While France 2 will broadcast this Tuesday, November 26 the new issue of Meet in unknown land with Tomer Sisley, host Raphaël de Casabianca revealed the enormous problem that the team faced and which almost ruined the filming.
A perilous journey. Six months after Slimane among the Bijagos in Guinea-Bissau, Raphaël de Casabianca sets off again on an adventure in Meet in unknown land. This Tuesday, November 26, from 9:05 p.m. on France 2, the 44-year-old journalist – who is experiencing his last journey here at the head of the show – took Tomer Sisley on board for an extraordinary expedition. The 50-year-old globetrotter and actor, recently seen in the documentary series Our history of France (France 2), went to meet the Dolpo-Pa, semi-nomadic goat and yak herders, perched at an altitude of 4,500 meters in the northwest of Nepal. But the filming of the show might never have happened. During the press conference dedicated to this new issue, Raphaël de Casabianca revealed the reason.
“Accidents are common” : Raphaël de Casabianca talks about the filming conditions “complicated” pour Meet in unknown land with Tomer Sisley
“We took longer than expected becausewe had a problem“explained the presenter. “We had a time of adaptation [pour s’habituer à l’altitude, NDLR] and then we had to take the helicopter to reach the place where the people were, higher up, at 4800 m altitude.he continued. Only problem: the climatic conditions are extremely complicated in this region. “Helicopters cannot take off if there is even the slightest cloud or if the weather is bad. Accidents are common there because the weather can change very quickly“said Raphaël de Casabianca. The only solution for the film crew: wait until the weather is better. “We had to wait about five days in Pokhara [ville située au centre du Népal, NDLR] to be able to take off and arrive at Dolpo, which should not have been the case. After the four days of acclimatization, we waited and hoped every day to be able to leave“, recalled the journalist.
“We could have gotten stuck” : the consequences of the weather on the filming of Meet in unknown land with Tomer Sisley
This delay had significant consequences on the work of the teams of Meet in unknown land. “We had to extend the filming by two or three days to make up for lost time”confided the host. A hell of an unforeseen event that we owe to climate change, according to Raphaël de Casabianca. “The filming was planned when the monsoons were no longer there. Except that the climatic conditions changed in Nepal and it lasted over time. We got screwed during the first part of the filming”he declared. In total, the team members waited six days before being able to join the Dolpo-pa. “We could have been stuck longer. You should know that without a helicopter, it takes eight days to reach the people by car and on foot. There is no road there. It is one of the last preserved valleys in the world.”recalled the old face ofBeautiful escapes on France 5. In the end, it took 10 days since their departure from France to reach the Dolpo-pa. “The same problem arose for them when they were leaving, once filming was finished. They had to find the right window to take off and go to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. It’s crazy but Meet in unknown land always turns in such perilous conditions“, concluded Raphaël de Casabianca.
