Meenakshi’s visa hiccups followed her wherever she went.
Digital Desk: On December 17, 2023, Meenakshi Das set out on an ambitious journey to become the first female solo rider to visit over 50 countries in one year. By December 22, she returned home, transformed by the experience.
The beginning of Meenakshi’s biking passion began at age 16 after she started riding her Kinetic Honda and gave her a sense of unparalleled freedom. As an assamese women her first inspiration, was to travel through Northeast India by motorcycle. In her early bike travels Meenakshi was joined by her husband, Bedanta in riding as a passenger through Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. The years she worked as a fitness instructor allowed her to save money which she used to purchase her first bike Yamaha R15 V3 in 2019. After that achievement she became the second female rider worldwide to navigate Umling La Pass in Ladakh which stands as the highest motorable road in the world.
Meenakshi continued pursuing new ambitious goals beyond her existing achievements. She completed her first solo journey to Nepal in 2022 followed by ambitions to ride across 67 countries during the year 2023. The trip estimated in Rs 54 lakh was the total budget for the adventure. Multiple organizations made her promising financial offers but she didn’t receive any financial assistance. Meenakshi mortgaged her agricultural land and gained money and lastly she also raised money through crowdfunding through her client donations at her gym. She remembers how an unexpected person transferred ten lakh rupees to her.
The travel journey started in Nepal before she made a short stop in Mumbai then continued to Oman. During her journey she received helped from Priyanka with the sum of $500 in Jordan as a sign of goodwill. Moving through Europe she endured tough physical challenges as she spent weeks on her cycle with sickness and rain and skip meals in order to save money. The UK became her destination after travelling through Southern Europe and she visited eight countries within 10 days.
Throughout her journey she received multiple helping hands, a Malayali rider in Liverpool became a special source of help to Meenakshi by giving her GBP 400 during her travels. . Norwegian generosity included a pair of boots from a late wife, while five Indian women in China contributed $4,000 to help her complete the journey.
On her way back to India Meenakshi has started organizing upcoming travel plans, this time with Bedanta by her side, aiming for Russia and the US.
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