Three best friends drive 1,700 miles through India in a rickshaw after 11,800-mile journey from Scotland to Iran

Three intrepid best mates on a “most inconvenient” adventure have driven more than 11,800 miles from Scotland to Iran in a tiny car with no air conditioning – and completed a 1,700-mile journey through India in a rickshaw described as a “lawnmower on wheels”.

Armed with just a GPS, three sleeping bags and seven pairs of boxers each, Daniel Patton, 22, and his best friends Joe Fisher and Callum Kitson, both 23, originally mapped out an epic journey spanning 20 countries, from Duncansby Head lighthouse in north-east Scotland to Kanyakumari, in the very south of India.

They planned to avoid air travel and complete it in a 1999 blue Mazda they bought for just £1,050.

But the Kiwis Don’t Fly rally team had their plans dashed after more than two months on the road, when devastating floods in Pakistan meant they could drive no further than neighbouring Iran.

Thinking again, the men, who were all born in England before moving with their families to Auckland, New Zealand, as children, doubled back to Turkey, parked their Mazda in the car park at Istanbul airport, and flew to Kochi in southern India on September 8.

They then spent two gruelling weeks trundling north through India on an epic second rally in a 12-year-old rickshaw powered by the motor of a lawnmower, and arrived in Jaisalmer on September 25.

Business graduate Daniel, who was born in Bristol and lives in Auckland, said: “This has been the experience of a lifetime, we have learned about cultures we would have never known about.

“It’s certainly been inconvenient. We had breakdowns, we had long waits at borders, and then the floods in Pakistan made us change our plans.

“But it’s been a massive adventure and we’ve seen a side of these countries you wouldn’t see on the tourist trail.”

The friends, who met aged 15 at secondary school and then went to the same university together, set off from Scotland on July 11, hoping to rally all the way to southern India in their humble car.

Their adventure came to an abrupt end on August 30, when they arrived at the city of Shiraz in Iran and, following the news of the devastating floods in Pakistan, realised they would not be able to drive to India as they had planned.

Despite the setback, the adventurers were invited by The Adventurist, who call themselves the “planet’s greatest purveyor of chaos and adventure”, to India, where they organised a 1,700-mile rally in a 55 horsepower rickshaw.

Daniel said: “When we got to Iran, we realised that we wouldn’t be able to travel through Pakistan to India because of the devastating floods.

“When you travel the way we have, you become really immersed in the local communities, and seeing what was happening in Pakistan was truly heartbreaking.”

They set off in their rickshaw from Kochi on September 11, and reached Jaisalmer, in northern India, by September 25.

The friends added: “It’s an amazing way to see India and we’re so glad we did it.

“We were constantly bouncing around, it was like a rollercoaster, and somehow even more ridiculous than the Mazda.”

Daniel, Joe, an English teacher born in Croydon, south London, and Callum, a law student born in Poole, Dorset, who both live in Auckland, had decided during lockdown to go on a “slightly stupid” adventure in an ageing motor.

Daniel said before setting off in the Mazda: “We just wanted to do something completely crazy and we wanted to do something beyond just backpacking around Europe. It’s slightly stupid but something we will always remember.”

They bought the Mazda in June 2022 from a car dealership in Leeds, West Yorkshire, after deciding it was “completely unsuitable and perfect”, and budgeted to spend roughly £18,000 over the duration of the trip for the car, fuel, food, accommodation, visas and repairs.

And more than two and a half months later, they have clocked up more than 11,800 miles on the road and travelled through 19 countries – the UK, France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran and finally India.

Incredibly, their Mazda survived sweltering temperatures in the desert in Iran as well as gruelling mountain roads up nearly 5,000m in Mount Kazbegi, a dormant volcano in Georgia.

Daniel said: “We were very surprised by how well the car worked. From high altitudes to deserts in Iran.

“It’s a 1999 Mazda which was past its expiry date but it was just brilliant.

“Having no air-conditioning in Iran was definitely an experience, but it was better than we could have ever hoped for.

“We wanted to do a ridiculous challenge and it was, but it’s been amazing.”

Daniel and his pals had to dig deep into their savings to fund the trip, which will have cost them around £18,000 – which includes roughly £2,500 for fuel, £2,600 on food, £800 on car servicing, £780 on visas, and £4,000 spending money to cover laundry, data and, most importantly, fun and beer.

They saved most on accommodation, as they slept beneath the stars in sleeping bags on any soft patch of land they could find near their parked car.

For Daniel, the highlight of the trip so far was traversing the treacherous “death road” in north-east Turkey, dubbed the world’s most dangerous road, which spans roughly 111 miles from the Black Sea to Askale in eastern Turkey.

“It was just fantastic, a road just made of gravel, it was extreme and not something you should be driving an old Mazda on. But that’s exactly why we took on this challenge,” he said.

“It was nothing like driving on the M5, and the views were just breath-taking.”

When their plans to drive through Pakistan were dashed, they decided to spend three weeks touring around Iran, which Callum said was the friendliest country they had been in.

He said: “Meeting people in Iran and Turkey was the highlight for me. Everyone was so hospitable, and we got invited to have tea from strangers.

“People wanted to show us their cities. It was really quite eye-opening.”

Joe, who quit his job as an English teacher to join the trip, loved seeing the hot air balloons in Cappadocia, Turkey.

He added: “We woke up at around 4am to see it, but it was just spectacular. It’s really surreal to see hundreds and hundreds of hot air balloons floating through this beautiful backdrop.

“It’s something you almost need to see to believe.”

The Kiwis Don’t Fly rally team have also been fundraising for the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, and hope to continue to raise awareness for that cause as well as the victims of the Pakistan floods.

They said: “When you see the world this way, you can’t help but feel connected with everyone. We hope to continue to raise money and awareness, because what is happening in Ukraine and in Pakistan is just devastating.”

You can follow their adventures on Instagram and TikTok at @kiwisdontfly and support their fundraiser here: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kiwis-dont-fly