On 16 Nov 2022, I brought home my all time favourite : Mahindra Thar LX Petrol AT Hardtop Red Rage. From my high school days, I was dreaming of driving/riding Willys Jeep and Royal Enfield Bullet; now, both have become a reality in my lifetime, assuming Thar has the same gene and DNA of the erstwhile Willys Jeep.
Thar is my
* first 4x4, A/T tyred, genuine automatic vehicle [not counting Nexon AMT]
* second Mahindra [after XUV 5OO]
* third SUV [counting XUV 5OO and Nexon as SUVs]
* fourth petrol [after Omni/Versa/Linea]
After bringing home Thar, I drove it to Shravanabelagola, Chennai, Kundadri Hill, Agumbe Ghat, Kundapura, Maravanthe Beach, Kollur, Hattiangadi and Karkala, completing 2,000 km+. But, I did not use 4x4 anywhere. During these days, whenever I start my Raging Red Thar, it used to taunt me saying, '4x4 was not engaged in 2,000 km'! To put an end to these funny opening remarks, I used to engage 4H and drive from shed to portico of my home every now and then.
When I had owned Fiat Linea [2009-2014], I took her to its birth place, Fiat plant at Ranjangaon, MH in 2010 and 2012, both these plant visits were organised by Team Fiat India. Similarly, during my ownership of Mahindra XUV 5OO [2013-2018], I drove it to Mahindra Chakan plant, MH. For Thar, I wished to drive it to its name sake, Thar desert, RJ. So, I was planning an itinerary covering Sam sand dunes, where I could use 4x4, when I stumbled into
Rajasthan Motorsports's New Year Escape Jaisalmer event scheduled during 29-31 December 2022. After discussing with my family, I contacted Mr Madan Choudhary and booked for four of us.
I drew up an itinerary of 15 days and selected Bangalore>Pune>Ahmedabad>Jaisalmer for the up journey and Jaisalmer>Jodhpur>Chittorgarh>Vijayapura>Bangalore for the return journey, covering ~5,000 km for the entire trip. I was thrilled to do this trip as I could not do any mega drives in 2020, 2021 and 2022 due to Covid-19 outbreak.
We started at 3:30 am on the Christmas day [25/12/2022] from Bangalore home and arrived at Ganesh Hotel, before Hubli [383 km] by 8:10 am for breakfast. The roads were fantastic 6-lane all along. My Bangalore-Chennai drive takes 6 hours for 350 km. The Bangalore-Hubli stretch beats Bangalore-Chennai by wide margin [383 km in less than 5 hours]. Ganesh Hotel had ample parking space with good food and clean toilets.
I refuelled at BP Kottur 2 COCO pump after Hubli-Dharwad bypass. Again, I refuelled at BP COCO pump at Kognolli just before crossing into MH border as petrol price was cheaper in KA by ₹ 3 plus. Thereafter, I continued non-stop to my favourite eatery, Sai Food Court, Yelur, ~30 km after Kolhapur. I had food at this place in 2017, when I was returning from GJ by my erstwhile Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500. After this, we drove straight to Ginger Hotels, Wakad, Pune, checked in at 5:30 pm and called it a day. We ordered food from outside.
Again on the next day [26/12/2022], we checked out at 3:30 am as we wanted to cross the notorious traffic jam at Fountain Hotel junction before 7 am. But, my NaviMaps decided to give me some off-roading experience even before I reached Sam sand dunes. It was a nightmare in the night to cross Thane amidst army of trucks parked on one full carriageway. Without knowing that, I too stopped behind a truck. After a few minutes, my wife alerted me about people using the wrong side on the other opposite carriage way. After half-hour or so, I managed to take a U-turn, drive on the shoulder to reach the other carriage way. A couple of truck drivers co-operated by moving their trucks a few metres to give me space to reach the other side. Few more cars and LCVs followed me. Off-roading continued for many stretches while driving on the wrong side. Later, I came to know that trucks would be allowed to ply after 6 am and till then, they would be parked on the road, blocking the entire road. Phew, at last we came out of that dreaded stretch only to enter another terrible Bhiwandi SH to reach Shree Datta Snacks at Manor for breakfast.
After breakfasting, we continued our drive to GJ and refuelled at BP Luvara COCO pump, wherein my erstwhile Linea had petrol twice in the past. Petrol price was the lowest in GJ, competing with Pondicherry.
After lunching at Hotel Girnar, Vadodara, we entered Ahmedabad during peak hours and checked in at Fortune Landmark ITC at 6 pm and called it a day. We ordered food from outside as usual for dinner.
We visited Sabarmati Ashram on the next day [27/01/2022]. I visited this place in 2017 by my erstwhile Thunderbird 500. Here is the link:
https://www.facebook.com/ravi.jayavijayan/posts/1700109473349589
My Classic 350 Motorcycle Diaries
We left Ahmedabad on 28/12/2022 at 9 am and arrived at Hotel Fifu, Jaisalmer at 6:15 pm. We had visited Jaisalmer and stayed at the same hotel twice earlier. The next day, we visited the fort.
We arrived at Desert Glamping at Sam shortly after 4 pm.
More to come.
