An Indian-origin British citizen has driven his SUV 18,300 km across 16 nations to meet his mother in India. Virajit Mungale, a resident of London, drove his 25-year-old Toyota Land Cruiser Prado for 59 days to meet his month in Thane. He started driving on April 20 and reached his mother’s home on June 17.
Second Generation Toyota Land Cruiser Prado Driven Driven on the Silk Route
It’s not like Virajit has met his mother for the first time in many years. He frequently flies from London to Mumbai to visit her. However, instead of taking a flight, this time around, he thought of driving his trusty Toyota SUV to reach India. He drove through a handful of countries, including France, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Uzbekistan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tibet and Nepal. The inspiration behind his epic drive comes from the Silk Route. Hence, he planned his entire journey along pretty much the same route. Before embarking on the drive, he even tried contacting a family who has often driven across many countries. However, he couldn’t establish contact with them.
Nevertheless, he didn’t let go of the idea and planned the entire trip on his own. “I drove approximately 400-600 km per day, occasionally pushing up to 1,000 km, always prioritizing safety by avoiding night driving,” Mungale told the Indian media. He even talked about his entire experience. Initially, on listening to his plan, his wife took it lightly and thought of it as a joke. Later, though, on realizing the seriousness of her husband, she supported him wholeheartedly and assisted him with carrying out the plan. Virajit first planned to drive his Land Cruiser Prado from London to Thane many years ago but his plan got delayed owing to the COVID-19 outbreak.
As per Virajit, starting from London, he clocked up to 600 kilometers per day. On select days, he drove even 1000 kilometers. But he always avoided driving after sunset. While he did carry out the routine maintenance on his second-generation Toyota Land Cruiser Prado before starting the journey, he didn’t carry out any special modifications. The SUV even faced some issues in Poland but the same got fixed and the rest of the journey passed trouble-free. He even says that his British passport helped him enter all countries without any hassle. The British national now plans to fly back to London and ship his SUV back home.
Our View
While such inter-continental travel is increasingly becoming common, what makes Virajit’s trip all the more special is his second-gen Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. The fact that this approximately 25-year-old SUV could cover such a large distance with no major issues speaks volume of the reliability of Toyota SUVs. It even shows how careful planning can help one undertake such long journeys in his or her car.
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