From the Gulf Daily News, Bahrain: 

By Rebecca Torr  |  Bahraini traveller Ali Mushaima is now back in Bahrain after three months on the road promoting his country and friendship between nations.

The adventurer clocked up 24,110km as he travelled in a LR3 4X4 Land Rover through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Italy, Switzerland, France, Ireland, Scotland, the UK and back again to Bahrain.

The main aim of the 'Bahrain to Britain: Voyage of Discovery' road trip was to bridge the gap between East and West, as well as promote Bahrain's culture, civilisation and Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).

The road tour began from the BIC, Sakhir, on May 23.

It officially concluded with a reception at the Bahrain Embassy in London on July 4 but the adventurer's promotion of Bahrain and friendship continued on the journey home.

"One of the highlights of the trip was meeting people that had lived in Bahrain in 50s, meeting Italian soccer legend Paolo Rossi, visiting Macedonia and Scotland and spreading friendship," Mr Mushaima told the GDN.

"The car had two services, one in Bahrain before we left and another in the UK. We had no problems whatsoever and no medical emergencies - we were prepared for all kinds of crises.

"My thanks goes out to all the sponsors, the team and everyone associated with the tour, including the embassies and our ambassadors who hosted us.

"Special thanks to the GDN which has been committed to the trip, as well as other newspapers."

Mr Mushaima will produce a travelogue highlighting the tour and travel experience.

The travelogue will be available at bookstores and hotels across the country.

More than 30,000 images were taken during the trip and the best 100 will be exhibited at a shopping mall in Bahrain in autumn.

Mr Mushaima hopes to encourage others to take similar friendship tours from Bahrain.

"We have people who are interested to take a similar trip and we are very happy to assist them in whatever way we can," he said.

"We want to encourage more road trips with vehicles carrying the Bahrain registration so they can have an experience that money can't buy."

Friendship Arabia Team