ABU DHABI // Lukas Perren is just passing through. The sun-tanned 27-year-old is on a charity cycle ride and has a little further to go. Since leaving his home in Switzerland six months ago on a mission to raise money for orphans in Gaza he has cycled through Italy, Malta, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Yemen and Oman before arriving in Dubai three days ago. The geography and history graduate is in the UAE to collect the necessary visas for the next phase of his epic adventure - cycling around the world.
With only his steel-framed bike and 26 kilos of vital supplies for company, he braved the terrors of the Dubai-to-Abu Dhabi motorway to begin the visa process. "Cairo is worse. They honk their horns all the time whereas here it is little," he said. "People think if they honk, I turn into air immediately." On Sunday he leaves Dubai again, by boat for Iran, before cycling on through Pakistan to India.
From there his route, around 42,600km when complete, will take him through Tibet, China, Russia, Japan and then to South America. A boat will eventually take him from Brazil to Cape Town, from where he will pedal up the west coast of Africa on his way back home. It is a long, arduous and dangerous route but Mr Perren has no intention of cutting corners. "My mission is to circumnavigate the world by bicycle without flying," he said. "I don't want to fly for several reasons - it is not good for the earth and, even though it is more expensive to travel by alternative means, I feel it is better because when you fly you miss out on the small stops, the nuances that make a journey like this so interesting.
"Travelling over land to countries allows you to adapt to new cultures and to meet new people." Mr Perren cycles about 100km a day, which takes five to eight hours depending on the terrain and weather. It is a comfortable pace, he said, that allows him to enjoy new places and accept invitations for tea and chats with people he meets along the way. "It is very meditating to cycle. You can free your mind," he said. "You find your own pace, your own rhythm."
Mr Perren, who speaks German, French, English, Russian and Arabic, has packed lightly - carrying only four T-shirts, two pairs of trousers and two of shorts, bicycle trousers, four pairs of socks, five sets of underwear, two pairs of boots, flip-flops, a rain jacket and trousers, a hat, sunglasses, a stove, helmet, some medical supplies, phrase books, maps and a 20-litre water holder. "I also have a tent, a down sleeping bag which I'm using as a blanket here because it is not too cold and a self-inflating mattress. If I am doing something so physically demanding it makes sense to have a little comfort," he said.
Despite impatient drivers, a police escort in Yemen and a bout of "cycle terror" in Ethiopia - caused by overzealous children demanding food or money - Mr Perren said his journey so far has been peaceful. "There have been many good moments, many times I have been invited into homes, given food," he said. "In particular, there is a Pakistani businessman in Dubai who has helped me, especially with my visa application for Pakistan.
"He told me there was a time he was nearly bankrupt and he was helped, and so he wanted to help me. It was very honest and has motivated me to do the same thing whenever I get the chance." While he refused to accept sponsorship for the two-year mission, Mr Perren is hoping to use his adventure to raise the profile of SOS Children's Village Rafah on the Gaza Strip. The charity has 14 family homes housing orphaned children, a community house, emergency clinic, two nursery schools catering for 250 children, a primary school and a social centre.
Having completed smaller cycling tours to Beijing and the Middle East in the past, raising cash for a similar project in Mongolia, Mr Perren felt children in Gaza were a group desperately in need of support. "Children suffer the most, especially during the current situation in Gaza," he said. "They are victims and they are the future. "I did not want this trip to be sponsored. I anticipated the cost and saved for it. I am privileged that I can make my dream come true and I am very grateful every day for that."
loatway@thenational.ae