Record breaking cruise
Amalshan Gunerathne
What wouldn't you give up to get away from the monotonous, routine,
day to day life? Knowing that routine, monotonous life was never their
forte, Swiss couple Emil and Liliana Schmid, started their thrill
seeking adventure way back in 1984. Never would have they thought that
what started as a customary excursion to New
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Going through their Guinness Record |
York in 1984 will turn out to be the first destination of their
Guinness World Record holding journey.
Emil and Liliana Schmid from Switzerland have covered more than
650,000 km in their Toyota Land Cruiser since 16 October 1984, crossing
169 countries and territories in the process and now holds the guineas
world record for the longest travelled journey.
Destination Sri Lanka
Believe it or not, Lilliana and Emil are here in Sri Lanka right now,
marking the island their 169th destination.
Their faithful companion the 'Toyata Land Cruiser' who has always
been with them through thick and thin, is also here to take them around
the island to witness some of the grand sceneries of the land.
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Names of the 169 countries marked on their Land Cruiser.
Pictures by Ruwan de Silva |
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Their faithful companion the ‘Toyata Land Cruiser’ equipped with
household goods, kitchen tools and a mattress |
The couple joined with us to share some of their exciting experiences
with us on their record breaking adventure.
For Emil and Liliana, their strong, muscular looking blue Toyata Land
Cruiser is more than just a mere motor-vehicle. She has been a friend
and an ardent servant, never the one to let them down on their
challenging voyage.
Toyata Land Cruiser
"Yes, we have to carry her wherever we go. We are not complete
without her and it won't go in to the record books if we don't travel
around with her," Emil says.
The couple has been travelling for more than twenty six years now.
But still they have not felt like stopping. Not even random scary
encounters with bandits or terrorists could slow them down. Deadly
malaria infections or random car break downs could not halt their
progress.
Adventure continues
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A Record Breaking Ride
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* The Journey
Started in 1984 Oct 19
* The journey has been registered in the Guinness Book of World
Records since 1997
* The duo has visited 169 countries and covered 656,000 km up to
date
* They broke the previous records of Harry B. Coleman/Peggy
Larson of 113 countries - 231’288 km in a Volkswagen Camper
* Sri Lanka is their 169th destination |
The adventure still goes on. The dream is to somehow or other travel
to almost every country of the world.
Going back through the time Liliana recalled, "I was 42 when we
started the journey. Well, we had handsome amount of money which we
saved from twenty years of working. We could have settled down and buy a
house from that money. But we never felt the need to settle down. Why do
we need to buy a house? We didn't have kids, so we started the
adventure."
From that moment onwards, the land cruiser became their home.
Equipped with household goods, kitchen tools and a mattress, she
provides them with all the homely comforts.
Early days
Expressing her love for the wagon Liliana says, "In the early days of
the journey, we spent the nights with her in schools, gas stations. But
now we get our pension and we can afford to spend the night at some
local inn or a restaurant."
The duo will stay in Sri Lankan till the end of May. So far they have
visited Sigiriya, Kurugnagala and Dumbulla.
"Yes, we have enjoyed our stay in Sri Lanka so far. I like the
culture here and people are very friendly.
We are looking forward to do more travelling during our stay,
probably next week we might head to Nuwara Eliya," Liliana said with a
cheerful smile. |
