[ZeroConcerns]

Well, these days you can catch a Flixbus from London to Sofia for a mere 150 Europounds, and 48 hours of your time. And from there, Calcutta can't be that far, right?

(But, seriously, you can probably do it in another 48 hours...)

[reaperducer]

You just need a nuclear-powered Big Bus.

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w1066_and_h600_bestv2/l5n4h4gmRtj...

https://imcdb.org/i065460.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bus

"Cyclops has a passenger capacity of 110 and is equipped with a bowling alley, Asian-style cocktail lounge with a piano bar, swimming pool, Bicentennial dining room, private marble-and-gold bathroom with sunken tub, and chef's kitchen."

[dhosek]

This was the first thing I thought of when I read the article. I remember making my own nuclear-powered big bus out of legos after watching that movie.

[ZeroConcerns]

> You just need a nuclear-powered Big Bus

Ah, so there is a chance!

[leopoldj]

From Sofia to the West of Turkey should be relatively easy. After that, travel through Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan will get hairy.

[ZeroConcerns]

You'd be surprised at how cheap, relatively safe and reliable bus services are in those regions.

Source: me and my wife traveled extensively by public transport in, well, at least Pakistan. The other countries are indeed sort-of hairy, but mostly for job-clearance-related reasons.

[abdullahkhalids]

10s of thousands of religious pilgrims travel by bus between Pakistan and Iran every year. You can just avoid Afghanistan.

[mminer237]

Generally the border between Paxistan and India cannot be crossed though. I believe Attari/Wagah is the only place, and it was closed too last I heard.

[abdullahkhalids]

Indeed, it has been closed since the aerial clashes last year. But we can hope for peace, and with it cross border tourism.

[selimthegrim]

Can locals still cross at Kasur/Ganda Singh Wala like before 1971?

[abdullahkhalids]

To my knowledge, no. In the recent past, either you could cross via the the Wagah-Attari border crossing or get on the Thar Express train [1], which connects Karachi with Jodhpur via the Zero Point crossing. But the Thar Express has been closed since 2019.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thar_Express

[staplar]

They should avoid Pakistan if they can, not Afghanistan. It’s in relative peace while the border region of Iran/Pakistan see regular fighting between Pakistani forces and Baluch separatists[1].

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balochistan_Liberation_Army

[nephihaha]

There were some bad roads in the Balkans as well.

[port3000]

My Google Maps algo will be massively confused by my 'Directions' search: Sofia, Bulgaria to Kolkata, India on a Friday afternoon in January

[crossroadsguy]

It gives up. Besides these days it’s Kolkata.