The first UK-India bus service was The Indiaman, run by Garrow-Fisher Tours, based in London. This left Victoria Coach Station on 15 April 1957 and returned after a journey to Calcutta on 2 August. The journey, which was covered by The New York Times, was eventful with driver Oswald-Joseph Garrow-Fisher recalling the road passing over high cliffs near Mount Ararat Turkey-Soviet Union border, soft verges in India, and needing to use planks under the wheels to escape the desert sand in Iran. On the return leg the 1957-1958 influenza pandemic forced the closure of the Pakistan-Iran border. The tour diverted from the border to the city of Karachi, intending to find passage on a ship, but upon reaching the port they learned the land border had reopened and so returned that way, a diversion of some . The British embassy in Tehran had heard a rumour that the passengers had been murdered en route and were so relieved when they arrived unharmed that they hosted a cocktail party in their honour.