A 74-year-old retired bus driver from Bursa, western Türkiye, traveled to Mecca for Umrah by converting his van into a campervan and driving through Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. Osman Nuri Özgür completed the roughly 2,600-kilometer journey in 2.5 days after departing from İnegöl on January 4. Özgür said he decided to travel by road after conditions eased in Syria. “I had been thinking about coming with my van for years. When things calmed down a bit in Syria, I decided to perform Umrah and set off,” he said, adding that he used only three tanks of diesel during the trip. Planning to stay in Mecca for three months, he aims to perform around 30 Umrah pilgrimages and the Eid al-Fitr prayer at the Kaaba. He recommended traveling with a personal vehicle for those who have the means, saying it allows greater freedom and peace during worship
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