Dubai: Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road/ Healthy, free, the world before me/ The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose …
Walt Whitman's metaphor of journey as a way of life is something Jalal Bin Thaneya has carefully assimilated in his 1,200-kilometre walk on the way to Makkah from Ruwais since he started his most ambitious adventure till date on December 11 last year.
Pacing out of Riyadh on Thursday, Bin Thaneya has another 800 kilometres to cover before he sees the entrance to Makkah, the destination the 25-year-old Emirati has chosen to culminate his 2,000-kilometre walk to raise awareness and funds for the Dubai Centre for Special Needs.
"The mental transformation I have undergone is more drastic than the physical," Bin Thaneya says, speaking on his mobile phone while walking on the outskirts of the Saudi capital.
Overwhelming support
"When I reached Riyadh, I felt really overwhelmed … I had walked from one country to another capital, and the support and respect I received from the Saudi people were truly touching."
Bin Thaneya's journey from Ruwais to Riyadh has been replete with a sense of adventure, fulfillment and the occasional challenge.
"On the way to Riyadh, the terrain changed a lot. Sometimes I had to walk up and down a mountain and it was very difficult," he says.
Traversing the Saudi capital itself was a very different experience. "When you venture into a sprawling urban area, you realise it's not at all easy to walk, the roads were not meant for continuous walking.
"There were these massive interchanges everywhere — it took me one hour to cross each interchange. On some city roads, I had to jump over the median barriers with cars driving past all the time… It's like trying to cross Shaikh Zayed Road at rush hour. I got quite tired negotiating the city roads."
But the warmth and welcome he received from the people in and around the city were reasons enough to forget the weariness.
"The people are very friendly, the police have been very friendly," says Bin Thaneya, our conversation briefly halted by a team of policemen approaching him. A couple of minutes later, we are back on track. "They wanted to know where I am going… They were really amazed that someone was attempting such a journey," he says.
During his days on Al Harad highway that runs from near the Saudi border to Riyadh, two Saudi citizens joined Bin Thaneya after finding out the cause he was supporting. "It was very encouraging. They walked with me for two days just to give me some company," he says.
Such experiences, says Bin Thaneya, have helped change his perception of life. "I realised that people's opinion and what they presume is very different from the ground reality. This journey has transformed me as a person."
"A Saudi counter-terror police officer I met along the way warned me of the dangerous road ahead to Makkah … I told him I know it's a long road ahead, with arid mountains and rugged land with steep inclines and declines."
Undeterred, with the world before him, Bin Thaneya walks on.
"Saudi Arabia is a vast country — just looking at the map is enough to make you tired," he says. "Just before entering Riyadh, I met this guy who was driving to Makkah. He found out where I was headed and told me, ‘It's impossible, you won't be able to walk to Makkah.' I told him, ‘Well, I'm already here, more than halfway through, and I'll make it.' He said, ‘Masha'Allah,' and drove off."
