17 Countries, 38 borders in 380 days, This Hindi -Chini Couple Completes A Year on the Silk Route!
Here is the story of an adventurous Bengaluru couple who has covered 17 countries and 38 borders traveling on bicycles! Isn't that sounds astonishing?
The couple is much popularly called 'Sushi and Sambhar' on Social Media. They started their voyage from Thailand in 2016 and till now it has been 16 countries and 36 Borders with an average spending of $6.55 a day, which they earned doing 21 different jobs that they did on the journey to survive. The Indo-China couple has now completed one year of their world tour. Also, the most astonishing thing to note here is the fact that, the boy who is named Sunil Kaushik and his Japanese wife Yuka Yokozawa covered their Silk Route (as they call it) on foldable bicycles!
The couple says that the cost was not the real hurdle for them and 55% of their budget was spent on visa fee, if not then it would have been much cheaper. They spent maximum $5-6 per day and without adjusting or compromising with their Bucket-list.They travel with only important things of survival like a tent and some more essentials along with the two bicycles. The shocking factor is that the last time they stayed in paid accommodation was last 255 days ago. They have been surviving on streets for like 380 days. The journey involves the taste of several multi-cuisine of different cultures and country. Also to quench the passion of their traveling they even did various strange jobs.
This is how they Embarked on the Journey to their Silk Route!
From their experience, Sunil said "I was always interested in seeing the world on a bicycle. I rode from Kanyakumari to Leh when I shared my dream of staying on the road like a nomad, and Yuka loved it. We eventually married and started leading an ordinary life, saving up for the trip. I never owned a car and commuted to work on a bicycle. This is how my passion for a bicycle trip grew stronger."
They met with two boys of Malaysia who suggested them to use fold-able bikes as they are easy to thumb a ride. The folding bicycle was not in their budget, later 'Brompton' (a bicycle company) agreed to give them the required bicycles at a huge discount. They shipped bicycles to India with the help of an online friend who was flying from London to India.
The couple is extraordinary and different from any other couple in Bengaluru. Now talking about the variety of cuisine Yuka continued:
"Being foodies, we love trying new food. Street food of Thailand and Vietnam was really good. Dairy products are really good in Kyrgyzstan; Uzbekistan has nice samosas and plov. Iran and Turkish cuisines are one of the best. When we entered Europe we enjoyed Greek, French food."
