British - India History
Overland to India, a journey of discovery and adventure. There was danger but that made it more inviting.
India has long been associated with England. Many British citizen were born there and spent much of their lives there. Indian food and words have made their way into the British way of life. Is it any surprise that the country holds such a fascination for the British. We have been raised on stories of the,

East India Company,

Indian Mutiny

1947 Partition

A visit by the Beatles to India in the late sixties made it a must visit destination for all England's youth.
Overland to India, what better way to experience the East. The journey was long and not with out its risks, but the adventurous wanted to go, all they needed was an inexpensive option.

The overland was born. Using old buses converted fire trucks and double decker buses, companies were springing up everywhere. The options ranged from the delux tours run by Rotel Tours (Des Rolling Hotel) based in German and Penn Overland from London, down to Magic Bus from Amsterdam which offered a 4 day 24 hours a day trip to Delhi for as little as $45.

I am getting ahead of myself, many of these options came later, in the early days the trip was dominated by much smaller companies like Asian Greyhound based at 15 Kings Road Windsor who ran buses to India under the name Swagman Tours.
An overland journey to India following the India overland trail through Belgium, Germany, Austria Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, & Nepal. Visting sites of Dubrovnic, Split, Kotor, Athens, Kerimoti, Istanbul, Galipolli, Troy, Delphi, Efes, Goreme, Nemrut, Tehran, Esphan, Persepolis, Shiraz, Kerman, Bam, Quetta, Kandahar, Kabul, Bamian Valley, Kyhber Pass, Indus river, Lahore, Punjab, Amritsar, Kashmir, Delhi, Agra, Taj Mahal, Vanaris, Patna, Raj Path, Kathmandu, Himalyas. All this undertaken in a 20 year old Asian Greyhound, Swagman Tours, LS Bristol bus. This Indiaoverland company was held together by Norm Harris an expatriate Aussie living in Windsor. With drivers like Bob Ashford, Geoff Lawrence, Clive Parker, Dave Watt, Ronnie Martin, John Witchard, Ken Mcdonald, Derek Amey & couriers Fred Fisher, Jos Livingstone, Peter Swift, Kieren Smith & mechanics Gordon Hammond, Graham Libby, Pomme John & Rastas just to name a few.