The Baid family from our city travelled across 11 countries and 50 cities in 111 days
Drithi, Punita, Anand and Yash Baid at the Darvaza in Turkmenistan
Ever heard of someone packing their bags and zipping off on a road trip from Bengaluru to Paris? Packed in a Fiat Linea T-Jet, city-based Baid family were on a mission to see the world and they accomplished the impossible – to travel to 11 countries and over 50 cities in 111 days!
“We covered over 6,000 kilometers from Bengaluru to Rajasthan and back in 21 days and I jokingly told my kids that it was a warm-up for a world tour in 2020. That idea of a world tour stuck on and we realised that it was indeed possible to overland into other countries from India,” says Anand Baid, the papa bear of a family that calls itself Team L.I.F.E – Little Indian Family of Explorers.
His wife Punita Baid only thought he was joking and decided to play along. “I didn’t know he would return with a bundle of papers in hand, charting out how it could be done,” exclaims the 37-year-old, who took to the driver’s seat, driving in 10 of the 11 countries they went to. “As much as I love going on long family drives, this for me was unheard of and with kids on-board, you never know what kind of unexpected challenges can occur. But I convinced myself that it was going to be an experience of a life time – especially for the kids,” she says.
Packed into their trusted Fiat Linea T-Jet, the four of them battled hailstorms, earthquakes, deserts, unpaved roads and over 18,000 feet of altitude of the Tibetian terrains to live their dream.
“We traveled through the famous Silk-Route which has been of historical importance for trade and culture for hundreds of years from East to West. Our route plan was India, Nepal, Tibet-China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain and France,” says Anand. The family traveled past the Himalayan mountain range, climbed sand dunes in Western China and witnessed the rich culture and traditions of Uzbekistan. “We also visited the world’s largest burning crater called Darvaza which has been burning for over 40 years now. We swam in the worlds largest land-locked water body, the Caspian Sea in Iran, saw the unique landscapes of Turkey formed by volcanic eruptions and wind-erosions, walked inside the Acropolis of Athens to learn the history of the Trojan War and enjoyed seeing the architectural marvels of Rome that are centuries old – like Leaning Tower of Pisa, Vatican City and Colosseum. We also saw the concepts of Vertical Farming where plants are grown vertically instead of on the ground,” recollects Anand, the founder of Native Puppets Animation – India’s first and only online Animation School. As in the case of any journey, the best moments come with their share of worst too. The family was stuck in Nepal for five days due to the cataclysmic earthquake and was stranded on the Turkey border trying to enter Greece at the height of the economic crisis. “Finding vegetarian food was another challenge. But we would park our car in the middle of nowhere and cook our food.” says Punita.
The kids – 12-year-old Yash and eight-year-old Drithi, both students of the Deens Academy in Whitefield are an excited lot too! “It’s a lot of fun! While on this trip, I would help my father by fuelling the car myself, by feeding coordinates in the GPS, scouting for hotels and washing the car,” says Yash, who can’t stop gushing about his visit to the Camp Nou stadium, Barcelona football team’s home ground. “One minute we would be fighting and the next minute we were best friends,” smiles Dhriti. “Sitting in the backseat, we’d invent our own games to keep ourselves occupied,” she adds. Having scaled the Eiffel Tower, toured the Palace of Versailles and driving on the world’s highest bridge – the Millau Viaduct, the family is now back with happy memories, planning on releasing a series of video documentaries and is soon hoping to embark to the wild, wild West.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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