Faraz Shibli
Faraz Shibli is a British travel writer and adventurer. Shibli is a contributing author of "Mongolia: the Bradt Travel Guide" (3rd ed.) and "The Kindness of Strangers: Travel Stories That Make Your Heart Grow". The latter is a collection of stories by travel writers, explorers and adventurers, including Ed Stafford, Benedict Allen and Sarah Outen, in aid of Oxfam. Shibli has spoken about his travels at venues including Oxford University, Cambridge University, the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society for Asian Affairs. 2011 Gobi Desert expedition. In 2011, aged 25, Shibli took part in a 1,600 km  crossing of the Mongolian Gobi Desert, following which it was reported that he became the youngest Briton to cross the Gobi Desert on foot. During the expedition, he led Bactrian camels, which carried his food and water, as well as some of his equipment. According to Shibli's interview with British GQ, navigation involved the use of Soviet-era maps, and there were a few occasions on which he almost ran out of water. In 2016, it was reported that Chloe Burles broke Shibli’s record, completing a similar route aged 23. Neither records were certified by Guinness World Records . Other expeditions. Shibli has lived, herded and hunted with the Kazakh eagle hunters of northwest Mongolia, trekked through the Tien Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan, travelled in a loop by bicycle, boat and hitch hiking through the jungles of rural northern Laos and cycled long-distance in Thailand. Legal career. Shibli is a barrister specialising in public international law. He was called to the bar by the Middle Temple in 2007, before practising in London from chambers in the Inner Temple. He later worked as a consultant to the United Nations in Mongolia. He is also a trustee of Coalition Peace , a charity developing tech-based solutions for peacebuilding in Africa. Shibli was educated at Warwick University and Oxford University.