Jamie Bevan has walked solo for 145 days from Merthyr Tydfil to Istanbul
He’s done it – champion walker Jamie Bevan has arrived in Istanbul 145 days after setting out from Wales on the trek of a lifetime. His incredible journey has raised nearly £20,000 and counting for his local community, smashing his original target of £3,000.
The 3,000-mile solo hike took the Welsh language translator through 11 countries across some of Europe’s wildest terrain. He arrived at his destination, the Asia side of Istanbul, on Monday August 31 after reaching the city’s European side 20km away on August 30.
On ending his journey, Jamie said: “I am exhausted and relieved”. After tucking into a huge celebratory meal of Lahmacun, a Turkish stuffed flatbread, he joked that the furthest he’ll be walking back home is from his sofa to the kitchen. You can read more about Jamie’s adventures on his walk here and here.
Jamie’s journey has all been in a good cause. By Monday afternoon The father-of-two had raised nearly £20,000 for his local Welsh language nursery, Cylch Meithrin Y Gurnos, with donations still coming in.
Since he left home in Merthyr Tydfil in April, Jamie has crossed mountains and forests in some of the remotest areas of Europe, rarely visited by tourists.
Hiking from the UK he walked across mainland Europe and down through the Balkans crossing from Bulgaria into Istanbul last week on the last leg.
Having slept in his tent and hostels, he said he’s been welcomed by strangers throughout his journey. He’s had a free meal in a Michelin-starred restaurant in France, been invited to share a barbecue at the roadside, enjoyed cakes and pastries in Germany and Austria and shared stories with people he met along the way.
Jamie has also been spreading the word about his mother tongue, telling people he met about the Welsh language, whilst hearing about theirs. He said he has missed chatting in his mother tongue, but he had a brief meeting with his parents who came to see him as he passed through Belgrade.
He has also been chatting Welsh on his social media updates which have garnered an ever growing following as news of his walk spread and he met supporters along the way.
Touching the ground in Istanbul, he said: “I arrived in the city lines on Sunday but had 20k more to get to the end which was crossing the Bosphorous to the Asian side of Istanbul. I wanted to walk from Merthyr to Asia and I’ve done it.
“I have walked the whole way apart from a couple of ferroes. I had to take a ferry across to the Asia side of Istanbul. It doesn’t feel real to be here, there’s definitely a sense of overwhelming relief.
“I am really looking forward to going home, much as I have enjoyed the countries and people on the walk.”
Jamie plans to stay for the next couple of days in Istanbul to rest and organise a flight home – he definitely won’t be walking back.
He didn’t want a welcome party for the end of his journey and instead spoke to his close family by phone. Since then he’s also been inundated with messages and calls.
Thanking supporters, he said: “I did the walk to raise money for my local cylch, that’s close to my heart but I was also doing this trip for personal reasons and never expected it to be such a public thing.”
Although he joked he’ll only walk from his sofa to the kitchen back home in Merthyr, Jamie admitted he is looking forward to his usual strolls along the Taff near his home and getting a large coffee from his favourite coffee shop there, Caffi Soar.
Amazingly, Jamie still has the same pair of walking boots he set out in, says his feet are “great” and that his hike of a lifetime hasn’t put him off walking, though he hasn’t got his next adventure planned – yet.
Llongyfarchiadau mawr, Jamie!
To donate see here and you can buy Jamie a coffee to help him celebrate here
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