They peddled all the way from Cape Town to perform Haj

JEDDAH - Two young South Africans — Nathim Cairncross, 28, and Imtiyaz Ahmad Haron, 25, both from Cape Town — have travelled to the Kingdom on bicycles to perform Haj.

“This is our first Haj. We could have come for Haj by plane, but it was our cherished desire to travel differently, so we chose to use our bicycles, as cycling is what we both love the most,” Cairncross, a town planner by profession, who works in the field of construction, said.

“This gives us the opportunity to meet and interact with different people in different countries. Also, we continued with our dawah (preaching) work wherever we stopped for our overnight stay,” he added.

Both Cairncross and Haron are students of Islamic law and have studied Shariah. “Pedaling our way to the Kingdom from Cape Town was a grueling experience. We wanted to travel this way so that we are prepared to experience the rigours of performing the pilgrimage,” Cairncross added.

They began their journey for the annual pilgrimage on February 7 on their bicycles. They pedaled through Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Turkey, Syria and Jordan before reaching the Saudi border. Both pedaled 80 to 100 km daily and took rest in mosques or tents after dusk and set out again after dawn.

“People have been very cooperative and courteous. At every place that we passed through, they welcomed us and were happy to know that we were going for Haj. “Food was never a problem as people took delight in offering us the choicest of dishes. Of course, it was tiresome to pedal throughout the journey, especially when negotiating mountainous regions,” Cairncross added.

Language was a big problem for both. “Once we entered the Arab countries, we decided to pick up Arabic, especially while traveling through Syria and Jordan. This suited us well when we reached the Saudi border where the security officials were very friendly and welcomed and greeted us.

“They were also happy to know that we have undertaken this arduous journey to fulfill our Haj dream,” Cairncross said.

“We came with a very small budget and we found to our delight there were people readily prepared to offer us the local cash and meet our needs.”

Both did not encounter any serious problem on their way through the nine countries in the course of their nine-month journey. Cairncross and Haron are single and love sports.After the pilgrimage, both propose to return home via West Africa.