Calcutta: Four women from Hyderabad on a biking expedition across Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia made a pit stop in Calcutta on Wednesday.

Jai Bharathi, A.S.D. Shanthi, Shilpa Balakrishnan and Piya Bahadur are from different walks of life but the passion for riding binds them.

The seven-week expedition will see them ride their Bajaj Dominar 400 bikes across the seven Southeast Asian countries through the India-Myanmar-Thailand highway, popularly known as IMT.

"We want to show it is quite safe for women riders to traverse through the country and visit foreign lands on a two-wheeler," Balakrishnan said.

Speaking about their experience of riding from Hyderabad to Calcutta through Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar, they said it was nothing short of an adventure.

"When you are riding a bike on a highway, even stones kicked up by the wheels of other vehicles can pose a challenge," Shanthi said.

Balakrishnan said motorists cheered them throughout the route. "From people driving Mercedes to truck drivers, everyone gave us the thumbs up," she said. "When we stopped, people asked where we were headed and went out of their way to make us feel comfortable."

It took the four around eight months to get all the clearance and papers for the trip. "Taking a vehicle outside the country requires a special permit called ATA Carnet. If the paperwork can be reduced, I am sure more people will take this route," Balakrishnan said.

The four left for Dhaka on Friday morning. They plan to visit Unesco world heritage sites in the countries they would be riding through and promote Indian tourism.

The tourism ministry has supported their endeavour and a camera crew is accompanying the group to document the trip.