Three French-Korean brothers have set themselves the challenge of driving from their native Alsace in France to South Korea − a family adventure they share on their Youtube channel. Novastan went to meet them in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, where they are working on a number of documentaries on nomadic culture and traditions.

It was in April 2021 that the Philippe brothers hit the road. “The three of us did reunite at our parents’ place, in Alsace, and it hadn’t been the case for a long time“, the eldest of the trio, François Phillipe, explains. At that time, Michel had just completed his studies, François was back from his trip to Turkey and Stéphane left his job.

The plan is to cross part of the globe aboard their 4×4 Nissan Pathfinder to reach Korea, the land of their ancestors. It was an idea that ran over François’ mind, who then had already hitched his way to Turkey one year prior, joined by his brother Stéphane up until Greece.

In Bishkek, while they are busy editing several videos for their YouTube channel, Novastan went to meet them. It has been four months since they arrived in Central Asia. After several months spent in Turkey, Georgia and Iran, they went through Russia to cross Kazakhstan and undertook a journey through Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. But it is in Kyrgyzstan that the three siblings stayed for the longest time, appealed by nomadic life and Kyrgyz culture.

A childhood dream for the family

“We always told ourselves that someday, we would go round the world,” Stéphane Philippe explains. “And today, it is finally really happening!”

“Sons of East and West”, like they nickname themselves on their YouTube channel, felt the need to reconnect with their identity. As dual citizens, they discuss at length the hurdle of identifying themselves at the crossroads of two cultures, but also the richness this situation brings them.

To them, one of the most exciting aspects of this journey is to undertake it with family. “In the future, we will have children, a family of our own, and we will not be able to do it between siblings ever again, so it is now or never,” Michel Philippe discloses. The vlog format on YouTube also seems to them to be a way to create lasting memories.

Nomadic culture and traditions

Indeed, the siblings want to highlight both lifestyles and ancestral traditions. “We can see how the world is modernising, so we want at any cost to film traditions, nomadic life, because it actually is an emergency“, François explains. While passing through Georgia for several months, they dwelled on transhumance practice on a mostly little known to tourists road, even unknown, which earned them recognition from the locals. In Iran, the three brothers spent several weeks in contact with the nomads, in an attempt to discover specificities of their culture.

It is sometimes challenging in countries which gradually open themselves to mass tourism. But through “random” encounters, they nevertheless reach inhabitants who show them the way to their unique history.

Central Asia, a must-see

What is better than Central Asia to discover nomadic lifestyles? Since the beginning of this journey, this is the region they dreamed about − a step they did not want to miss at all cost, as they explain in videos while facing the camera, although it would have been easier to cross Asia Minor in order to reach Eastern Asia. Kazakh and Kyrgyz steppes were worth the travel for the three siblings.

“We really craved to discover Central Asia and its nomadic culture, it was very important for us,” explain the brothers almost in unison. On the programme: a documentary on eagle hunting in Kyrgyzstan, on transhumance, and on the mythical game of kok-boru.

Another milestone − to meet the Korean Diaspora of Kazakhstan, deported since the Stalin era: a very important identity matter. A teaser of the reporting was posted on their YouTube channel, which will deal with Korean traditions that continue to live on in Kazakh steppes.

Not always a simple journey

The travellers-youtubers also open up about their daily challenges to travel. “We are far from being professionals“, one of them discloses. With the journey itself to be organised, the idea to produce full-length documentaries may be constraining. “But we are attempting to progressively become professionals to have a good video rhythm and qualitative content.”

In their videos, the YouTubers do not hesitate to share occasional challenges they meet on the road. Their car breaking down atop a mountain range in Kyrgyzstan, the failure to meet a snow panther, or the struggle to cross terrestrial borders, which sometimes are closed or packed.

“To cross the border between Russia and Kazakhstan took us three days!” Arriving a few days after September 21, 2022, the Philippe siblings were on the border at the same time as thousands of Russians fleeing partial mobilisation. In a video, they describe daily life in the line to the border control, but also the anxiety of these thousands of Russians attempting to escape war.

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