8/20/2019 British Man Becomes First Person to Visit All 201 Countries

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/british-man-becomes-first-person-to-visit-all-201-countries 1/2

British man becomes first person to visit all 201 countries...WITHOUT using a plane

If anything can be said about record-breaking globetrotter Graham Hughes, it's that - throughout his travels - he'salways kept his feet firmly on the ground.The -year-old adventurer, from !iverpool, has become the first person to visit all "#$ countries in the world -without using a plane.Hughes used buses, ta%is, trains and his own two feet to travel $&#,### miles in e%actly $, "& days - all on ashoestring of (ust )$## a week.He spent four days 'crossing open ocean in a leaky boat' to reach *ape +erde, was (ailed for a week in the *ongo for

being a 'spy', was arrested trying to 'sneak into' ussia and had to be 'rescued from uslim fundamentalists by ailipino ladyboy called /enn'.

0nd yesterday ended the epic four-year (ourney by crossing into /uba, the capital of 1outh 1udan, which did noteven e%ist when he set off from his hometown of !iverpool on 2ew 3ear's 4ay "##5.'I love travel, and I guess my reason for doing it was I wanted to see if this could be done, by one person travelingon a shoestring,' he told the Christian Science Monitor . 'I think I also wanted to show that the world is not some

big, scary place, but in fact is full of people who want to help you even if you are a stranger.'

He has traversed the borders of all $5 members of the 6nited 2ations plus Taiwan, +atican *ity, 7alestine, 8osovo,9estern 1ahara and the four home nations of The 6nited 8ingdom - all without flying.Guinness have now confirmed that Hughes, who filmed the e%pedition for a documentary and raised money forcharity 9ater0id, has achieved the world record.'The main feeling today is (ust one of intense gratitude to every person around the world who helped me get here, bygiving me a lift, letting me stay on their couch, or pointing me in the right direction,' Hughes added.9hile all land transport had to have either wheels, hooves or sturdy rubber soles, he made the longer-haul voyagesmostly by hitching lifts on cargo ships.He even managed to blag a lift on a friendly cruise ship to the 4ominican epublic.:ther highlights include dancing with the Highlanders of 7apua 2ew Guinea, befriending orangutans in ;orneo,riding through the badlands of 8enya on an $<-wheel truck, meeting the 7rime inister of Tuvalu - and 'warningschoolchildren in 0fghanistan about the dangers of men with beards'.He says people tend to wonder how he got into the further-out countries like 2orth 8orea, Ira= and 0fghanistan, but

he says they were the easy ones.ar tougher was negotiating routes into tiny island nations like 2auru, in the middle of the 7acific :cean, thealdives and the 1eychelles 'where there were sometimes pirate threats'.

He says there were low points on the trip such as 'sitting in a bus station in *ambodia at one in the morning or ridingsome awful truck over bad roads' when he thought> '9hy am I doing this?'The lowest point came when his sister, 2icole, died of cancer two years ago aged (ust 5. He broke the trip to hurryhome to see her.'I@d done $< countries and had only $A to go and I thought why not leave it there? B...butC she told me not to stop,'he added.;ut having finished his (ourney, he has no intention of buying a plane ticket any time soon and says he now plans to'keep in the spirit of the adventure' and travel through 0frica some more before getting the ferry home from Ireland

(ust in time for *hristmas.

8/20/2019 British Man Becomes First Person to Visit All 201 Countries

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/british-man-becomes-first-person-to-visit-all-201-countries 2/2

True, False or Not Given?

1. He broke his rule about no plane travel to go home to see his sister.

2. He found war torn and politi!all" unstable !ountries the most di#!ult to travel to.

$. He met the %rst minister from an &!eani! island nation.

'. He found that most people were e(tremel" agreeable and supportive of his e)ort.

*. He was arrested twi!e.

+. He onl" visited !ountries that are o#!iall" a!knowledged b" the N.

-. He did the trip !ompletel" alone.

. He did most of the sea travelling on !ruise, and passenger ships.

/. He didn0t manage to visit outh udan when he %rst went to fri!a so he had toreturn for it at the end.

13. He started his 4ourne" be!ause his sister told him to and he wanted to raisemone" for !harit".