When you have a will, you have a way. Three Indian women proved it right when they successfully completed a 23,800 km-long journey through 17 countries in 97 days.

 

 

Rashmi Koppar, Dr Soumya Goyal and Nidhi Tiwari are in their mid-30s and are well-settled in their successful careers. But the desire to see the world like adventurers do made the trio embark on this quest.

 

Nidhi, an adventurer who has travelled across India, was the one who conceptualised the trip. She was also the only driver in this all-women team.

Rashmi Koppar works with MS Ramaiah Hospital and is the mother of a young daughter. Soumya is a physical therapist and mother of two young boys. Nidhi is the wife of an army officer and has two sons.

 

Under the banner of ‘Women Beyond Boundaries’ They started their journey from New Delhi on July 23 and headed east, and subsequently west by northwest to London.

 

They reached London passing through Myanmar, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, and France.

 

 

There journey was not without its pit stops. Even before they could cross the Indian border, a landslide in Manipur stalled them.

Rashmi recalls that the locals helped them with food and lodging.

 

 

Once they crossed over, their real trip began with the imposing great gate at the entrance of the Hwang Ho bridge in China.

 

 

They posed with the people of Biandukou in Qilian Mountains…

 

 

…travelled via Shanshan in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region…

 

 

…and passed by the ancient Silk Route of spices in Kashgar.

 

 

This is the pass they entered through to reach Naryn in Kyrgyzstan.

 

 

Along the way, they did not forget to capture the beauty of the Taklamakan desert…

 

 

…and other vistas that welcomed the trio.

 

 

Nidhi before a yurt in Kyrgyzstan.

 

 

They saw the light show at the Registan Monument in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

 

 

And entered Kazakhstan via Atyrau.

 

 

On the way they found this lazy Bactrian Camel.

 

 

Of course, the road went through many such desolate landscapes.

 

 

But what waited beyond was indescribable for them, like this Volvograd War Memorial in Russia.

 

 

How could they have missed the famous Red Square in Moscow?

 

 

Or photograph under the clouds the Winter Palace of St Petersburg?

 

 

The nights were as scenic as the days.

 

 

Vistas such as these can give anyone the feels.

 

 

 

 

They stood on either side of the Arctic Circle.

 

 

Along the way, they also made friends. They didn’t know all the languages but managed using translation tools.

 

 

Navigation was done mostly using the modern-day tools such as Google maps.

 

 

All images credit: Women Beyond Boundaries.