CAIRO - “What would you like to do when you grow up?" a TV presenter asked one of the children during a club programme. "I want to go to Japan," replied Ahmed Haggag, five, who liked to draw planes on walls, surprising the presenter who expected him to say that he wanted to be a doctor or police officer, since this was the answer many children gave. Many years have passed; he is now 27 and a traveller and adventurer, the first person to raise the Egyptian flag in over 120 cities around the world. Haggagovic was the name later given to Haggag by a Russian friend called Marcel Typov, who travelled with him to many places. Haggagovic's story started when the 15-year-old boy told his parents that he wanted to travel, and travel alone. Germany was his first solo trip, then in the following year Haggagovic went to Geneva, where he asked a man to take him a photo behind the bus window. The moment the boy was on the bus, it started to move. He had no idea where the bus went, and asked. "I was quite surprised to hear that the bus was going to Paris. What should I do? I didn't even have my documents or anything on me!" he described the beginning of an interesting journey. Ever since, Haggagovic has tasted adventures and loved them so much that he won't get tired of them. "Experiencing new cultures and peoples is the best thing in life," Haggagovic said in an interview with the Egyptian Mail. He doesn't like to travel in a group but prefers to go alone, with no rules or programmes to tie him down. "When I travel I make friends with everybody and always give people little souvenirs, so they will remember me, even if it is just a smile," the Egyptian adventurer said. Haggagovic's goal is to spread freedom, happiness and peace into every corner of the world under the motto "Loving Egypt". He delivers his message through his famous dance, a dance of happiness. There is no music needed to express happiness, movement does the trick just fine. "All humans on this planet must live together in love, peace and happiness, whatever their colour, age, religion, nationality, origin, thinking, job," added Haggagovic, who speaks five languages, Portuguese, English, Spanish, Arabic and French. Haggagovic doesn't believe in generalisations or black and white or that people are only good or bad. "I met and dealt with Jewish people and people, who did not believe in any God. They were all happy to co-operate and help me as much as they could, which taught me not to judge people for their beliefs or thoughts but if anything for their attitudes." "I believe in a world without borders; man is the one, who made these borders. I rather travel to discover the true nature of humanity. I saw how people adore happiness based on freedom and embraced by peace," During his many travels, Haggagovic realised that although Egypt was very rich in monuments and resources, the authorities didn't really know how to promote tourism in the best possible way. "Unlike Egyptians, who have the oldest civilisation on earth, other countries know how to use their limited resources and promote tourism in much better ways." Haggagovic likes to give examples. He tells about a museum in Croatia called “Broken Hearts”, where lovers put gifts from ex-partners and write their unfinished love stories. This museum alone attracts around 1.5 million tourists every two months, while we Egyptians are blessed with numerous wonderful sites like Mount Moses, where the prophet Moses received direct messages from God. What do we do with this mountain? Nothing!” Haggagovic said in a sad voice. “We only focus on pyramids and camels, although there are thousands of blessings like Lake Nasser, magical sand, deserts and oases. Only 50km from the three famous pyramids there is the little-known Dahshour pyramid. It is the grandfather of (Khofo), the greatest one of the three Giza pyramids, but nobody promotes it.” Haggagovic believes that there is greatness in everybody, and part of his message is to let the whole world know that Egypt is not just this triangle, referring to the pyramids. “Unfortunately people around the world believe that Egyptians don't use technology and still ride camels in the desert. The reason is that our brochures only show poor, simple Egyptian faces in the desert with pyramids, women with burqaas” This creative Egyptian traveller has many ideas and believes they will boost Egypt's tourism. He sets them into practice on his travels, like giving people souvenirs that tell them something about his beloved Egypt, such as ‘I Love Egypt' t-shirts and small Egyptian flags. “When I finish my dance I write people's names on their hands in their own alphabet and in Arabic. They often take photos of their names and really like what I do.” Haggagovic is aware that his efforts are only small, but he believes his ideas could be carried out by tourism officials on a much larger scale, such as presenting economical programmes to visitors, which would attract more tourists and promote Egypt. “We must show the world what we have. When I'm abroad I always invite people to visit Egypt,” said the enthusiastic Haggagovic. Since he has no sponsors to cover his travel costs, he always finds jobs and works while travelling. Haggagovic's dreams have no limits. He hopes that one day he will be in the Guiness Book of Records as the first person to have travelled the entire world and raised the Egyptian flag over it. He also dreams of holding a big carnival in Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the Egyptian revolution that toppled president Hosni Mubarak. “I want to organise a huge Carnival of Happiness in Egypt “Friday of happiness” for people from all over the world to come. But such an event needs businessmen to sponsor and organise it.” Haggagovic is inspired by many people, such as the former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the former British prime minister Winston Churchill. They had determination and insisted on reaching their goals. “I will hold the Egyptian flag in 198 countries around the world, God willing. People tell me it is too hard, too far, too steep, too dangerous and too difficult.But the Earth is my planet and I will do it. You will soon see me waving the Egyptian flag all over the planet or I will die while travelling."
