UAE | Leisure
Student adventurer bypassing Yemen to avoid being kidnapped
A Dutch medical student, on a cycle tour that will cross 40 countries, had to make a stopover in Dubai as he cannot ferry across to Iran.
- By Mahmood Saberi, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 March 23, 2006
Dubai: A Dutch medical student, on a cycle tour that will cross 40 countries, had to make a stopover in Dubai as he cannot ferry across to Iran.
"It's Nowruz (the Iranian New Year) and the ferries are not running," said the intrepid adventurer who started his journey from his home in Amsterdam in August with an inflatable sleeping bag, a small stove, some clothes and a strong pair of legs.
Eelco Weymans' mission is to be in Bali, Indonesia, by the end of this year, but he most probably could only make it by early 2007. He is in love with Indonesia ever since he cycled with his parents through the country when he was 13.
Sipping hot chocolate at a coffee shop on Al Wasl Road, Weymans, in his 20s, said he would have loved to ride through Yemen but was advised not to because of the spate of kidnappings of foreigners.
"It's a continuous adventure. Every day you see something strange and exotic," he says. So far he has travelled through 18 countries and luckily has had no misadventures.
He is flabbergasted by Dubai's indoor skiing rink and by the crawling traffic. "My friends tell me that motorists spend two hours travelling 10 kms between Dubai and Sharjah every day," he said. "You can cover seven kms in an hour if you walk. If you can have an indoor skiing rink, maybe you can invent air-conditioned bikes for riding in the summer," he said smiling.
Weymans does not believe he is doing anything special. "Teenagers who finish their high school usually take a year off and travel the world," he said. "It's a very European thing."
He keeps a diary of his travels and has a web log, but he is sure he will not write a book. "My internship will take 50 to 60 hours weekly, I'll have no time to write," he said.
On a good day, Weymans does 80 kms. He is funding this trip himself and will spend 10,000 euros (about Dh44,574) by the time he returns home next year.
He plans to hitch a ride on a cargo ship heading for Iran or hire a dhow.
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