Britons may soon be able to enjoy an epic new bus tour from UK to New Delhi while hopping through 18 countries in 70 days. It is expected to start from Adventures Overland and is slated to launch in 2021.
Passengers will be able to buy tickets for the full journey, or opt to travel for one of four legs. In fact, the bus route will be the first ever hop-on/hop-off bus service between the UK and India. It will include European hotspots like Moscow, Vilnius, Prague, Brussels and Frankfurt, to the ancient cities in Uzbekistan such as Tashkent and Samarkand.
The bus will even include a cruise on the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan, before continuing on to China to explore the Gobi Desert, hike the Great Wall, meet Giant Pandas in Chengdu and then travel through the Silk Route and the pagodas of Myanmar. The trip is expected to cost £15,000 for the ticket, food, visa services and overnight stays in what the company says will be four and five-star hotels. There will be breaks every two hours, with the bus travelling 12 hours a day.
This is proposed by Adventures Overland's founders, Sanjay Madan and Tushar Agarwal, know a thing or two about epic journeys. As a team, they hold a Guinness World Record and 15 Limca Book of Records for long-distance driving expeditions.
Tushar Agarwal in his statement to The Mirror said, "Every single route in each country has been vetted to ensure that the journey is seamless. We take charge of documentation and permits to ensure that the entire focus of participants is on experiencing the journey.
"We ensure an experienced English-speaking local guide is travelling with the group at all hours to ensure personal safety, smooth communication and travel.”
In the meantime, Sanjay Madan said to The Mirror, "We share a common love for travel, and now we are thrilled to introduce the first bus service from London all the way to New Delhi with utmost comfort and luxury.
"Providing a niche and classy experience in a secure environment is our top priority. The route of this journey is tried and tested as we have already execute three back to back road trips from India to London on the same route so participants on Bus to London can get onboard with the knowledge and confidence that they are in safe hands."
However, according to The Times this is not the first company to offer the London to Delhi route. While speaking to the newspaper, Derek Moore, deputy director of the Association of Independent Tour Operators, there were more than a hundred such operators at one time, from coach operators to one man in a Jeep. He offered a route through Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan for a decade from 1969 until the Iranian revolution made it impassable.
