Their bags are always packed and they believe that the world is their oyster. He urged us to come inside his house and with a lot of trepidation we gave in.”. Three women in a car, for close to 10 hours a day would sometimes get a bit stifling, so the challenge lay in terms of keeping the atmosphere in the car congenial at all times,” says Soumya. Also, dealing with the sub-zero temperatures was a major test. I’m an outdoor educator and am currently consulting for an education-based project. A local lady named Chongpi, physically handicapped was distressed at our plight and invited us over to her house, shared what meagre food she had and gave up her bed for us.” Looking forward to her next trip, Nidhi reveals, “We are planning a couple of drives in north-east India with women drivers who can push their driving limits in difficult terrain. We spend the first night wet, cold and hungry. When I sh Agrees Rashmi who found this trip life changing among many things. “I was introduced to trekking when I was in Class 5. Once we were stuck Custom 1603211 between landslides, at a small village called Chamol in Manipur. “I am humbled by the sheer helpfulness of people we met on our journey. Before going on this journey, I was wondering whether my family would be able to manage in my absence and during the trip, we faced challenges in terms of knowing the local languages.

“I loved the changing landscapes; flood plains of Myanmar, to the Tibetan plateau in China, to the Tien Shan mountains in Kyrgystan, the fertile Fergana valley in Uzbekistan, dry, desert lands in Kazakhstan, then to the flat, yet green pastoral lands in Russia to finally reach the coniferous trees and pretty European meadows in Finland,” says Nidhi in awe of the beautiful world. With travel, once you start, you can never truly finish. Apparently, there was no electricity and no inflow of groceries and goods for days. One of them told us that it was not safe for us to be sitting in the car and urged us to come to his house where he could organise lunch for us. We speak to this first all-women group on the challenges they faced and their daredevil attitude on this super adventurous trans-continental expedition. We were greeted by the most welcoming smiling faces of his mother and two sisters who cooked the best Manipuri food for us, played the guitar for us, sang songs and made us feel at home.”Recalling another incident, Soumya adds, “Driving from Kohima to Imphal, we were stuck one day due to a strike and all the roads were blocked with nowhere to go, watching the protesters pass us by. We were in a dilemma, but just trusted our instincts and drove behind him.”Hospitality and tourism educator and a PhD scholar, Rashmi Koppar chips in saying, “The challenge was getting the paperwork in order.Nidhi Tiwari of Women Beyond Boundaries (WBB) has had many years of long-distance, high-altitude driving and off-road jeeping experience, while Smita was working in the development sector for over 15 years. From the time we crossed the Indian border, up until Finland, communication was a major challenge, especially while ordering food.” For Soumya Gopinath, a physiotherapist, mother of two young boys, who also runs an outdoor biking gear company and a campsite in the Western Ghats, it was an extension of her passion for trekking that started in her school days

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