more-in While flying away to an exotic faraway land is an easy convenience that is specific to our era, there is a sense of palpable excitement in land travel. Putting your trust and confidence in a machine and setting off across continents is giving in to a raw and unadulterated wanderlust of the most basic kind. Truly, the saying that the journey is the destination takes on a stark and clear meaning when you do a long road trip through foreign lands. These are the new-age travellers looking for drives where the getting there takes more time and is more enjoyable than the actual destination. In fact, for this new breed of travellers, the holiday is the journey. While setting off on a road trip in India has its own charms, since our country is so varied and wide, there is another charm altogether in driving across international borders, getting that not-so-common land entry or exit immigration stamp on your passport and exploring a foreign land, at your own pace, from behind the wheel. For many years, the furthest extent of a foreign road trip was either Bhutan or Nepal, and here, being an Indian citizen, you really didn’t need a visa or even a passport. The road to Europe, along which the hippies travelled to India in the Sixties and Seventies via Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan or Pakistan, is unfortunately not an option for Indians, due to the political situation there. Bridge across cultures But recently, with the requisite visas and carnet de passage for your motorcycle or motorcar, it has become possible to drive into Burma (or Myanmar to be politically correct). About 110km South-east of Imphal, the capital of Manipur, is the little nondescript town of Moreh, and on the outskirts of this town is a little bridge across a ravine. It is an ordinary metal girder bridge like the thousands peppered across India. But this one is special because it is the road trip enthusiast’s gateway to the world. When you get onto the bridge you are in India, but when you get off it you are in Burma. When the possibility of driving from India into Burma became a reality, social media clamoured with clarion calls calling buddies to start packing for a road trip to Bangkok. But why restrict yourself to Burma or the road to Bangkok? With this land border now open for private vehicles, you can set your eyes on continental Europe and actually drive there. Yes, you can now travel from your home in Chennai to the Eiffel Tower, the Big Ben, the Vatican or the Swiss Alps without taking a single ferry. Choose your route Of course, it still involves looms of red tape and logistics, and at least three or four months of preparation for permissions and visas, but the great overland journey from India to Asia is a very possible and attainable dream. Companies like MotoRover, Mahindra Adventure and MotoMonks that specialise in unique and experiential road trips are at hand to sort out all logistics, carnets and relevant documents. Then you have a choice of routes: you certainly have to go through China because of where it is placed geographically, but after that you can either drive through Mongolia, Russia and Belarus and enter the European Union through Poland or even drive through Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia to enter the European Union through Estonia or Latvia. More than a holiday, this is an expedition of a lifetime and it requires detailed preparation — financial, mental and physical. This kind of trip calls for long hours on the road, the ability to take delays and unforeseen events in your stride, the patience to deal with sometimes bull-headed officials, especially at border crossings and the ability to get yourself understood in a country where no one speaks your language. The open road It is advisable to start driving in India and finish in Europe and ship your car or motorcycle back. The roads and the scenery keep getting better and shipping delays to get your car back home will not affect your travel plans. Be prepared for long hours on the road, squabbles with fellow travellers and simple repairs like changing of hoses or repairing a puncture. Give yourself enough time. Two months is good for the drive from India to Europe as it gives you ample time and lets you set an easy pace. If you’re worried about going on a road trip that long, first do a little road trip in Burma, exploring Mandalay and Bagan. You can also check out the automobile tours that MotoRover has on offer in unique countries like the Baltic States and Kyrgyzstan. Name of the game When there are miles to drive through, games can help pass time. The most common ones played on road trips are 20 Questions, Car numberplate and I Spy. Rishad Saam Mehta is the author of Fast Cars and Fidgety Feet. He has driven from Guwahati to Singapore and from Munich to Mumbai and vouches that it is more fun than taking a flight.

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