Abdullah Alsulmi is strolling from Jeddah to Doha to attend Saudi Arabia’s opening sport towards Argentina in November.
The concept hit Abdullah Alsulmi earlier this yr, whereas he was watching a tv present during which a senior Qatari official promised an “distinctive” expertise on the upcoming World Cup.
His pleasure constructing, the 33-year-old Saudi trekker recollects pondering: “I'll go to Doha it doesn't matter what, even when I've to stroll!”
It was an unlikely starting to what has change into an audacious journey dismissed by a few of Alsulmi’s family members as “loopy”: a two-month, 1,600-kilometre (1,000-mile) solo trek from his native Jeddah to the Qatari capital.
Alsulmi says the journey, faithfully documented for his hundreds of Snapchat followers, is supposed to focus on regional enthusiasm for the primary World Cup within the Center East – which Saudi officers have pitched as a milestone “for all Arabs”.
“We need to assist the World Cup,” Alsulmi stated final week as he sheltered from the noon solar close to roadside shrubs within the city of al-Khasrah, 340 kilometres southwest of Riyadh.
Carrying a wide-brim hat and a backpack to which he has affixed Saudi Arabian and Qatari flags, he stated: “I think about myself like a Qatari who could be very on this World Cup and its success.”
Solar and scorpions
Alsulmi has expertise with prolonged treks in Canada and Australia, the place he used to stay, but these pale compared to the rigours of traversing the Arabian Peninsula.
He sometimes units out at dawn and walks till 10 or 10:30am, however then the warmth forces him to interrupt for a couple of hours earlier than resuming within the afternoon and persevering with till sunset.
Often he walks at evening to keep up his objective of round 35 kilometres per day.
To maintain his load gentle, Alsulmi subsists on meals he can purchase at petrol stations, typically hen and rice, whereas showering and washing his garments at mosques.
His social media posts seize particulars of life on the path, from the mundane to the menacing: his nightly seek for a spot to sleep, and the time he eyed a scorpion dozing dangerously near his tent.
He additionally data conversations with Saudis he meets alongside the way in which, lots of whom supply snacks and juice to maintain him going.
“There are moments of ups and downs, however after I meet folks and listen to these candy phrases – ‘We'll observe you in your account and assist you’ – this encourages me to complete,” he stated.
Straying from the primary roads as typically as he can, he says he has been rewarded with a style of the various surroundings on supply within the kingdom – one thing he didn't totally respect earlier than.
“Strolling from Jeddah to Doha, each 100 kilometres is totally different. I imply, the primary 100 kilometres there are sand dunes, then mountains, after which comes empty land, then farms,” he stated.
“I'm going via all terrains in a single nation in two months. This can be a lovely factor.”
A ‘easy’ sport
Alsulmi hopes that by posting about his expertise, he can encourage different Saudis to contemplate trekking via their homeland.
“After I do that, I need to convey to people who mountaineering and strolling is a stupendous sport, even when the climate is tough right here in Saudi Arabia, even when the terrain is tough. We will do it,” he stated.
“It's a sport for easy folks. You solely want a bag and some easy issues, and a tent and nature.”
If all goes in response to plan, Alsulmi will arrive in Doha in time for Saudi Arabia’s opening showdown towards Argentina on November 22.
It will likely be a second of divided loyalty, since Argentina is his favorite crew.
4 days later, he has a ticket for the Inexperienced Falcons’ match towards Poland.
His hopes are excessive for a Saudi squad that has now certified for six World Cups however superior to the knockout stage simply as soon as, throughout its 1994 debut.
“This yr we now have good gamers. The coach is the nice French coach [Herve] Renard,” he stated.
“We anticipate and hope that this yr the crew will ship an distinctive efficiency.”
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