HYDERABAD: The women bikers who set out on a 17,000 km journey across India and parts of South East Asia within a span of eight weeks returned to the city on Sunday.
The women, who embarked on their journey on February 11 from the city with an objective to
promote Telangana tourism, covered 15 states and six countries that include Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Bangladesh.
The
Women Motorcycle Expedition was called ‘Road to Mekong’ and comprised of four women bikers
Jai Bharathi,
A S D Shanthi,
Piya Bahadur and Shilpa Balakrishnan.
The Telangana Tourism maintained that they wanted to encourage the women and set an example that anyone is passionate about such expeditions.
During their journey, the bikers met several sections of people in the cities that they visited and spoke about women safety initiatives taken by Telangana Tourism for single women travellers.
Out of 17,000 km ride as part of the expedition, 8,500 km was covered in India and rest of the distance in other five nations.
Photo credit: 'Road to Mekong' Facebook page
Speaking to the media on Sunday, Bharathi said that they successfully managed to complete the trip within eight weeks without any breakdowns as the motorcycles were reliable.
Apart from that, the women also spoke about how they were able to promote state tourism and talk about women safety during their travel.
“We were received warmly by the local people in every state and this encouraged us to promote State tourism and women safety,” said Bharathi.
According to the riders, they had to face language problems but overcame those barriers and completed the expedition.
A film crew headed by Sai Kumar Chinthala of Raasta Films from the city also accompanied the riders to documenting the entire journey.
The Women Motorcycle Expedition was called ‘Road to Mekong’ and comprised of four women bikers
