The photos on this website follow the overland journey of two friends from Cheltenham, England: Henry Lockett and Rupert Alcock. Listless from work one evening in August 2006 we conceived the idea to buy a van and drive it to India. Initial research established that this was possible and that other people seemed to be doing it without dying.
After three months of part-time van hunting we found our vehicle: a well-kept 1999 VW Transporter 1.9Tdi, blue like the sky. With room for a large bed in the back and not much more, it was big enough for our needs. After another three months of intermittently preparing ourselves and the van, obtaining the notorious (and obligatory) Carnet de Passage and marking out a preliminary route through Europe, we were on our way to Folkestone and France.
One year later we find ourselves in Kathmandu, Nepal, contemplating the long drive home. Our journey has been unhurried and comprehensive; the aim has been not just to drive to India, but to investigate, photograph and experience each country we’d travel through to get there. We spent six months in Europe following a convoluted route through the south-eastern countries, a venture that was economically viable thanks only to the free nightly accommodation that the van afforded. This was followed by a month in Turkey, six weeks in Iran, a month in Pakistan and three months in India. Visiting Nepal has been an unexpected bonus.
This website was created to share some of our photos with family and friends and with anyone we met along the way who would be interested in our progress. We hope that the images do justice to the beauty of some of the places we’ve seen and the people we’ve met.
For anyone planning a similar trip please feel free to contact us at wearehere(at)x86.co.uk with questions or queries. Since the first day of planning we’ve found that first hand information is far more valuable than any guide book or travel agent blurb.
For the dal recipe, look here