Four continents in 300 days, duo takes off on dream trip

MUMBAI: When two friends—businessman Praveen Mehta and homeopathic doctor-turned-photographer Dr Sudhir Baldota—from Mumbai revved up their shinning SUV on Monday, they might as well have put themselves on the highway to a record book. For, while long distance travel by cars is certainly not unique, it will be a feat of sorts when they have completed the world tour by covering 70,000 km in 300 days (10 months), driving through four continents of Asia, Europe, South and North America.
The tour is themed around ‘celebrate life, connect the world and aspire for peace’. “We are not self-appointed angels. We are humans driven by a desire to see the world and celebrate life,” said 50-year-old Mehta, a college dropout who claims he missed his final exam for an engineering degree because he went to watch a Hindi film.

Hindi films in fact seem to have fuelled their dreams. Baldota who gave up homeopathic practice to follow his passion—photography—a couple of years ago said ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ inspired him. “We have one life. If seeing a major part of the world by car was our dream, it had to be fulfilled,” explained Baldota.

Having arranged adequate funds and an SUV and undergone training to fix the vehicle if it breaks down or develops minor snags, Mehta and Baldota had to negotiate with different countries for visas and permissions to drive, especially in countries where right hand driving is an exception than a rule.

Driving to the Indian border in the North East, they will enter Bhutan and move on to Burma and other countries before they enter Europe.

On the cards is meeting interesting people, including a Cambodian Akira who defuses landmines. “Such tours build goodwill and promote peace,” said Anand Gupta, president, Rotary Club of Bombay West (Santacruz) which is supporting the tour.