Visit Sub-Continent by Self-Driven Car

guddu72502 · Oct 30th, 2005, 17:22

Hello everybody.

I like to see the subcontinent and Nepal with my family driving our own car. Can anyone please suggest me the formalities associated to corss a border with my car and drive in another country? I am a Bangladeshi and I want to plan for a trip like Dhaka-Kolkata-Delhi-Jammu-Srinagar and back. On my way back, if possible and practical, I like to enter and visit Nepal, re-enter India and return to Dhaka.

Besides stating the formalities, if anyone has a prior experience of self driving across the sub-continent, please educate me. Thanks in advance.

sezegnin · Oct 30th, 2005, 19:38

Although I recently drove myself around Delhi for a week and enjoyed it very much, my inclination is to say that this is a very, very bad idea. Here are my reasons.

1. I don't know what the border formalities are for taking your car across the border, but as a citizen of Bangladesh my guess is that they would be insuperable. If you were a citizen of say the UK or US I would guess that they would be mind-bogglingly time-consuming but not insuperable. Corrections welcome.

2. If at all you did this trip I would recommend not driving at all in Bihar or eastern UP because of potential problems with bandits, thieves, rioters and other assorted bad guys including people not favourably disposed to Muslims. This is not theoretical. My father did the Calcutta-Delhi drive once and narrowly escaped with his life on a deserted road when some goondas had blocked the road with a tree to rob the occupants of passing cars. He says he had quick reflexes and reversed out. Of course, he may have made this story up under the influence of bhang but I doubt it. Deserted bits of the hills and Maoist areas in Nepal may present similar problems. If you are going to do this, I would drive down to Hyderabad and come back up the other coast.

I know there is a vibrant motorcycle touring culture in India, you might want to look into their resources for more information. See www.60kph.com.

Best of luck anyway.

guddu72502 · Oct 30th, 2005, 20:06

sezegnin,

this is unfortunate in this part of the world. i drove a lot in europe and the states..but wht u r saying, it is horribly thretning!, i know for sure, its possible to enter india with a car from bangladesh but not sure, if a long distance travel is worth or not. hiring a car is a way too expensive in india becuase of a huge deposit pre-requisit before one commences one's journey. any option of low cost self drive, u know?

thanks for your alert, my friend.

sezegnin · Oct 30th, 2005, 20:28

Hertz in Delhi rents Indicas at Rs 1500 per day (perhaps less on a weekly or monthly basis?) and the deposit I was quoted was Rs 7500, which sounded very reasonable. Not sure of the mileage or other terms. See carzonrent.com (the Hertz local partner).

If your goal is to rent a cheap car and drive yourself, you could perhaps rent a car with driver and then persuade the driver to sit in the passenger's seat.

I should stress that my impression of the inadvisibility of driving in places like Bihar doesn't apply to other parts of India. eg. Mysore-Ooty is a good drive, not sure of the state of the road these days.

guddu72502 · Oct 30th, 2005, 21:25

i was unaware of hertz deal -it is definitely reasonable. thts a good piece of information.

would you recommend a self drive (driver beside us -no!) delhi-sringar-pahelgum-gulmerg-sonamerg-srinagar-delhi with a hertz car?

needless to say, i am definitely withdrawing my plan to take my own car and drive through eastern zone and bihar. thanks for your alert, once again.

Oct 30th, 2005, 17:22	#1
guddu72502 Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: bangladesh Posts: 4	Visit Sub-Continent by Self-Driven Car Hello everybody. I like to see the subcontinent and Nepal with my family driving our own car. Can anyone please suggest me the formalities associated to corss a border with my car and drive in another country? I am a Bangladeshi and I want to plan for a trip like Dhaka-Kolkata-Delhi-Jammu-Srinagar and back. On my way back, if possible and practical, I like to enter and visit Nepal, re-enter India and return to Dhaka. Besides stating the formalities, if anyone has a prior experience of self driving across the sub-continent, please educate me. Thanks in advance.

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Oct 30th, 2005, 19:38	#2
sezegnin Account Closed Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Geneva Posts: 82	Although I recently drove myself around Delhi for a week and enjoyed it very much, my inclination is to say that this is a very, very bad idea. Here are my reasons. 1. I don't know what the border formalities are for taking your car across the border, but as a citizen of Bangladesh my guess is that they would be insuperable. If you were a citizen of say the UK or US I would guess that they would be mind-bogglingly time-consuming but not insuperable. Corrections welcome. 2. If at all you did this trip I would recommend not driving at all in Bihar or eastern UP because of potential problems with bandits, thieves, rioters and other assorted bad guys including people not favourably disposed to Muslims. This is not theoretical. My father did the Calcutta-Delhi drive once and narrowly escaped with his life on a deserted road when some goondas had blocked the road with a tree to rob the occupants of passing cars. He says he had quick reflexes and reversed out. Of course, he may have made this story up under the influence of bhang but I doubt it. Deserted bits of the hills and Maoist areas in Nepal may present similar problems. If you are going to do this, I would drive down to Hyderabad and come back up the other coast. I know there is a vibrant motorcycle touring culture in India, you might want to look into their resources for more information. See www.60kph.com. Best of luck anyway.

Oct 30th, 2005, 20:06	#3
guddu72502 Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: bangladesh Posts: 4	sezegnin, this is unfortunate in this part of the world. i drove a lot in europe and the states..but wht u r saying, it is horribly thretning!, i know for sure, its possible to enter india with a car from bangladesh but not sure, if a long distance travel is worth or not. hiring a car is a way too expensive in india becuase of a huge deposit pre-requisit before one commences one's journey. any option of low cost self drive, u know? thanks for your alert, my friend.

Oct 30th, 2005, 20:28	#4
sezegnin Account Closed Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Geneva Posts: 82	Hertz in Delhi rents Indicas at Rs 1500 per day (perhaps less on a weekly or monthly basis?) and the deposit I was quoted was Rs 7500, which sounded very reasonable. Not sure of the mileage or other terms. See carzonrent.com (the Hertz local partner). If your goal is to rent a cheap car and drive yourself, you could perhaps rent a car with driver and then persuade the driver to sit in the passenger's seat. I should stress that my impression of the inadvisibility of driving in places like Bihar doesn't apply to other parts of India. eg. Mysore-Ooty is a good drive, not sure of the state of the road these days.

Oct 30th, 2005, 21:25	#5
guddu72502 Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: bangladesh Posts: 4	i was unaware of hertz deal -it is definitely reasonable. thts a good piece of information. would you recommend a self drive (driver beside us -no!) delhi-sringar-pahelgum-gulmerg-sonamerg-srinagar-delhi with a hertz car? needless to say, i am definitely withdrawing my plan to take my own car and drive through eastern zone and bihar. thanks for your alert, once again.

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