Italy: Indonesian 'ride for peace' arrives in Rome

Indonesian motorbike rider Jeffrey Polnaja has visited over 62 countries among them Iran, Burma, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and China. He is due to finish 'ride for peace' around the world in 2011.

Rome, 13 August (AKI) - Indonesian businessman Jeffrey Polnaja has arrived in Italy's capital Rome after travelling though 61 other countries over the past two years in what he calls a 'Ride for Peace' that has also seen him cheat death.

"I am just a rider, but I hope to see peace in the world. I hope (politicians) will make peace part of their policy," said Polnaja in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI).

"I want to share peace with all the people in the world. We only have one planet, and it is not for us, it is for our grandchildren," he said.

His journey began in 2006 in Indonesian capital Jakarta after his eight-year-old son asked him why the world is in such a state of war.

His 'peace ride' has already taken him to to 62 countries and by the time he finishes his journey he will have visited 100 countries in all five continents.

Polnaja, who is 45, said he felt particularly close to Afghanistan (photo), where he would hear gunshot wherever he went.

He comes from Bandung in the Indonesian province of West Java.

Polnaja said he was shot three times in a South Asian country, although he declined to name it.

After crossing through the notorious Khyber Pass, which links Afghanistan with Pakistan, he was hit by a drunk driver in the the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, near the border with Iran.

His expensive motorbike was badly damaged, its navigation system destroyed and his right arm was broken in the accident, which left-him stranded in the desert for days.

During that time he recalled having hallucinations and seeing birds fly over his head that he believed would attack him after his death.

"I only had me, my bike and my god," said Polnaja.

"I had an adrenaline rush, and decided to ride as fast as I could," he told AKI.

He then encountered a truck driver who gave him directions to get to the nearest town so he could find food and shelter.

After this near-death experience, he crossed into Iran, where he was escorted through the dangerous border area between Pakistan and Iran, where opium is smuggled from Afghanistan

Polnaja told AKI that although Iran is usually portrayed as being a 'dangerous' and 'bad' country, his experience was quite the opposite.

"Iranians fixed my motorbike at no cost, saying: 'We do not want your money, you are representing us, go for peace, we want peace'," Polnaja told AKI.

He said he is very grateful to Iranians. His sponsors offered him a new motorbike, an offer he refused, preferring to continue his journey on the same bike once it was repaired.

Polnaja has had to get a visa for nearly every country he has visited, and is making the journey alone, with a specially equipped BMW motorbike.

As well as a navigation system, the motorbike has a video camera and extra containers for tools and supplies specially designed for long distance rides.

He has already clocked up 101,000 kilometres and still has nearly 40 more countries to visit on his 'ride for peace'.

During his stay in Rome, he visited the Town Hall and is due to visit Vatican city. He will visit San Marino and Venice on Italy's Adriatic coast, before heading to Austria and Slovenia.