A 4x4 vehicle expedition team of 45 adventurers is arriving Kathmandu on May 10, 2002 from Kuala Lumpur to get India through Nepal, according to a press release issued by Nepal Tourism Board here today.

The team equipped with 15 units of heavily modified four wheelers are to take on the journey of 12,000 kilometres passing through the challenging and fabled Himalayas in Tibet and Nepal on the way to India.

The adventure will take the route through Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Vientiane, Kun Ming, Lhasa, Kathmandu, New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai and that would take them 36 days, says the release. The mission will take a stopover at Kathmandu for two days and an overnight stay at Chitwan and visit Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha on their way to India.

The members of the expedition includes journalists, publicity managers, film producers, photographers and other professionals from varied fields like computer, telecommunications, travel and tourism and so on. Massive publicity of the destination coverage is expected by international TV, radio, Internet, press coverage and also through three-part documentary series. The expedition is estimated to generate publicity worth millions of dollars for the sponsors.

Persatuan Peromotoran Malaysia (PPM) Asia, and Offroad Center and Formula Offroad Equipment jointly organised the expedition. The expedition will be supported while in Nepal-by the NTB and is organising an informal interaction of the expedition members with the press and the travel trade on Friday, states the release.