In 2018, Noraly Schoenmaker quit her job and sold her house in Holland, heading to India and Bangladesh to travel full-time. As a motorcycle rider, she noticed a lot of rental shops in Northern India. Missing her Ducati Monster 796, she decided to rent a Royal Enfield; the two were inseparable for the next 3,000 kilometers through the Himalayas. Noraly has been on the road since then, documenting her 130,000-kilometer solo journey from India to Europe, Patagonia to Peru, Scandinavia, Southern Africa, and, more recently, returning to finish the Pan-American Highway.
When I interviewed Noraly in 2019 for Women Overlanding the World, she said one of her biggest travel surprises was in Thailand. “I’ve been to Thailand several times as a backpacker, and it was never one of my favourites in Southeast Asia. But when I rode there by motorcycle, it was simply fantastic. I found some amazing off-road trails to explore and stayed in many off-the-beaten-track places, far away from the party crowd. It gave me the feeling that I really discovered Thailand this time!”
In Episode 65, “Crossing into Turkmenistan,” Noraly is granted the elusive Turkmenistan transit visa, takes viewers through the border crossing between Iran and Turkmenistan, and soars through the empty roads of Ashgabat, a capital city made of white marble.
To learn more about Noraly and her travels, visit itchyboots.com.
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