Raymond Lee had been traveling the world by bicycle for two years when COVID-19 erupted and he suddenly found himself stranded in the West African nation of Guinea.
After cycling through Europe and then across the Sahara, the 33-year-old South Korean was in Guinea, heading south, when the government shut the borders in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.
“When I was in Guinea, this thing became really serious,” said Lee, a former flight attendant.
He was repeatedly turned away from hotels in the capital, Conakry, in what Lee described as a prejudiced reaction to the pandemic.
“They didn’t let me in because I am Asian,” he said by telephone, explaining that he was turned away from seven or eight hotels.
“It was pretty messed up,” he added. “I personally never experienced any racism in my entire life — this is the first time.”
Lee began asking around on the street for a place to stay — only to be swindled by a man who agreed to host him for US$55 per month, but who vanished with the money.
With nowhere to stay and living off savings, he found a room in an upmarket hotel that he could not afford for long.
After a plea on Facebook, somebody eventually put Lee in touch with a guesthouse that agreed to take him, and where he estimates he might have to stay for months.
Lee said that Conakry is full of good people and that far worse could have befallen him during his round-the-world odyssey.
“I wasn’t shocked,” Lee said.
“We expect so many unexpected things,” he added, referring to nomads such as himself who pedal around the world.
His predicament is preferable to a traffic accident or serious illness, he said, both of which are real possibilities when on the road.
Lee started his journey in New Zealand in March 2018 — where he started a YouTube video diary — before flying to Australia to work and save money, and then on to Europe.
“Bike traveling is the best way to travel the whole world,” he said, explaining that he could stop whenever and wherever he liked.
After struggling over mountains in Italy and Spain, Lee cycled into Morocco and then into the vast desert, where, despite harsh conditions, the cycling was smooth.
“In the middle of the desert it was nothing but endless horizon for days, weeks, months,” he said.
Lee is whiling away his days at his Conakry guesthouse, but when the restrictions are lifted, he plans to continue to Ivory Coast.
“I just want to go to as many countries as I can,” Lee said. “I’ve been traveling for two years and I don’t think that is enough.”
Germany forward Thomas Mueller on Thursday said that his country’s second successive first-round exit from the FIFA World Cup was an “absolute catastrophe,” which teammate Kai Havertz likened to “watching a horror movie.” Germany beat Costa Rica, but Spain’s defeat to Japan meant Germany finished third in Group E behind Spain, with the teams equal on four points and the positions decided only by goal difference. “It is unbelievably bitter for us because our result would have been enough,” Mueller said. “It’s a feeling of powerlessness.” Mueller was part of the 2014 World Cup-winning team and was also in the side who were
Taiwanese-American basketballer Jeremy Lin, who plays for a Chinese team, was fined 10,000 yuan (US$1,400) for “inappropriate remarks” on social media about quarantine facilities ahead of a game, the China Basketball Association said yesterday. Lin, who plays for the Loong Lions Basketball Club, made “inappropriate remarks about quarantine hotel-related facilities” where the team stayed on Wednesday ahead of a game, the association said. It said that “caused adverse effects on the league and the competition area.” The Chinese Communist Party is trying to crush criticism of the human cost and disruption of its “zero COVID-19” strategy, which has confined millions of people to
Normally, it would be horrible news to soccer fans anywhere that their team’s star player was injured. Yet even as they endured an anguished wait for a Neymar-less Brazil to score in their 1-0 win over Switzerland on Monday, some Brazilians found it hard to miss the injured superstar, who has promised to dedicate his first FIFA World Cup goal to far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Watching the match in a packed bar in central Rio de Janeiro, where fans decked out in yellow and green waited nervously for what turned out to be the lone goal — scored in the 83rd
‘ASIA CAN WIN’: Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu said their victories at the tournament so far against top sides show that Asian teams can win on the world stage Japan erupted in cheers and tears after the national team’s 2-1 win over Spain, with crowds in the early hours of yesterday in the nation packing public viewing areas shrieking with joy as they stunned another global soccer power at the FIFA World Cup. Japan, who had also shocked Germany in their opener in Qatar, finished top of Group E to reach the last 16, a stage where they have faltered three times before. They are to play 2018 runners-up Croatia for a place in the quarter-finals. “Doha Delights Again!” one newspaper headlined its online edition, evoking memories of what the media called
RSS