Bareilly: In a story that seems straight out of a travel adventure flick, two French tourists cycling from Delhi to Kathmandu lost their way after relying on Google Maps and ended up reaching Churaili Dam in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly.
French citizens Brian Jacques Gilbert and Sebastian Francois Gabriel had come to Delhi from France by flight on January 7. They had left the national capital a few days ago, and planned to reach Kathmandu in Nepal via Tanakpur from Pilibhit.
The two foreigners, however, lost their way after being waylaid by Google Maps during the night. They were spotted by some villagers near Churaili Dam on Thursday night. The villagers tried to talk to them but could not understand their language, following which they alerted the police.
Police officials reached the spot and took the duo to Churaili police outpost. The French cyclists were then lodged at the village Pradhan's house for the night and sent on their way on Friday with route instructions.
Baheri Circle Officer Arun Kumar Singh, as per PTI, said both foreigners were waylaid by Google Maps in the dark. "The app showed them a shortcut via Baheri in Bareilly, due to which they got lost and reached Churaili Dam," the CO said.
"When the villagers saw both the foreigners roaming on bicycles on a deserted road at 11 pm Thursday, they could not understand their language. To avoid any incident with the two foreigners, they took both of them to the Churaili police outpost," Singh said.
On Friday, Uttar Pradesh Police shared a post on X in which it shared the news about the foreigners losing their way and getting help from the police.
अतिथि देवो भव:
— UP POLICE (@Uppolice) January 24, 2025
दिनांक 23.01.2025 की रात्रि को दिल्ली से साइकिल लेकर नेपाल काठमांडु जा रहे 02 फ्रांसीसी नागरिकों के रास्ता भटक जाने की सूचना पर @bareillypolice द्वारा त्वरित कार्यवाही कर उनको सही दिशा बताकर गन्तव्य के लिए सकुशल रवाना किया गया। #UPPCares pic.twitter.com/b6VXwELHvr
"Guests are like God: On the night of 23.01.2025, on receiving information that 02 French citizens who were going to Kathmandu, Nepal from Delhi by bicycle had lost their way, @bareillypolice took immediate action and gave them the right direction and sent them safely to their destination," read the translation of the post that was originally written in Hindi.
