At noon on October 13, 2017 in Wurzburg in the South of Germany, Michael Scheller packed his bags, got on his second-hand BMW motorbike which he had purchased for ₹ 2.5 lakh and went to Munich to get the customs clearance and all the paperwork done.
The next day, from there, he began his journey on his bike exploring different countries, learning their unique cultures and making friends along the way. Passing through Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, the 30-year-old automotive engineer reached Puducherry a week ago.
As the tall, thin man in crisp white shirt and faded jeans stopped his massive black BMW motorbike under a neem tree in boulevard area, a group of autorickshaw drivers swarmed around the bike in awe. “Till now, I have covered 22,000 km, travelling through 10 countries including Germany,” he said.
Armed with a map and GPS, he begins his ride every day with a rough schedule.
“I stop by at different points along my route to connect with people and learn about local culture. When I post pictures and write about my journey on Instagram and Facebook, people from different countries write to me and offer to host me when I pass by their city,” he added.
Recounting one such experience, Mr.Scheller said that when he was in Iran, a person invited him home.
“While staying at his place, he invited his friends who came home to cook dinner for us. He was not new to hosting foreign travellers and he believes that hosting travellers is like travelling around the world. We left together to the desert and camped there for a couple of days,” he said, adding that “people were so hospitable in the Middle East which was contrary to the prejudices many people harbour.”
“Back home, many people warned me of terrorist attacks and cautioned that travelling to the middle eastern countries would be dangerous. But my journey turned out to be pleasant. I met so many warm and hospitable people who welcomed me lovingly into their homes. I want to share this experience with the world to reduce the bias towards these countries,” he said.
He added that in Pakistan, he was invited as a special guest to an event in a University in Lahore to give a talk about his journey. Crossing the Wagah border, he reached Amritsar. “Later, I travelled to Chandigarh, Jaipur and then moved towards the east coast of India,” he said.
From India, he plans to ride to Nepal and travel to all the Southeast Asian nations before going back home.
