Adventurer Jason Lewis has been successful in in covering a distance of 46,505 miles by bicycle, kayak and rollerblades - plus a bit of it on foot.
London, Oct.6 : Adventurer Jason Lewis has been successful in in covering a distance of 46,505 miles by bicycle, kayak and rollerblades - plus a bit of it on foot.
Lewis, who faced bandits in India and was chased by Chinese secret police, besides being arrested as a spy in Egypt, has completed the landmark journey in 13 years.
According to The Scotsman, he also escaped from the jaws of a giant crocodile and survived malaria as part of his attempt to circumnavigate the globe by human power alone.
Today, the 40-year-old ends his epic adventure with a triumphant voyage up the Thames to a royal welcome.
He plans to complete the last leg of his journey on Moksha, a battered 26ft pedal boat, whose name means "freedom" in Sanskrit.
Lewis set off from the south coast of England in July 1994 with Steve Smith, the man who dreamed up the adventure, named Expedition 360. Their mission was "to circle the world by means of human power alone ...to encourage world citizenship...to promote environmental responsibility and to live fully and enjoy the experience".
However, the relationship between the two explorers began to deteriorate while they crossed the Atlantic and, after travelling through the United States using different methods of transport, they decided to part company in Hawaii.
Despite suffering two badly broken legs after he was hit by a drunk driver as he tried to cross the US alone on rollerblades, Lewis vowed to continue the quest to circle the earth using human power alone.
In 2001, he completed a 3,200-mile cycle across Australia, and when the expedition was threatened with bankruptcy, he had to work regular jobs to keep the project afloat.
He was forced to wait until 2005 to begin the next leg of his journey, travelling by kayak and mountain bike through Indonesia to Singapore.The following year he took to the seas again, pedalling Moksha from Mumbai to the Horn of Africa, for a cycling and kayaking trip across Africa.
He reached Europe earlier this year and began the cycle trip overland towards the second channel crossing - which was almost halted at the last minute by French bureaucrats.
"I'm excited about the finish. I've waited 13 years for this and now I want to find a nice country pub which serves warm ale," Lewis was quoted, as saying.
ANI