Cycling around the globe to spread message of peace

Dubai: Cycling around the world for almost nine years has been a lonely affair for South Korean Okhwan-yoon, but the experience he gained from it was "completely worth it".

Okhwan, 48, started his journey in 2001 from his hometown in South Korea in a bid to spread the message of peace around the world. Having visited 187 countries with entry and exit stamps on six books of passport, Okhwan said he has only five more countries left to visit.

Once he leaves the UAE, he will cycle to Muscat and catch a flight to the Maldives, from where he plans to head to Bhutan, Myanmar and Nepal and then hopefully to North Korea.

"I hope I can cross the border to the other side because only then will my journey be completed," he explained.

"It has been an amazing experience so far but it was also a very difficult challenge for me personally. I am not doing it for the fame or for the famous sights, but because my main interest is in people. You can learn so much from people in other countries, and they teach you how to be tolerant to others that are from a different culture or religion than yours."

Okhwan continues to remain optimistic throughout the last leg of his journey, despite having been hit by cars six times, infected with malaria four times, as well as kidnapped in Sudan.

"The two decades of conflict in Sudan has affected the people, but I had no idea to what extent. When I first arrived, everybody looked like they were soldiers and I did not understand what was going on because of the language barrier. All of a sudden, a group of men kidnapped me, threw me in their car and took me to a place that looked like a military camp.

"I was scared for my life and I did not understand what they wanted from me. I thought that if I did not try to escape I would be killed, so the next morning at sunrise when I found a chance to leave, I took it and ran away without looking back."

Okhwan pointed out that he divides his journey into three parts. "Before I started cycling, I did not have a clue about other cultures and was only aware of political events happening in Korea. When I started and visited 100 countries and crossed more than 170,000 bridges, that perspective changed and I saw the world as a large one.

"But now that I am almost done, I can peacefully close my eyes and picture the images all the way from Seoul to London, from Johannesburg to Morocco. I see everything clearly in my mind, and feel as if I have been alive for 500 years."

Future: Travelogue in mind

Okhwan Yoon, a single 48-year-old, who has been cycling around the world since 2001, said that the next accomplishment of his life will be to write a book about his travels.

"There is so much that people have to learn, such as the hospitality of the Muslims, and I want others to learn how important it is to be hospitable and giving to those less fortunate. I do not think I will be able to have an office job once I return home, but probably play a role in politics."

Do such efforts help in spreading the message of peace? What would you like to do to learn about different cultures and religions?