Adventures Overland, a tourist firm based at Gurugram in Haryana, has announced a bus tour from Delhi to London next year. The company revealed its exciting package through social media on India's Independence Day.
According to the schedule, the bus would travel across 18 countries in 70 days to reach London from Delhi. The venture, titled 'Bus to London' is set to cover around 20,000 km by road. The travel company has also launched a website https://bustolondon.in/ for the purpose.
The bus route will touch Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, China, Kirghizstan, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Travellers would get the unique opportunity to visit a number of well-known places of interest and renowned cities along the way. They include the thousands of pagodas in Myanmar; the rare giant pandas of Chengdu; the historic city of Bukhara; the ancient Samarkand in Uzbekistan; the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan; and the European cities of Moscow, Vilnius, Prague, Brussels and Frankfurt.
Special bus
A specially-built bus with 20 seats, including business class, will be taking the travellers to London. Apart from the 20 passengers, a driver, assistant driver, guide and a helper would travel in the bus. Regular change of the guide will be taking place along the route, said the travel firm.
The company has promised to carry out all the paperwork, including procurement of visas, for the journey. It offers four packages for the trip and travellers can choose different destinations according to their preferences, convenience and budget. Each of the packages has a separate fare. For the entire journey from Delhi to London, the fare would be Rs 15 lakh, including food and accommodation.
The company said it has arranged luxury facilities for the adventure all along the route. Apart from a stay in four-star or five-star hotels, Indian food will be made available for travellers.
The inspiration for the innovative tour was three road trips made by travel lovers Tushar Agarwal and Sanjay Madan in 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively. Agarwal, a joint founder of Adventures Overland, said in an interview that the first journey of the bus would hopefully take place in May 2021. However, registrations have not been started considering the pandemic and the procedures would be initiated after analyzing the COVID-19 situation in the countries on the route.
Historic trip
Meanwhile, the announcement has revived memories of a historic bus trip from London to India in 1957. Arranged by Oswald-Joseph Garrow-Fisher, the bus, named 'The Indiamen,' started from London with 20 passengers on April 15, 1957, and reached Calcutta on June 5. The bus soon made a return trip and arrived back in London on August 2. At that time, the fare was 85 pounds from London to India and 65 pounds for the return trip. From London, 'The Indiamen' travelled across France, Italy, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan to reach India.