INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL : View of Europe From a Double-Decker Bus

No privacy. No showers. Tight sleeping quarters for 20 in three tiers of bunks along a narrow aisle.

From London to Istanbul and back in 70 days on a double-decker bus. This is classic, no-frills travel.

Janet Gifford of New Zealand, 24 years old, hadn’t traveled much before she saw Top Deck Travel’s ad in an Auckland newspaper and decided it was time to see the world. She saw a lot of it in 10 weeks.

As a passenger on the battered bus, Gifford sipped local wine in the French countryside, sampled the tapas in Madrid, found her own glories in Rome, visited a town in the most remote area of Turkey, spent four nights sailing between Greek islands, stayed in a 300-year-old chalet in Austria and relaxed in the shadow of the Berlin Wall.

Lots of Money Left

Gifford had budgeted $25 a day for the London-to-Istanbul journey. In West Berlin, near the end of the trip, she was surprised to find that she had spent an average of only $18 a day. That left a lot for seeing England and Ireland after the bus returned to London.

Like many of her bus mates, Gifford said she would do it again.

“I left New Zealand by myself, but I’ve met people I’ll probably be good friends with for the rest of my life,” Gifford added. “I’ve lived with them, slept in the same room with them with no curtains, no privacy. It teaches everybody to respect other people’s rights.”

Top Deck is one of several British tour-bus companies that cater to young travelers with more wanderlust than money. The average age on Gifford’s bus was 30, but Top Deck’s Los Angeles office says that most Americans who sign up for the bus odysseys are in their early 20s.

They spend about $1,000 for a 4 1/2-week trip, less than $2,000 for 10 weeks. The passenger lineup on Gifford’s trip was eight women to four men, but the guide and driver helped push the male-female ratio toward the 50% to 50% implied in the company’s brochures.

Top Deck has 70 diesel buses equipped to carry 20 passengers each on tours ranging from two to 10 weeks. The coaches vary in age, degree of comfort and speed.

“They’re not meant to go that fast,” Dave Bartley, the Australian driver, said. “This one’s top speed is 89 kilometers (about 55 miles) per hour.”

No Fear of Breakdowns

He doesn’t keep it moving that fast for long. Too risky. “We don’t carry much repair equipment. Space is too limited,” Bartley said. Besides, if a breakdown happens, parts could be delivered within 24 hours.

It might be an old bus, Bartley admitted, but it can handle challenges that would tear up those shiny newer models. It had made it from London to Nepal and back more than once.

“And this time we’ve been on the road 10 weeks and only stopped about 2 1/2 hours for a bit of a problem,” he said. “That’s not to say on the next trip we won’t have problems the first day out. I can’t guarantee the bus won’t break down.”

Each of the tour buses is equipped with a four-burner stove, a sink with running water and a 30-gallon water tank. No toilets. No showers. “We stop at campsites where plumbing is available,” Bartley said.

Bartley, in his late 30s, appeared to be the father figure on the bus, keeping an eye on his charges to see that nothing serious went awry.

“I used to drive in Australia; my family has a coach business,” Bartley said. “The first rule here is no drugs. If drugs were found on the bus and nobody owned up to it, it would be the driver who got locked up. I figure whatever the passengers do away from the bus is their own business, but I don’t allow drugs on my bus.”

Strict Discipline

Kim Murray, in his second year as a Top Deck guide, is less experienced than Bartley in the ways of the road, but he maintains strict discipline on the bus.

“Each passenger gets a shelf of his own, and you have to be tidy--put your things away where they belong,” Gifford said, “or Kim will chuck it all out.”

Murray also makes sure that each tour member puts in his time on housekeeping chores. “Part of the bus rules are that you have to take turns on different jobs--cook two days, clean two days,” Murray said.

“Some just don’t want to do it and some try, but just don’t have any idea how to do it. Some people aren’t used to living on top of each other the way we have to in these tight quarters. This kind of thing is easier for easygoing people who have traveled on their own.”

“Dealing with the passengers is the hardest part of this job,” Bartley added. “If I just had to drive around and see things, that’s easy. It’s like one of the other blokes told me: ‘You don’t have to be a good driver or a good historian, you just have to be a good psychologist.’ ”

Top Deck Travel trips originate in London, with tours ranging from six or seven days (including the Oktoberfest in Munich and the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain) to seven-week journeys through the Soviet Union and Scandinavia, or Europe and North Africa.

Passengers are from 18 to 35 years old. The tour company, organized in 1973, is a member of the Youth Tour Organization.

For more information, contact the Flight Center, Top Deck Travel, 7531 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood 90046, or call (213) 874-4191.