Printer Friendly
The Free Library
19,607,059 articles and books
Member login
User name  
Password 
 
Join us Forgot password?

Bicycling couple on world tour arrives in Sultanate.


Byline: Mrudu Naik

MUSCAT Muscat, Maskat, or Masqat (all: mŭs`kăt, mŭs`kət), city (1993 pop. 533,774), capital of Oman, SE Arabia, on the Gulf of Oman. It is flanked by rugged mountains.  Eoe1/4" They have already clocked 18,000 kilometres since April 2008 and until now have cycled 1,000 hours.

They have crisscrossed through Central America Central America, narrow, southernmost region (c.202,200 sq mi/523,698 sq km) of North America, linked to South America at Colombia. It separates the Caribbean from the Pacific. , South America South America, fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , Australia, Asia and the subcontinent sub·con·ti·nent  
n.
1. A large landmass, such as India, that is part of a continent but is considered either geographically or politically as an independent entity.

2.
.

German couple Caroline Henrich and Sven Kornfeld are now in Oman and enroute to Muscat from Salalah.

They started their bicycle journey three days ago and are expected to reach Muscat in two weeks time.

Eoe1/4EoWe reached Salalah from Mumbai on October 27. But our bicycles needed some refurbishing. So my husband, Sven Kornfeld, went to Muscat by bus with cycles got them repaired and have hit the road again,Eoe1/4A[yen] said Caroline Henrich speaking on phone.

It was Sven KornfeldEoe1/4aos dream to explore the world on bike since he was a teenager, Eoe1/4Eoto see the world with his own eyes, to be close to people, culture and natureEoe1/4A[yen] and thankfully for him his wife Carloine shared the passion.

They started the worldwide tour in Cuba and since then have been to Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Sydney, Darwin, Dili, East Timor East Timor (tē`môr) or Timor-Leste (–lĕsht), Tetum Timor Lorosae, republic, officially Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (2002 est. pop.  Kupang, Ende, Labuanbajo, Sape, Java among other places. Eoe1/4EoWe are always on the move; we take flights across countries and continents and get on the bicycles once we get there,Eoe1/4A[yen] says Caroline.

In towns they would usually stay in hotels or hostels but otherwise they just camp out in the wild. Eoe1/4EoIn Oman we have been putting up tents to stay,Eoe1/4A[yen] she says.

Eoe1/4EoWe must say we have been overwhelmed by the hospitality and friendliness here,Eoe1/4A[yen] she adds. It has always been bag full of adventurous experiences, unbelievable encounters and several thousand kilometres in their legs through diverse and different countries.

Eoe1/4EoSince we are riding at an interesting speed, there is so much for us to gain from each of the countries,Eoe1/4A[yen] says Caroline. The couple who started their journey 18 months ago has only pleasant memories to share of the many places they have visited.

The trip has been remarkably trouble free and the only problems they have had were a broken wheel and a broken pedal.

Eoe1/4EoItEoe1/4aos just fun. We have had many interesting experiences and there have been nice people everywhere. We have always had nice encounters with the local people and always get an insight into the country we are cycling through,Eoe1/4A[yen] she says.

There have been different moments for them too.

Eoe1/4EoClimbing very steep roads up and slowly rolling steep roads down with both hands on the breaks you sometimes forget to admire the scenery. To give you an idea, one day in Indonesia we hitched 50km on the back of a truck because it was so hilly that we could not cycle it with all our luggage. It even took the truck five hours!,Eoe1/4A[yen] Caroline exclaims.

They get to meet interesting fellow cyclists too.

Eoe1/4EoIn MalaysiaEoe1/4aos north on Penang island we met Alvaro, a Spanish touring cyclist, who started his tour in Spain five years ago. We shared experiences and exchanged stories,Eoe1/4A[yen] says Caroline.

She also recalls how hospitable hos·pi·ta·ble  
adj.
1. Disposed to treat guests with warmth and generosity.

2. Indicative of cordiality toward guests: a hospitable act.

3.
 complete strangers can be. Eoe1/4EoOne day spilling a boiling hot cup of coffee on my knee, the next day my back rim decides it has done its job and cracks 500km away from Rockhampton in the township of Jericho, more or less in the middle of nowhere. Nowhere at least for an European considering the availability of quality bicycle spare parts Spare parts, also referred to as Service Parts is a term used to indicate extra parts available and in proximity to the mechanical item, such as a automobile, boat, engine, for which they might be used.

Spare parts are also called “spares.
. But I am happy all this happened because otherwise I had not experienced this unbelievable Aussie helpfulness from which I could and hopefully will learn a lesson. This guy who barely knows us, just having a lunch break at the same rest area where we are stranded with my broken rim, does not hesitate to offer us a lift of a total of 1,000km driving us and the broken back wheel to Rocky and us with the new rim back out to Jericho again the next day, 36 hours after the rim broke we were back on the road again stopping at friendly Barcaldine hospital to get my burn wound dressed. The way to Longreach was no Sunday afternoon walk but arenEoe1/4aot these the events you will remember ,Eoe1/4A[yen] she asks.

From Oman the couple plans to go to Dubai.

But they are not done yet, they will rest only after they have seen their entire world on cycle.

Muscat Press and Publishing House SAOC SAOC Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization
SAOC Sunbeam Alpine Owners Club (UK)
SAOC Sector Air Operations Center
SAOC South African Orchid Council
SAOC Submariners Association Of Canada (Gloucester, ON, Canada) 
 2009

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company
COPYRIGHT 2009 Al Bawaba (Middle East) Ltd.
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2009 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

 Reader Opinion

Title:

Comment:



 

Article Details
Printer friendly Cite/link Email Feedback
Publication:Times of Oman (Muscat, Oman)
Date:Nov 11, 2009
Words:785
Previous Article:Tenders to the tune of RO97m awarded.
Next Article:Sharifa and Yemeni minister review ties.



Related Articles
PUT ON POKER FACE, COME TO 'LADIES NIGHT' TAPING TODAY.
Cyclists braced to tackle fog factor.
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL.
Cycling legend visits Oman.
Cyclist Bennati wins Tour of Spain fourth stage, retains lead
Boonen at the double as Contador keeps gold jersey
Farrar retains lead as Boonen wins 3rd stage of Eneco Tour
Armstrong welcomes 'open' 2010 yellow jersey battle
Armstrong welcomes 'open' 2010 yellow jersey battle

Terms of use | Copyright © 2012 Farlex, Inc. | Feedback | For webmasters | Submit articles