| 10/17/2001 | Spanish clown "Popy" on Tuesday left La Paz on Tuesday pedaling on a bicycle that he hopes will take him 25,000 kilometers (15,534 miles) on a tour of South American countries, and a full year in its completion.
"Popy" told EFE that he aimed to "bring joy back" to people's lives.
Alvaro Neil, 34 and a clown from Asturias in northern Spain, mounted his Quirlig bike bound for the city of Oruro, the first leg of his tour through Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Popy hopes to cross the Bolivia's altiplano - high plains - region in three days to get to Oruro, 230 kilometers (142 miles) of La Paz, after traveling through the cities of Sucre and Potosi, and to enter Argentina by late October.
On his tour through South American countries, the Spanish entertainer plans to perform magic tricks, acrobatics and juggling acts for the children as well as for adults who have forgotten how to laugh, he said.
The cyclist said that he will be lonely because "traveling by myself offers me the chance to connect directly with people I meet along the way, as well as with nature and myself."
During week-long preparations in Bolivia, Popy performed several times in the cities of La Paz, El Alto and Copacabana, especially for poor children and the homeless.
In Copacabana, border with Peru, he attended a gathering of Bolivian, Peruvian and Chilean teachers members of Schools Without Borders, sponsored by the Andres Bello Integration Institute Accord.
Neil, who is being assisted financially by Clowns Without Borders in the project, told EFE that he wants to complete the tour through South American countries to show that "it is never too late to laugh."
"There is more to life than eating and getting an education. Laughter is important. The idea of the trip is to break from the consumer world we have created," he said.
Besides his Quirlig bike, which weighs 16 kilograms (35 pounds), the Spanish clown is taking along a stove, a sleeping bag, a mat, a tent, clothes, a first aid kit and his indispensable clown gear.
|
|
|
