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 Author | Topic: Road trip - UK to India (Read 3,022 times) |
deyana
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kerouac2
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|  | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #1 on Feb 22, 2010, 9:24pm » | ![[Quote]](http://images.proboards.com/buttons/quote.gif "[Quote]") |
I think that I would steer clear of the Afghanistan and the Pakistan part at the present. Better to go up to Tashkent from Iran and then check the viability of going down to Rawalpindi to get to India -- or if it is better to pass through China.
Askar might have some ideas about this if he sees it.
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deyana
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #2 on Feb 22, 2010, 10:05pm » | |
Yes, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq would have to be avoided for sure.
I'll send Askar a PM, with a link to this thread, I'd appreciate his input.
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spindrift
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #3 on Feb 22, 2010, 10:29pm » | |
A Nepali gf of mine once asked me to do this trip with her. It never happened of course. At the time we were looking for a competent strong man to be our driver/fixer. My friend's father had done this journey (UK to Nepal) several times and thought nothing of it. This was in the 1950s I suppose.
I'd still like to do it. It would cost a lot. I don't know how one would manage to obtain all the different visas. I guess that would be a nightmare. We'd definitely have to give Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan a miss and go north instead. Do you think 4 months would be sufficient time to get to India?
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kerouac2
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #4 on Feb 22, 2010, 10:35pm » | |
Good old Seat 61 suggests a train route from London to India. That might be a more reasonable way to go.
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spindrift
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #5 on Feb 22, 2010, 10:38pm » | |
Yes, lovely....Paul Theroux and (probably) Bill Bryson did it this way...but I want to go by car.
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kerouac2
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #6 on Feb 22, 2010, 10:41pm » | |
But I do love the idea of a dining car in some of the trains, or places where the train would stop for hours and they would set up a table on the platform for us and ply us with local specialities, the slow clatter of the rails on starry nights across rocky deserts with campfires in the distance and the silhouette of camels braying.
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spindrift
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #7 on Feb 22, 2010, 10:45pm » | |
Oh yes, we could dress for dinner; I could wear my diamonds; be served tantalising food and the best wines....no space for dancing I suppose.... the best linen on the beds, a carriage into town to see the sights...no end of bliss.
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deyana
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #8 on Feb 22, 2010, 10:46pm » | |
That's sounds wonderful, K. A train would take so much of the stress of travelling away.
Spinny, four months? I think that should be enough time.
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spindrift
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #9 on Feb 22, 2010, 10:49pm » | |
The idea would be to stop at places we like. I wouldn't want to rush. It would be a trip of a lifetime.
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deyana
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spindrift
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #11 on Feb 22, 2010, 10:52pm » | |
We can take the Orient Express from London to Istanbul!
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deyana
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #12 on Feb 22, 2010, 10:52pm » | |
I like the idea of not rushing. Ideally it would be good to stop many times, to get a real feel of a place, meet and get to know the locals, before moving on. It could lead to some unusual experiences.
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spindrift
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deyana
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #14 on Feb 22, 2010, 10:55pm » | |
I think we should plan it, Spinny. For real. Even if it's a few years down the road...
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spindrift
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hwinpp
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #16 on Feb 23, 2010, 2:06am » | |
Good trip.
Pakistan can be crossed. You get military escorts between Zahedan in Iran and from the border up to Quetta in Pakistan. People are still doing it.
If you have a reliable car no need to worry much. The roads are all asphalt now and Turkish, Iranian or Pakistani workshops are all along the route.
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onlymark
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #17 on Feb 23, 2010, 5:05am » | |
If I just may mention that I've done this journey, from London to Nepal and vice versa and from Cairo to Nepal and vice versa more times than I can remember. I'd estimate more than a dozen at least.
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onlymark
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #18 on Feb 23, 2010, 5:43am » | |
To give a little taster perhaps staying at this place for a few days may be relaxing? -
http://www.banasura.com/
And you would definitely need to experience the India/Pakistan border closing ceremony at Wagah.
Note the briefest of handshakes just before the gates close -
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hwinpp
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #19 on Feb 23, 2010, 6:34am » | |
I never made it up to Nepal. Ferried the car from Madras to Port Klang in Malaysia both times.
Did you manage to go through Afghanistan, Mark?
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bjd
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #20 on Feb 23, 2010, 7:54am » | |
Feb 22, 2010, 10:52pm, deyana wrote:| I like the idea of not rushing. Ideally it would be good to stop many times, to get a real feel of a place, meet and get to know the locals, before moving on. It could lead to some unusual experiences. |
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You'll need more than 4 months in that case.
And starting in England with a left-hand drive car is probably not a good idea, since most of the places you would be going through drive on the right.
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hwinpp
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #21 on Feb 23, 2010, 8:03am » | |
But they would end up in a country with the same system, bjd 
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bjd
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #22 on Feb 23, 2010, 8:05am » | |
I thought of that, but can you imagine driving through narrow twisting roads, like in Iran, with the steering wheel on the wrong side?
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hwinpp
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #23 on Feb 23, 2010, 8:10am » | |
True... but they've got time
My concern would be the visa for Iran. I think now certain foreigners only get a 7- day transit visa while others don't. Not sure who gets what though.
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onlymark
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #24 on Feb 23, 2010, 8:11am » | |
hwinpp - never got to Afghanistan. It was too volatile.
The route went from Kerman, Bam, Zahedan in Iran, across the border into Pakistan and through then to Quetta.
bjd - I always did it in a left hand drive and had fewer problems than expected.
I'm also curious as to the mention of the roads in Iran. I didn't encounter small twisty roads and found that they were very good in condition and the main routes were large and easy to navigate.
But as you say, more than 4 months would be best. I used to do London - Kathmandu in 13 weeks.
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onlymark
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #25 on Feb 23, 2010, 8:13am » | |
Feb 23, 2010, 8:10am, hwinpp wrote:
My concern would be the visa for Iran. I think now certain foreigners only get a 7- day transit visa while others don't. Not sure who gets what though. |
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This transit visa was easy enough at the time to get it extended in Tehran, Shiraz and Esfahan.
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bjd
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #26 on Feb 23, 2010, 8:16am » | |
onlyMark -- I'm out of date -- I have only seen pictures of the mountain roads in the north of Iran, but they were probably taken a long time ago.
Have you read Rory MacLean's Magic Bus about the London-India trips of the 1960s/70s?
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kerouac2
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #27 on Feb 23, 2010, 8:30am » | |
They tried to revive the Magic Bus a few years ago (with the appropriate new modifications of the itinerary), and I remember that they were booked solid for the first two or three trips, but I think something must have happened on one of the first trips that made them realize that the revival was premature.
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onlymark
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| | Re: Road trip - UK to India
« Reply #28 on Feb 23, 2010, 9:20am » | |
I've not read that, no.
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spindrift
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Kind of like the Orient Express, but one that goes much further. And rthe waiters would all have to be tall, dark and handsome 
