The governor of the southern Russian region of Astrakhan proposed on Monday that camels carry the Olympic torch for part of the route through Russia in the lead-up to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

“Our region is the only place in Russia and Europe that has camel races, so camel riders can carry the flame across the border between Kalmykia and the Astrakhan region,” the online newspaper Gazeta.ru quoted Alexander Zhilkin as saying.

In July last year, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said Russia could become the first country to send the torch into space.

The flame will travel more than 27,350 kilometers in just 20 days, with side-trips to Mount Elbrus, Europe’s highest mountain, and Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest freshwater lake, scheduled along the way.