By Kavita Mistry 
When asked which was the best sight as they drove from Dublin, Ireland, to Palakkad, Kerala, friends Sreenand Kandath and Nihal Ahamed say, “It was in Tibet — pure white, pristine snow — one of the most spellbinding sights of our lives. This was the best part of our road trip. Having lived in Europe, we have seen plenty of snow: in Germany, Switzerland and other parts. But this was unlike anything we had ever seen. It was as white as snow can be!”
The childhood friends, based in Europe (Nihal is based in Frankfurt and Sreenand in Dublin), set off on a road trip from Dublin, on August 14, to their hometown. They reached Palakkad on October 12. The 24,000-odd (using around 2800 litres of fuel) kilometre journey in a Land Rover had them drive through 15 countries, including Russia, China, Tibet and Nepal over a period of almost two months (59 days). The entire journey was via road, except when Nihal took the ferry, with the car, from Germany to Ireland.
The Stone Road in Turkey
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“We had been planning this trip for the past two years, and seriously got down to it recently when we got ourselves the car for the trip,” says Nihal, adding that they had to make some modifications to it for the journey. “This took around six months because neither of us had prior knowledge about modifying cars to accommodate a camping kind of set up. And it is not easy in Germany. You need certifications and approvals,” he adds.
Also, in order to add meaning to the trip, they raised funds (before the trip) for the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation, which works with children in need across Ireland. “Related to the trip, we raised funds from friends and colleagues, which we donated to the foundation. “
Curiosity-driven road-trip
The reason for this trip is simple, they say, it was curiosity if they could do it and how they would. While Nihal is a finance professional, Sreenand works in the IT industry. This was not the first time the friends had hit the road, but their earlier routes were mostly in Europe. For instance, last December, they drove to Finland from Frankfurt to see the Northern Lights.
Camping at caravan sites at night, rustling up their meals, sometimes sampling the local cuisine, taking in the sights and enjoying the drive… The friends visited local tourist spots in some of the countries they drove through. “One of our friends from London joined us in Turkey, and we went to Cappadocia, instead of the hot air balloons we drove through the Stone Road, supposed to be among the oldest and most dangerous roads in the world,” says Nihal.
The car after a drive through Nagqu, China
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The journey through Europe was largely uneventful, with them taking breaks to stay at caravan sites, which they booked in advance. They did not always camp in their car, for instance in China they stayed at a hotel with oxygenated rooms because, “as everyone knows, air is thinner at high altitudes and breathing becomes difficult. We were more than 15,000-odd feet above sea level,” Sreenand says. They had planned their journey in such a way that they had catered for supplies to last them till they got home.
Onasady in Tbilisi
That is not to say that the trip was without its challenges, like when they reached the Russia-Kazakhstan border to exit the country. “We entered Russia using an e-visa, which everybody does. Nobody said anything as we drove through Russia and reached the border to exit. We were told the e-visa wouldn’t work because that was for air-travel. An option, which they suggested, was fly back to India. We opted for a 14 hour drive back to Georgia and got the transit visa. We stayed a week, got it done and came the same way back, a 14 hour drive through Russia, into Kazakhstan,” they say. Incidentally, they celebrated Onam in Georgia where they treated themselves to a full fledged sadya! Driving through Russia felt like they were in another time because there was barely any Internet connectivity and everything was slow.
They encountered some of the best roads in China, where “roads and bridges are built on the most unexpected terrain and they are so good!” says Nihal. “We got to drive on several stretches of the Chinese National Highway 318, also known as Route 318 or G318. This road was once hailed as the most scenic and spectacular in the country,” adds Sreenand.
Route G 318 in China
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The worst stretch ironically was also in China, from Golmud to Tibet, a distance of 800 kilometres over 23 hours spread over two days. “Our black car turned brown on that leg of the journey! It had a coat of dirt on it.” The only car trouble they had was on that stretch when the alternator packed up. On the China-Nepal route, they encountered something they feared might put a spanner in their plans. Landslides had blocked traffic on the route, and they had to halt for a day to wait for the roads to be cleared.
Beautiful people
It was not all driving and roads for the duo, they had some interesting interactions with people they encountered. “We did not have a single bad experience with the people we met in these countries. When we were driving through Russia in our car with German plates there was some skepticism, but the minute the guards saw that we had Indian passports they started talking about Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan. And in China, the people we interacted with were extremely curious about our beards as most of the men don’t have these. Some even touched our beards!” says Nihal. While driving through Tibet they met Buddhist monks and saw yaks. They entered India in Bihar, from the Nepal border.
Nihal and Sreenand say they thoroughly enjoyed this experience. “We will definitely do something similar again but we don’t know when and how or the scale of it. But we will!” they say as they sign off. They are not driving back, the car will be shipped to Germany.
(As told to Shilpa Nair Anand)