Branson floats towards the Himalayas

British Tycoon Richard Branson, who lifted off last Friday from Marrakesh (Southern Morocco) on a new attempt to tour the world by balloon, flew on Sunday over Turkmanistan and is currently heading for Himalaya.

This is Branson's 3rd attempt to make the round-the-world balloon voyage. Branson is accompanied in his world endeavor challenge by US Fossett and Swedish Per Lindstrand.

The trip is expected to take from eight to 18 days, and, with continued favorable winds, could take about 10 days.

Branson got the permission from 97 countries for overflights, said Mike Johnson, a spokesman for ICO Global, a mobile telephone company supporting the trip.

Fossett has made four tries to ring the globe, the last one ending when his Solo Spirit was ripped apart in a violent storm off Australia.

Branson has tried several times but failed to become the first man to trek the globe in a balloon. The only time he managed to take off, in January 1997, his balloon crashed a day after takeoff, landing in the Algerian desert.

The crew was more confident this time because of the better technology used to build the balloon, including a Kevlar canopy over the crew's pressurized capsule.