Awesome foursome promotes T-tourism

Hyderabad: Four women riders from the Hyderabad chapter of The Bikerni, a women riders’ club, will kick-start their motorcycle expedition, ‘Road to Mekong’ covering South East Asian nations by road through the newly laid India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway to promote Telangana tourism.

The expedition will be flagged off on Sunday from the Secretariat by the Minister of Tourism, secretary, Tourism and other senior officers. The four women riders -- Jai Bharathi, Shilpa Balakrishnan, ASD Shanti and Piya Bahadur -- would cover 16,992 km across India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Bangladesh to promote tourism in India and that of Telangana in particular.

En route, the riders would stop at important places and showcase Telangana tourism through videos, posters and pamphlets. The expedition is supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India and Telangana government. The team that includes a documentary production crew, a veteran rider Naresh Bahadur (who travelled from the then Bombay to Paris in 1979) who is also the father of a rider Piya Bahadur, logistics team and two back up vehicle crew that would organise cultural evenings at selected pit stops screening videos and documentaries on Incredible India.

Bajaj Auto is providing the Domineer 400 cc motorcycles for the expedition.In all, the riders would visit 19 Unesco World Heritage sites in five nations and promote exchange tourism to the 35 Unesco sites in India. Expedition director Jai Bharathi who had earlier visited Unesco sites in Turkey and Nepal says, “This ride will also help highlight safe tourism opportunities for women travellers in India and encourage international tarvellers to include India in their itinerary.