Travelling to another country by road on a luxurious bus, exploring the untold of numerous places is a dream isn't it in today's date. With the COVID-19 pandemic throttling all ideas of travelling, we can only travel from our bedroom to the dining room.
The whole world is travelling and exploring new places virtually, all hail to COVID-19. Will you believe if someone told you, over 60 years back London-Calcutta-London bus tour existed? One can laugh it off, saying how high are you?
Yes, a journey from London to Calcutta (currently known as Kolkata) on a bus actually existed. A black and white picture went viral on the internet and netizens are amazed.
Kolkata Bus-o-Pedia shared the hidden gem on Facebook, they shared the picture with information about the service offered during the journey.
The picture shows passenger at the Victoria Coach Station, London boarding 'Albert', right before its first run from London to Kolkata in April 1957. The journey took five days and a single fare was 85 pounds (Rs 8,019 in present days). Pretty expensive back in those days.
The route followed by the Albert Travel bus was - England, Belgium, West Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, West Pakistan and India. In India, tourists and shopping attractions were New Delhi to Agra, Allahabad, Banaras and finally, Calcutta.
A brochure of the bus itinerary has surfaced too. The lavish bus provided facilities of reading/dining saloon, individual sleeping bunks, radio/taped music for parties and pleasure and fan heaters, among other things. The brochure reads, "Your complete home while you travel."
During British rule, Kolkata and London were the two most important cities in the British Empire. Now you know how the travellers used to travel.
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