A 35-year-old from Wadi Musa is attempting one of the longest walks ever attempted: 23,000km from Cape Town all the way to Magadan, a remote port city in Russia's far east. Saddam Al Alaya set off on January 1, 2026, expects the trek to take about three years, and is already a full year in — and on schedule.
His route so far reads like a map of eastern and southern Africa. He covered the 5,500km from Cape Town to Rwanda in nine months, passing through South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, and Burundi along the way. In total he plans to cross 18 countries, and one of them will be his own: he intends to walk the length of Jordan, entering from the south and heading north.
Al Alaya isn't an outsider to the outdoors. He grew up next to Petra, one of the world's most famous archaeological sites, and started guiding tourists through it and the nearby canyons at around 16. He kept guiding while studying for a business degree, and the idea for the mega-walk came to him in 2021. He then spent close to five years preparing it — no small logistical feat when you're planning to walk across much of two continents.
What sets his project apart is the diplomatic and social scaffolding around it. He carries a white flag as a symbol of peace, and has founded an organisation called Hike With Me. His social feeds show him walking with local communities, visiting schools, and meeting officials along the route. Several Jordanian ministries, national organisations, and Jordanian embassies in countries on his route have officially backed him, helping with visas, security, and logistics — according to the Jordanian News Agency, that official support is what keeps the paperwork side of an 18-country walk manageable.
For travellers, the story is a reminder of how much of the world is connected by land — and how many of the places Al Alaya is walking through are realistic trip destinations in their own right. His home region around Petra, where he first learned to guide, is a masterclass in desert trekking: the trail from Wadi Musa through Little Petra to the rock arches of the Dana Biosphere Reserve and onward to Wadi Rum is one of the Middle East's best long-distance hikes. Much of his African route — from Victoria Falls on the Zambia–Zimbabwe border to the wildlife of Botswana and the trekking hills of Rwanda — sits firmly on the adventure travel map too.
Whether Al Alaya makes it to Magadan within three years remains to be seen; the later stages of the route involve remote and politically complicated territory. But a year in, with 5,500km banked and a pace that's holding, the walk is already one of the more remarkable overland journeys currently underway — and a good excuse to start plotting your own route through the countries he's crossing.
Original story: ExplorersWeb
