A Lebanese-Belgian triathlete named Bilal Ghomraoui is currently on course to travel from Brussels, Belgium to Dubai, UAE - a 7,500 kilometers journey - on his bike!
In early 2017, while he was writing his master's thesis, Bilal Ghomraoui came up with the unusual idea of biking from Europe to the Middle East.
"At first, it seemed just like a crazy idea but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. It just felt right and that was it, after about one hour of visualizing the trip, my mind was up," Ghomraoui states on his blog.
"Having lived most of my life in Dubai before flying to Belgium to complete my university studies, I have deep links to both countries," he adds.
"I have been in love with bikes for as long as I can remember, anything related to bikes, I just love the liberty it gives and its simple beauty. Therefore, it can seem somewhat logical to go from Brussels to Dubai on my bike, linking up two places I cherish using a transport that I love," Ghomraoui says.
His journey consists of several stages and will see him complete his travel from Europe to Turkey and eventually to Western Asia in 60 days.
Stage 1: Brussels to Regensburg (750km)
Stage 2: The Danube River to Istanbul (2200km)
Stage 3: Turkey to the Black Sea town called Rize (1600km)
Stage 4: Crossing from Turkey into Iran (850km)
Stage 5: Across Iran to Bandar Abbas (2000km)
Stage 6: Boat trip to the UAE and the last few km to Dubai (200km)
The boat from Iran will arrive in either Ras al Khaimah or Sharjah, from there it's only a few hundred kilometers to his final destination; Dubai.
Map of the complete route:
You can follow his incredible journey on Facebook. We wish him all the best and hope to see him in Dubai soon!