CYCLIST’S WORLD TOUR

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 28 August 1926, Page 3

CYCLIST’S WORLD TOUR

MANY DANGERS ENCOUNTERED

To travel 9875 miles on a pedal bicycle and about 20,000 miles by ship and bicycle combined is' no easy task, ■but it is a feat claimed to have been successfully performed by Mr Kai Thorenfeldt, who called at 'Wellington during his trip round the world. This young man, who arrived by the steamer Don Pedro 11. recently, as a working passenger on deck, bound for South America, very much regrets his inability to tour New Zealand: on liip machine. The traveller, who. left his mvt-ive land, Denmark, oil 1, 1925, to tour the world' for the: purpose of writing a hook on his experiences, hopes to continue, his journey when lie reaches South America.. By 1928 he thinks he will have gone round the world, on his bicycle, a performance which, at the beginning was said to be almost impossible. So far, Mr Thorenfeldt has travelled through Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, the. Balkan. States, Greece, Egypt, Palestine, Assyria, Mesopotamia. India, Burundi, Siam, Imid-China, Hongkong, Shanghai and Japan, hack to the Straits Settlements and Java, and then by boat to Brisbane. From 1 there lie cycled through to Sydney. During; lii.s wanderings lie has been imprisoned' by mistake, nearly trampled to death by an elephant- in Tndo-China, andl shot, at by Bedouins between Damascus and 1 Bagdad.

“Perhaps the most thrilling adventure that I have yet encountered.” he said, “was when crossing the desert about 10 miles from Damascus. As the sand was too heavy for cycling. I went with a motor convoy, consisting of six c.ar.s entaining, 31 passengers. Suddenly, 200 Bedouins, riding on camels, appeared and fired at us. Before we could escape a man hacl been killed and another wounded.” The cyclist said that in the vicinity of where Mr Cob,ham's mechanic was killed two classes of natives dwelt. The settlers are very peaceful, and give strangers food and shelter. The nomadic tribes, however, are. quite the onposite. They will do anything in the way of murder and plunder, and no one is-safe near them. Since leaving Denmark, Mr Tliorenfeldfti has kept a very interesting hook, which -contains messages written, in different languages hv people he has met on the journey. He lias collected hundreds, of photographs on the tour.