, Yannick invites you to embark on an impossible quest into the remote Siberian Taïga with three free spirits: a vagabond dog, a mighty horse and a mad man. See how against all odds, the trio manages to ward off packs of wolves, outmaneuver horse-thieves, suffer swarms of bugs and heat, push on despite injuries, navigate impassable terrain and finally make it back to civilization after five trying weeks. The trailer is available on Yannick Daoudi’s website at: www.postcardsfromtheedge.ca (click on “TAIGA QUEST: The Trailer” on the navigation bar).
Taïga Quest: A Film by Yannick Daoudi.
Saturday Nov. 21st, Wednesday Nov. 25th, 7PM
Centennial Theatre, Bishop’s University
ADMISSION: FREE!
