MUSCAT, AUGUST 18 - A Omani man and his son rode their bikes, with Omani flag flying on them, across the Netherlands to share Oman’s love and peace on the occasion of 49th Omani Renaissance Day celebrations recently. Abdullah al Sarhani, a class 5 student and his father Said
Nasser al Sarhani bicycled nearly 800 km. “All we wanted was to take part in Oman Renaissance Day celebrations and to meet local people to share the warmth of Oman with them so that they can get to know more about the Sultanate and its people”, a jubilant Al Sarhani told the Observer.
The duo reached Amsterdam on July 21, and next day they left for The Hague to attend
the celebrations held there on July 23.
When asked why he chose the Dutch roads for such an expedition, Nasser said, “The Netherlands is a country which has a structural framework for cyclists and they have nearly 35,000 km of roads dedicated to the cycling aficionados’’.
Following, the duo rode across the breadth and width of Rotterdam and the adjacent places for nearly 10 days visiting places and sharing Omani culture and tradition through the giveaways that they shared with the people who visited them.
“We enjoyed staying in camps which are a common sight there and we depended on hotels where there are no camping sites.
The weather was so nice that we had a successful trip marking the 49th Renaissance Day in Netherlands at the Embassy of the Sultanate there”, said Nasser.
Nasser, a passionate cyclist, has visited many places on his favourite MTB and one among them is a 560 km — ride from Muscat to Musandam in 2017. He visited various places in the UK on a bicycle, last year.
Al Sarhani said the preparations for this trip began months ago so as to ensure a smooth ride across the country.
“We took care of all aspects necessary for the success of the trip and the most important was daily exercise, which helped my son Abdullah to travel a distance of 40 km in difficult conditions”, he adds.
Al Sarhani said that the trip carried two goals — the first of which is to convey a message of love and peace to all the peoples of the world, to introduce Omani culture, highlight its values and build bridges of friendship and peace among the countries of the world.
As for the second goal, he said, “Abdullah should be one of the first Omani children to carry out
such a task on bicycle at this early age. I also wanted to instil a
spirit of sport, love for travel, and get him used to hardship and self-reliance.”
Nasser al Sarhani believes such trips gain a lot of values, habits and skills, the most important of which is good planning, execution and self-reliance in organising and executing the trip, as well as acquiring a lot of knowledge through meeting and interacting with people.
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