33 medical students and young doctors, 750 km, 11 days - these were the basic facts of the IPPNW Biking Against Nuclear Weapons Tour, or BAN Tour in short. The activists, which came from all corners of the world, covered three countries: Germany, France and Switzerland and brought the issue of nuclar abolition to the people in towns and villages on the way. There were meetings with parliamentarians, mayors and media people as well as large public events such as flashmobs or Target installations. In order to read more about the BAN Tour, please click HERE.

On the 24th of August, the tour arrived at its final destination: Basel. The third biggest city of Switzerland is also its most international - with parts of the cities suburbs actually lying on German and French territory. The old Roman garrison of Basileam became an Alemanni stronghold and was later incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire. Completely destroyed in 1356 by the largest earthquake Central Europe has ever seen, Basel rose from the ashes and joined the Helvetian Confederacy in 1501. It has remained one of the country's most important cities and is nowadays a major hub for pharmaceutical companies like Novartis and Hoffmann-La Roche as well as Banks such as UBS. The city is laid out along the Rhine and embraces it like no other town along its shores: several beautiful bridges cross the river, there are permanent ferry services and dozens of tiny boats criss-crossing the river at any given time of the day, while the young people of Basel hang out on the shores and the rich dine in the stylish cafés and restaurant along the riverside. As we arrived in Basel, we were met by the Swiss affiliate and the World Congress Organizers before ending our tour on Basel's Rathausplatz. There, Roman and his gang of stunt bikers had already entertained the crowds and as we arrived, a large group of people welcomed us on the square. The mayor, Guy Morin, held a speech and we officially ended the BAN Tour 2010 with yet another flashmob and a Target installation.