3 Indian Women Drove A Car From Delhi To London Crossing 17 Countries. What A Road Trip!

Age is just a number and you should never let age and circumstances come in between your dreams. And these three ladies just proved my point!

Meet the 3 ladies – Rashmi Koppar, Dr Soumya Goyal, and Nidhi Tiwari, who embarked on a long and ambitious trip of driving a 4-wheeler from Delhi to London.

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Yeah! That’s right. It was Nidhi Tiwari’s idea, who was also the only driver of this expedition.

When Nidhi discussed this idea with her friends Rashmi Koppar, and Dr Soumya Goyal, they  immediately agreed to join her. And they took a sabbatical from their respective jobs to realize their 15-year-old dream.

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But they needed sponsors to realize this big dream. So their expedition was backed by an Indian car manufacturer, who gave them an SUV to drive through several countries.

 

Journey details:

The journey commenced from Delhi in the month of June. From there, they travelled to Myanmar, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium and France, and lastly London. The journey culminated in October.

Here are some of the photos taken during the trip:

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Here are the details of their travel:

Day 1 to 7: Delhi – Kanpur – Siliguri – Guwahati – Imphal – Moreh/ Tamu border point (Myanmar) – Monywa (Distance: 2,403 km)

Day 8 to 14: Monywa – Mandalay – Lhasa – Muse – Ruili – Dali – Xichang – Chengdu (Distance: 1903 kms)

Day 15 to 21: Chengdu – Ruoergai – Xining – Jiayuguan – Hami – Turpan – Kuerle (Distance: 3,520 km)

Day 22 to 28: Kuerle – Akesu – Kashgar – Sary Tash (Kyrgyzstan) – Osh – Tashkent – Samarkhand – Bukhara (Distance: 1,964 km)

Day 29 to 35: Bukhara – Khiva – Nukus (Khazakistan) – Beyneu – Atyrau – Astrakhan (Russia) – Volvograd (Distance: 2,352 km)

Day 36 to 42: Volvograd – Kamensk – Kharkiv – Kiev (Ukraine) – Lviv – Karkow (Poland) – Prague (Czech Republic) (Distance: 2,589 km)

Day 43 to 54: Prague – Frankfurt (Germany) – Brussels (Belgium) – London (UK) (Distance: 1,269 km)

 

They drove 600 km/day! Can you believe that? Also, their car was the first Indian car to cross the Arctic Circle!

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Rashmi Koppar and Dr Soumya Goyal recall their journey:

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The first thing we did while entering every country was to buy a local SIM card. However, we couldn’t book accommodations in advance as our schedule kept changing. It was only in India and England that we spoke in English. In the other countries, we used sign language and Google translator.

They also talked about letting go of the apprehensions of travelling alone and wanted to let women know there is nothing to be scared of while embarking on such expeditions.

However, they took some travel precautions – they avoided travelling at night and explored the cities in evenings.

 

About the team

Nidhi Tiwari: Specializes in outdoor education, off-the-road jeeping, long distance and high altitude driving.

Ms Rashmi Koppar: A hotel management professor, an adventure sports enthusiast, educator, and amateur long-distance driver.

Dr. Soumya Goyal: Physical therapist at MS Ramaiah Hospital.

The team is a part of Women Beyond Boundaries, a community that brings women together who wish to travel.

Isn’t that wonderful? More power to you, women! 🙂

Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going. ~ Paul Theroux

News Source: The Times Of India, Outlook Journal

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