President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan receives 8 riders, cycling from London to Mecca for hajj, at Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul on 13 July 2019
Mon 05 August 2019:
Eight British people arrived in Saudi Arabia, Saturday, on bicycles after a two-month trip to perform the duty of Hajj.
According to the local newspaper Okaz, the people of Medina welcomed the British pilgrims chanting “Tala’ al Badru ‘Alayna,” who burst in tears and thanked God after their arrival following a 6,500 km journey.
Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya TV channel reported that the British pilgrims came from their country using bicycles, after passing through 17 countries to arrive in the Kingdom on a two-month journey.
The leader of the pilgrims’ team, Taher Akhtar, was quoted as saying: “The journey is spiritual, and despite its difficulties, it remains one of the most wonderful trips.”
Akhtar pointed to the difficulties his team had experienced during the trip, including fluctuations in weather, rain, storms, humidity and shortage of oxygen, in addition to hard roads, animals, and snakes.
The British pilgrims will complete their journey from Medina to Mecca to begin performing the Hajj.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received the eight British people on July 13 after arriving in Istanbul on their way to Mecca.
The meeting was held with the eight-person delegation at Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul.
The delegation took a commemorative picture with President Erdogan.
The British delegation left London on June 7 with bicycles to reach Mecca and perform the Hajj.
Earlier on Saturday, Saudi Arabia announced the arrival of more than 1.5 million people to the country to perform the Hajj.
