From a summary in Descent #208 of a talk at the 2008 national British
caving conference:
In 1970 an intrepid group of British cavers set forth for India in an
old double-decker bus that had been purchased very cheaply then
modified to produce a mobile caving-base-cum-motorhome.
Things grew interesting as the team tried to cross the border into
Germany, when it became evident that they had exceeded the road's
height restriction. Over the next couple of days they manually sliced
the roof off the top deck and re-attached it, making the bus less than
the maximum height. With police approval, they continued on their way
until the road went through an arch under an ancient city wall, and
here it was obvious they would become stuck. The police were very
helpful though, halting all the traffic and directing the bus onto the
wrong side of the road to go through a separate and slightly higher
arch.
With numerous other incidents, the expedition proceeded across Persia
and into Afghanistan, only to meet an even lower bridge where, after
much deliberation, the tyres were lowered to a few psi and they crept
forward, just making it through. Handily, they had come equipped for
diving and the cylinders enabled them to reinflate the tyres.
Eventually, after a journey of 5,189 miles that took 48 days and used
85 gallons (390 litres) of diesel, the group reached the end of the
road at Arki in the Himachal Pradesh. The team set off on foot,
heading for a range of mountains that they had been advised would make
a good objective. Visible in the distance the peaks certainly looked
impressive, but after two days' walking they appeared no nearer, so
our band of cavers turned back.
After staying in the area for around ten weeks and finding about
fifteen caves of varying lengths and depths, the journey home began.
Winter had by now set in and they were not equipped with snow chains -
their and the bus's survival appeared distinctly unlikely as they
slithered their way over high mountain passes on icy dirt tracks for
which a British double-decker was never designed. In the end, however,
the engine block fractured in the cold and the bus had to be abandoned
for the train.
(I don't believe the implied 61 mpg. There must be an error there
somewhere.) -- Mixon
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He who renders warfare fatal to all engaged in it will be the greatest
benefactor the world has yet known. - Sir Richard Burton
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