Delhi to Paris by road

[theMAG]

If you're willing to stick your neck out, as an Indian, in the Taliban ruled areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, then the remaining journey seems doable. This is, of course, presuming our friendly neighbor would issue permits/visa for Indians to traverse their country.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by theMAG

This is, of course, presuming our friendly neighbor would issue permits/visa for Indians to traverse their country.

The only thing permanent is that, our freindly neighbours DON'T

[anurag_p80]

How about through China? Is it at all possible? Does China alllow Indian registered vehicles through?

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by anurag_p80

How about through China? Is it at all possible? Does China alllow Indian registered vehicles through?

Road link to China is via Nepal (the Kailash Manasarovar link), and visas have been given in the past to Indian motorists, but they are quite rare. In fact, we almost got it last summer till the Olympic Flame protests led to havoc in Tibet. But I do know that China is not giving driving visas via India's own Nathu La in Sikkhim.

[ram.west]

you guys are crazy !!! and am glad that I'm mad as you folks!!!! Would love to be part of this epic trip !!
@hvk: I must say you are very good planner and you've done so much research on the trip!!! I'm still to come out of your GQ drive experience itself!!

[pjay_in]

A former colleague of mine in Chennai had told me once that she, as a kid, had gone on similar trips with family, traveling all the way to western Europe by road. Not in a car, but in a caravan!

Her father was a man permanently bitten by the travel bug and (so with permanent wanderlust) he used to go to great extents of effort and pain to get all the paperwork and approvals in place before embarking on each journey. She was part of the group that included her family, who travelled to Europe (not sure if it was just once or more than once) in a caravan. They carried essential food supplies and cooking utensils. The villagers in all countries en route invariably were nice, warm and hospitable, and they had no shortage of food (most of it free!) anywhere oon the way.

And yes their journey took them to France among other places, as I remember her telling me that they had gone to watch Moulin Rouge in Paris on one of those trips.

I don't know when this happened, must have been about 35-40 years back.

[mmmjgm]

This is my favourite travelogue topic, I keep reading new stories about this transcontinental journey on Horizons Unlimited - THE Motorcycle Travel site. The forum is lively and has exploits of people who have done West Europe to the Indian subcontinent.

However cheaper option is shipping your container (containing the car/s) to Izmir/Istanbul and then continuing the journey from there. Cheaper than flying the car down there which would cost you almost 10x the shipping costs.

We are talking lakhs (Rs. 300 per kg air freight++) as compared to couple of tens of thousands in a ship (20 tonnes).

Well if you go through a shipping company (will love to do this for you) you can also travel on the ship as a passenger accompanying your vehicles.

I would love to join HVK, Ramkya, dates and times please.

China route from India/other countries. Other travellers travelling through China have found it very very difficult, why ? The Chinese government insists that an escort accompany you and the costs (per day costs) applicable to the escort ( a military person) be borne by the traveller. This makes it a very expensive proposition, many westerners would have loved to continue their journey starting from London to Shanghai or upto Vladivostok. (Coast to Coast of both Europe and Eurasia), however China with its weird & completely discouraging overland travel policy makes it near suicide to spend the kind of money needed to travel China overland.

Better done via Russia (trans siberian route).

Cheers
M

[mmmjgm]

The route via Dubai requires crossing the fringes of Rub Al Khali of Saudi Arabia or the empty quarter, there's nothing there. Simply put basic essentials are hard to find. Again north Saudi Arabia the road to Jordan is also sparsely equipped with basic facilities.

Second, this will involve either transiting through Iraq - problematic area.
Or transiting through Jordan -> Syria to move north into Turkey. Donno if there are good roads away from Lebanon/Israel (as usual Palestinian conflict).

Transiting through Pakistan - Well the bane of contention of the Kashmir problem is that both China & Pakistan want the Karakoram Highway (its the only road link between the Subcontinent and Eurasia). It's risky as hell plus the bureaucratic hell of Chinese escort per vehicle while driving overland in China.

The company I used to work for earlier bring in four shiploads of raw material from Turkey every year. The stevedores are well known and can wangle a journey for vehicles/men. The ship is generally a nice one. This is a non containerised option where the vehicle will be kept in the ships hold.

Naturally a carnet is required for the vehicles (car visa to avoid paying duties at each border).

I'd rather take 90 days than a whirlwind 40 days. 40 days is too little, we had done a 21 day West Europe tour and we hardly saw anything anywhere. This was by road.

[Sam Kapasi]

You guys are loco. Adventurous, courageous and all that. But still loco.

[SS-Traveller]

Delhi-London/London-Delhi is a very do-able trip for an European/non-Indian. Done the research myself too sometime ago, and fully agree with hvkumar about Pakistan and Afghanistan being off-limits for us Indians. Travelling through Turkey is also a tough call; getting permits to drive are supposed to be a nightmare.

Also, exporting a car from India is expensive. A deposit of twice the new purchase value of the car has to be made with the government as surety that the car will be brought back into India again. For getting the money (or forgetting the money?), your guess is as good as mine about the "when".

It's easier to become a British/French national, buy a UK/FR reg car, and then drive it to India and back.

Other people are also planning similar trips all the time. Read London to Delhi by Road in April 2010 ... - Thorn Tree Travel Forum - Lonely Planet and Pakistan: Delhi to London through Pakistan, thorn tree, guerba.

[mmmjgm]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Delhi-London/London-Delhi is a very do-able trip for an European/non-Indian. Done the research myself too sometime ago, and fully agree with hvkumar about Pakistan and Afghanistan being off-limits for us Indians. Travelling through Turkey is also a tough call; getting permits to drive are supposed to be a nightmare.

Also, exporting a car from India is expensive. A deposit of twice the new purchase value of the car has to be made with the government as surety that the car will be brought back into India again. For getting the money (or forgetting the money?), your guess is as good as mine about the "when".

It's easier to become a British/French national, buy a UK/FR reg car, and then drive it to India and back.

Other people are also planning similar trips all the time. Read London to Delhi by Road in April 2010 ... - Thorn Tree Travel Forum - Lonely Planet and Pakistan: Delhi to London through Pakistan, thorn tree, guerba.

Far cheaper to do it in a rental car, I am sure who ever had done the GQ6D trip have the credentials to get a visa, FYI - If you get a EU Visa, you can travel to most of the countries in the EU. (One visa regime).

Regards
M

[hvkumar]

You can always take the Dragoman bus tour from Europe to India - saves the bother of driving, shipping and getting permits.

I think the Garnet de Passage which is required for the car has to be collaterlaised by bank guarantees for 2-3 times the value of the car.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

You guys are loco. Adventurous, courageous and all that. But still loco.

Had to look up that word

Here is the meaning of loco (slang)

Latino slang for loco (crazy). Often used as a term of endearment like holmes' or fool' or the n word. "Wat up loc; you rollin' wit us or what?"

The Source: Slang Dictionary

loco - definition of loco by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

You guys are loco. Adventurous, courageous and all that. But still loco.

Normally its the Loco's only who makes history
I always imagined if something like this is possible. Seem it is possible(Along with fair share of hurdles but thats life)
Wish i had 40 days to spare let alone 90 days to involve in such a trip

[f1fan]

When I showed my wife the GQ drive thread that HVK and team had done, she termed me as crazy
I dont know what will happen when she sees this thread