1. Dates Can the PGA take place in early november? Can this be placed on the pga process list before their next meeting to discuss dates?

monika: I will write an e-mail to the pga process list to trasgu and try to reach yedhvir and tell you by the caravan list whats going on so to repeat; we want to propose that PGA meeting should be in beginning of november. but the question is still open what do we do with the caravan in case the groups in india/nepal do not agree with this and still want to have the conference in september? end.

will be the caravan strong enough to have te right to ask such a question to the Asian group? we have been asked to propose dates that are suitable for us, but I think that if we are setting too unrealistic dates that no, then they will not listen to us.

and on the other hand, does the caravan make sense for us without the conference as a goal? all answers: not sure or no.

what is the possible compromise; why is the proposal november, why not october? I mean, would it be possible to stretch it to october, without being too uncomfortable but still possible. end. because the beginning of november is the earliest we can go without being badly affected by monsoons and so on - i've done quite a lot of research into climate end end of okt. ok. but july is just to hot for intensief traveling over there The rains in Nepal are june july August end of sept. we REALLY should recommend an early november PGA if we don't want the weather to be terrible end problems are definitely high temperatures as well as rains end but still it doesnÂŽt paralize life there it is just harder for Europeans? end It is paralizing live there OK now I undrstand how serious is that! end No local will travel there if it is not absolutly necesary well how is it then possible that the people fmro inida/mepal propose to hold the conference during this period. they don't seemt to mind ... or they don't mind if we will survive it or not ... end. They are not traveling through Turkey Iran and Irak I mean Pakistan We are traveling through deserts /semi-deserts

before I go I'd just like to repeat what I've found out through research: 2 months is an ideal travel time, 6 months is the minimum. And considering the weather for the WHOLE route, we should definitely arrive in Nepal in early november. This is taking into account the weather for Turkey and Iran as well as the monsoon climates of Pakistan and India.

[20:22] we have just decided that monika is going to check with trasgu if there are any new dates proposed, twhen the next meeting will be in india where they will discuss this and ... [20:22] ... and that we propos the PGA meeting to be in beginning november because of the troubles with travelling there (with time and climate in the countries we pass).

- smaller groups? route?

[20:28] the research i've done into routes has been that we can't really book any transport until we are out there - the only important thing to prepare in advance is visas well I think that's the best way to travel, deciding on the move. maybe it's different for such a large group but I don't see why it has to be. end [20:32] a jeurney like this is only possible without advanced booking. what you need is some knowledge about the custums and culture of the countries you are traveling through [20:33] somone told me few years ago if you ravele from border to border and cross border by foot until you wait train taht means that you pay less for your train ticket at least that is from serbia to bulgaria

Idea to be split into two smaller groups - different priorities and different time limits

2. Update political climate in Nepal

3. Themes and topics

Here are Pieter's proposed agenda points

1 Why this trip? (insert themes and objestive). I will send along a proposed' vision' text on two of these themes later this week. NB we seem to have agreed not to discuss this tonight

2 Cost 2a What are the direct travel cost (tickets) 2b Cost of incurence, visa and vaccionations provisioanal answers: Visa about 300 euros pp, vacc. about 200 pp, insurance about 100 euros pp. 2c Accomodation costs + coast of living (three months) 2d Communication costs 2e Reports and copying 2f Diplomatic cost and bribes 2g 15% reserve 2h How do we find the money to cover these costs?

3 What is PGA doing on Nepal next year? and 3a when is this happening? (3b does Nepal still exist next year?)

4 Who is going? We've agreed on about 40 but have not yet narrowed this down 4a How do we say 'yes? And how do we find people that want to throw 2-3 months in this? 4b How do we know how we can get along for 2-3 months? 4b How do we say 'No'? And to whom?

5 What is the route? Provisional answer: Serbia-Bulgaria-Turkey-Iran-Pakistan-India-Nepal 5a Do we work on alternatives? 5b If so how (which criteria) and when do we choose between them?

6 Who is working on what & how many hours? provisional answer : The climate train project of 1997 , which was similar in setup but with far more NGO and official support, took about 100 weeks full time equilvalent (about 4000 hrs) to prepare and report back (excluding the trip itself).

7 Does anyone have a chrystal ball available? Preferably one that predicts the future. Please deliver it to me as I want to know if we're getting shot at next year.....

maybe we can (of course who wants) do the same as Peiter and writea hom work on prposed questions and send it via list na dwe will have at least some draft of project end
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