After eight months, 12,000 yuan (US$1,548) and one unqualifiable life adventure, Marija Koniz arrived in Beijing. What took her so long? She made the trek from her native Slovenia entirely on her MoMo bike.

 

"I always dreamed of getting from home to Beijing by bike, like Marco Polo," said Koniz, whose trip took her through 13 countries. Leaving home on March 5 last year and arriving in Beijing in November, Koniz biked a total of 17,398 kilometers.

 

 

Not surprisingly, her friends and family tried to dissuade her. Her friends told her to "get married, buy an apartment," and her parents also were reluctant to let her go.

 

"My mom was cool in the beginning," Koniz said, "but my dad was saying 'You should stay home, get married, blah blah'."

 

Koniz had other plans.

 

Starting in the snow of Slovenia, she began the trip with a Polish friend, Nicoli. However, once she arrived in Iran, she decided to continue solo. 

 

"When I was with the man (Nicoli), everyone talked to him," Koniz said. "He goes to the store. He does everything." He received most of the attention mainly because the nations they first biked through were predominantly male-dominant cultures. Happy to travel on alone, Koniz found herself not only solely responsible for her adventure, but also meeting good people.

 

"Don't believe the (Western) media (about Iran)," she said. "Iranians are very, very nice people, (letting us) sleep in mosques." But it was the people in Turkmenistan that had the biggest impact on her. Despite being very poor, they were always generous.

 

"Whatever they have they want to share with you," Koniz said.

 

Then there were the days (sometimes many days) in which she had no contact with other people at all. "You start talking to your bike," she joked.

 

Traveling nearly 100 kilometers a day while consuming six to seven liters of water, Koniz admitted "my goal was always Beijing". However, when she arrived with her five pieces of luggage still strapped to her bike, she felt something she didn't expect depression.

 

"I like Beijing," she stressed, "but I was mentally and physically sick when I arrived."

 

What's more, she asked herself: "Your dream is a reality, so what now?"

 

The answer for Koniz has been living the past three months in Beijing and reflecting on the wisdom she has gained from 17,000 kilometers of riding.

 

It's the wisdom her father gave her.

 

"I want to be a mom, have a family and work," she said. "I know it's going to be hard (to settle down), but I'm looking forward to it. But I'm also enjoying my life right now."

 

And then comes the ride back home.

 

Koniz plans to travel to south China, back through Tibet, to India and then back home, all on the same bike that took her this far.

 

"I don't like flying; it's too fast," said Koniz, adding that she prefers intimate contact with her environment.

 

(China Daily March 1, 2007)