Bike for help in Pakistan

Christoph von Toggenburg from Switzerland has finally set off on his “Bike for help” to travel from India to Switzerland by mountain bike.

PlanetMountain.com

February 2002

Traduci in

After spending nearly two months with leprosy-sufferers across Cambodia and India, Christoph von Toggenburg from Switzerland has finally set off on his “Bike for help” to travel from India to Switzerland by mountain bike.

Despite September 11th and increasing tensions between India and Pakistan following the attack on the Indian Parliament on Dec 13th 2001, the 25-year old left Delhi with Qaswa, his bicycle, and 120kg of equipment for Lahore, Pakistan's cultural, educational and artistic capital. The Indian media has shown great interest in the project and on his journey west he delivered speeches to over 5000 schoolchildren about his fund raising campaign for lepers in Asia.

Thanks to the High Commissioner for Pakistan Christoph received special permission to cross the border at Wagha, from where he continued his journey, leaving the fertile land of the Punjab behind him to enter Baluchistan, a deserted area enclosed by Afghanistan, Iran and the Arabian Sea. Due to the security concerns Christoph was accompanied by two armed policemen on motorbikes and Levees (Tribal Police) forces to cross this dry, barren land.

An extract from Christoph’s recent diaries reads as follows:

“Some days I just felt that I am part of a movie. Everything was new, so exciting and so challenging. And I'm alone, vulnerable and a 'slow moving target' as the Pakistan High Commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi called it. But I felt and feel safer here than in the streets of London.

So far, Pakistan has been one of the most exciting countries I ever travelled. But as you read these lines I am heading towards another 1000km of harshest desert with all its beauty and insecurity. May the forces (wind) be with me...”

Find out more about leprosy and “Bike for help” on

Â Â www.bikeforhelp.com/

"I gave the bicycle a name because it would become my closest companion during the months to come. Qaswa (Arabic) is the name of the camel that carried Mohammed from Medina to Mecca when he was forced to leave the town. Mohammed said: "Where Qaswa stops there will be my new home."

"Especially here in India the public as well as the media showed great interest in the project. I was glad about that because that helps to spread the message… The effect of those articles was overwhelming. Many people came around to see the 'Swiss Cyclist'. Many wanted my autograph...like a famous footballer?"