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Man travels through 37 countries on just 160 yen (less than $2)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/6168323/Keiichi-Iwasaki-travels-over-29000-miles-on-his-bicycle.html





Keiichi Iwasaki , 36, left on his Raleigh Shopper bicycle in 2001 to go on a tour of Japan.

But he enjoyed himself so much he caught a ferry to South Korea and
since then has cycled through 37 countries without returning home.

He has been robbed by pirates and arrested in India, almost died when
he was attacked by a rabid dog in Tibet and nearly married in Nepal.

In total Mr Iwasaki has cycled over 45,000km (27,961 miles) on his
favourite Raleigh shopper bikes but two have been stolen and two have
broken so he now rides his fifth.

His biggest achievement is climbing the world's highest peak Mount
Everest, which stands at 8,848 m (29,029 ft), from sea level without
using any transportation.

Mr Iwasaki, originally from Maebashi, Japan, says that only his ''strong will'' has kept him going.

He said: ''Most travellers and adventurers need money but instead of
giving up an opportunity to travel the world I want to clarify that
dream can come true if you have a strong will.

''I have been travelling for eight years and I continue to do so from
money I receive from performing tricks. I do not carry a credit card or
traveller's cheque.

''My strong will is very important and I hope this trip will prove
that. I wanted to travel the world in my early twenties, but I have not
been able to do so until I was 28.

''I thought to myself that 'My life will soon be over before I do what I want to do!', so I decided to start this trip.

''I didn't want to use aeroplanes because I wanted to see and feel
everything with my own skin. With bicycle, I can always feel the air
and atmosphere of the place.''

Mr Iwasaki left home on April 15 2001 with just 160 yen, around £1, in
his pocket after he became bored working for his father's
air-conditioning company.

He rode around Japan for one year before buying a one-way ticket to South Korea in March 2002.

Since then he has travelled the world on his Raleigh Shopper bicycles and funded his travels by performing magic tricks.

In May 2005, he became the first Japanese man to climb Mount Everest from sea level without using any transportation.

He has also rowed from the source of the Ganges river in India to the sea, a journey of 1,300km which took him 35 days.

Mr Iwasaki is currently in Switzerland waiting to climb Europe's highest peak, Mont Blanc.

Following this he plans to travel to Africa, across to South America
and then make his way back to Japan for the first time in over a decade
via North America.

He believes this will take him five years before he begins to write a book about his trip.


* Countries Mr Iwasaki has visited: South Korea, China, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, Nepal, India,
Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Greece,
Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia &
Herzegovina, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech, Austria, Germany,
Holland, Belgium, France, England, Spain, Portugal, Andorra,
Switzerland.