{"id":590,"date":"2009-04-12T11:11:32","date_gmt":"2009-04-12T05:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/?p=590"},"modified":"2009-04-12T11:11:32","modified_gmt":"2009-04-12T05:11:32","slug":"global-bicycler-in-bhutan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/2009\/04\/12\/global-bicycler-in-bhutan\/","title":{"rendered":"Global bicycler in Bhutan"},"content":{"rendered":"<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"3\" width=\"280\" align=\"left\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.kuenselonline.com\/newspic09\/09april9cycle.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span>Miles of Smiles Around the World &#8211; Alvaro Neil fulfils a dream <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>After covering more than 59,275 km on his bicycle around the world, Alvaro Neil is all smiles and looks strong. Yesterday, the 41-year-old Spaniard adventurer was in Thimphu on the road toward fulfilling a dream he calls \u201cMiles of Smiles Around the World.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe people here are very friendly and helpful,\u201d said Alvaro, who stayed in Thimphu for three days. The globetrotter quit his job as a lawyer and began his adventurous journey from his hometown Oviedo, Spain, to South Africa through the west coast in November 2004. He has already covered 51 countries, including Egypt, Africa, China, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been to many countries, but never came across a country I\u2019d like to live in,\u201d he said. \u201cBhutan is a country I\u2019d love to live in. I\u2019m honoured to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alvaro travels around the world on his bicycle, which accommodates all his requirements, including a tent and stove for cooking. \u201cEverything I need is on my bicycle and with it I\u2019ve crossed deserts and snow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>His bicycle has bags strewn on all sides and a box in front containing souvenirs and gifts that he collected from all over the world. A small flag of Bhutan is hoisted near the front tire of his bicycle, given to him \u201cby a kind man in town\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Besides travelling, Alvaro is also a writer and professional clown. He has performed 49 shows for more than 16,000 people in certain countries, mainly for disadvantaged people. The last show he performed was in Kolkata, India.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m very grateful to the government of Bhutan,\u201d said Alvaro, referring to the 15-day free visa he received from the government. \u201c$200 a day is too expensive for me,\u201d said Alvaro, adding that he spends $250 in a month.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When asked what put him on the road, Alvaro said, \u201cThis is the only life I love. If I spend more than three days in a place, I get nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He will leave Bhutan from Samdrup Jongkhar on April 18.<\/p>\n<p><em>By: Kunzang Choki<\/em><br \/>\nSource: Kuenselonline<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Miles of Smiles Around the World &#8211; Alvaro Neil fulfils a dream After covering more than 59,275 km on his bicycle around the world, Alvaro Neil is all smiles and looks strong. Yesterday, the 41-year-old Spaniard adventurer was in Thimphu on the road toward fulfilling a dream he calls \u201cMiles of Smiles Around the World.\u201d &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/2009\/04\/12\/global-bicycler-in-bhutan\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Global bicycler in Bhutan<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[205,219],"class_list":["post-590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-bhutan","tag-bhutan-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}