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From London to Udaipur by public transport

An Udaipur lad has returned home from London by only using public transport, a journey across half the world in 40 days.

Drupad Mistry travelled 21,500 km, traversing through 12 countries and 8 time zones.

He took 12 trains, 35 bus rides, local shuttles, taxis, cycle and bike rides, and even camels to reach India.

Mistry (32), a design consultant in the UK, quit his job in May to return home for a new assignment, but in an adventurous way. A classical musician, Mistry learnt to play the sarod from his father. “Design solutions get better as we understand more about people, the world. Sometimes it’s the small things in cities or the rural countryside that gives us big ideas and new approaches to problem-solving,” Mistry told DH.

But he was not alone in the journey. Mistry’s friends Raul and Venetia Grace accompanied him. While Raul - an IT professional from Spain and also a classical music enthusiast - completed the trip, Venetia - a development trainer - travelled only till Mongolia.

The design consultant called it a musical journey. He even carried a Persian instrument, Sehtaar, along with his backpack.

“The idea was to observe music through different cultures. I happened to witness amazing Mongolian music and instrument shopping in Beijing was memorable. We would chat with locals and sing with them,” said Mistry.

During his journey, besides making friends in different countries, he also enjoyed eating vegetarian food.

"Being a strict vegetarian, my friends would warn me not to make this trip. But interestingly I crossed half of the world and just ate good vegetarian food," he said.

From the 40 adventurous days, he spent around 15 days in Russia and recalls his journey from Moscow to Siberia.

"It was amazing as I took the train from Moscow to Siberia and I crossed five time zones in just four nights. Another thrilling experience was spending a night with Mongolian nomads and taking camel ride from one camp to another," he said. Mistry said that most of his journey was smooth, except at the Mongolia-China border, whether he was stopped and questioned by the Chinese authorities. Schengan visa holder, Mistry, who returned to Udaipur two months ago, faced least travel hassles and has 12 immigration stamps on his passport out of a single trip from the UK to India. The total travel expense was around 3000 pound, approximately Rs 2,60,576