No Greek since Alexander has been bitten by the India bug like Paul Evmorfidis. The founder of Coco-Mat—a Greek company that uses Nature’s wisdom as a guide and source of inspiration to create innovative products and home furniture—has taken on the challenge to cycle 7,500 km from Athens to Nepal. There is more. This sprightly 62-year-old Green Greek has decided to scale Mount Everest in an effort to create awareness and send a message to restore the relationship between human and nature.
“The climate crisis is here and it is the time to act. We owe this to our planet and to ourselves,” he says on his way through Delhi. The idea for this tour was born in February 2011, when Paul and his son Willem decided to go on the Amsterdam-Athens bike tour. During the trip, their bicycles developed quite a few maintenance issues, prompting Paul to create a stronger bike free of long distance hassles. Natch, the nature lover selected wood as its base material. The end-product is a fully handcrafted device. To further his commitment to nature, Paul makes sure that for every bicycle which is purchased, his company would plant a tree in the name of the buyer.
What makes him such a bicycle believer? “Take the Dutch for example. They cycle everywhere. Imagine the fuel saved per person per annum. If only we can replicate that effort in a larger country such as Greece or even in India, all the money that is saved will eventually go towards strengthening the economy,” he says. Putting his money where his mouth is, or rather, where his beliefs lie, the Laconia businessman set off on January 8 for the ride with the slogan: ‘Move for Nature: Challenge yourself—Save your planet’. He is accompanied on his endeavour by engineer Evangelia Paliari.
After pedalling through the diverse landscape of Hubballi, Karnataka, Mumbai and Goa, the two cyclists made a pit stop in Delhi in time to get their Nepal visas processed. Evangelia says, “Our stay in Goa was the best. But in Delhi we got to experience Holi. It was fantastic how even strangers walked up to us to play with colours. And, the smiles on people’s faces are beautiful! People here are so full of warmth.” But the novel coronavirus scare has upset the duo’s plans a bit. With the borders closing, they have little option but to fly to Kathmandu. Paul says, “We have decided to go to Agra for a day and then from there to Varanasi, before flying to Nepal.”
Paul was born poor in a small village in Sparta. He founded Coco-Mat with his brother Mike after spending a night on the beach on a makeshift mattress made of dead leaves and seaweed. The experience produced in him his first connection with Nature. The Indophile Greek is a regular visitor to India. He is a vegetarian, naturally drawn to Indian cuisine and counts dal makhni and rice among his favourites. He loves to amble along Old Delhi’s intimately narrow lanes savouring street food. His ambition? To generate awareness on conservation so that more people would take to his wooden bikes and embark on their own “mythical trips”.
Paul’s love for nature made him select wood as the base material for his eco-friendly bike. The end-product is fully handcrafted.