A mum trying to travel the world from her home in Dundee without any cash has gone 6500 miles – thanks to the kindness of strangers.
Elaine Harris started her 10-day charity challenge last Sunday.
She is raising funds for a clinic to provide dental and eye care to deprived kids on the isle of Sal, in Cape Verde, off west Africa.
After travelling by motorbike, taxi, train, plane, ferry, bus and tuk tuk, Elaine yesterday arrived in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
Today, she’ll finish her 10-day challenge, hoping to rack up as many miles as possible.
Elaine, 38, who is mum to Salina, six, and Ariana, two, said: “I’m gobsmacked by getting this far and the generosity of people.”
Her journey kicked off at Newton Farm Holidays in Forfar.
From there, she went to Dundee by tractor and, thanks to farmers Nicoll and Graham, also did some of her journey with alpacas.
Elaine, who is a model, then met biker Sandy MacCoinnich from the Legion of Scottish Riders and travelled from Dundee to Glasgow.
The next day, Elaine took a cab with Glasgow Taxis from Carntyne to the city’s lorry depot where she joined driver Angus from Allied Vehicles Group.
The pair drove to Dover, where they caught a ferry to Calais in northern France.
Elaine arrived in Brussels on Tuesday before hitch-hiking to Lohr Am Main in Bavaria, Germany.
Local Eric Ruefer then offered to pay for a train ticket to Nuremberg. She then took a bus to Prague and travelled from there onwards to Bratislava in Slovakia.
Elaine said: “The goodwill and generosity of people and firms has been truly amazing. I’m trying to raise awareness of the clinic and raise as much money as possible.”
She headed to Budapest courtesy of John Eccles Transport. On board, Elaine met Assad Galon of Israel, who donated money for her to fly there from the Hungarian capital. After arriving in Israel, she jetted to Bangkok on Friday morning.
Then, thanks to Network Rail’s Andy McTaggart, Elaine took a 15-hour bus journey to Siem Reap, Cambodia. On board, she met Sahashi Masahiro. She said: “He had two litres of whisky and, ping, I was back in the land of the living.”
The next day, she continued on to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
On Monday, Elaine headed to Kuala Lumpur on a plane courtesy of Newton Farm Holidays.
There, Elaine enjoyed her first night’s sleep in a bed thanks to Adrian Hickson, who she met at a security gate in Bangkok airport.
In November, she’ll fly to Sal to deliver aid to the children there.
● Follow Elaine at facebook.com/capeverdeclinic. Donate at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/keepelainemoving .
