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If your idea of a perfect getaway is to leisurely travel through unspoiled landscapes with some magnificent views and a rich variety of exotic locales, Goa is the place to head to. And what better way to explore India’s finest travel destination in some of the most capable offroaders you could lay your hands on. Thanks to Mahindra Adventure we had the Thar, with all its might, for the Authentic Goa Escape.
This being the very first Authentic Escape, Mahindra organized a three-day event to give the participants and enthusiasts a feel of Goa of the long gone past.
As the dawn broke on day one, all of the participants were up and out to embark on the first leg of the trip. Running in the midst of 20-odd vehicles, we drove towards ancestral Goa. Arriving at the ancestral Goa museum, it seemed the Portuguese had left behind a lot of rich heritage for us to relive. Spawned in an effort to recreate the local culture of Goa as it had existed in the days of yore, the whole museum is alienated into many locales with each portraying the local culture of a typical Goan village. History lesson over, we took off for a drive along the beautiful coastline to the Cabo de Rama fort.
Day 2 marked the start of some serious TSD rallying scheduled for the first half of the day. After an energizing pre-drive briefing, it was time to head over to the vehicles. Oh yes, there were smiles and squeals of enthusiasm all round as nearly all of the teams had been introduced to the concept of TSD rallying for the very first time.
After getting to grips with the route map and the rule book, we positioned the Thar to the flag off point. Blindly confident, we took off and made our way through the countryside and some monsoon drenched forests. As it turned out, the first 10-odd km run was covered with the precision of a Swiss timepiece as we chalked out the exact average speed and dos & don’ts of the route. Having made a good start, the numbers went for a toss when halfway through the rally we unwillingly lost track of the route (not once, but twice!) and had to go way over the average speed to make up for the lost time – TSD rally is a matter of precision and time, after all. A few diversions and average speeds far off the ideal pace meant we ended the day with a disappointing finish.
Day 3 had all of us fuming with enthusiasm as it was time to take all of the Mahindras for an off-road exercise and to their home turf. After a short drive through the city, the convoy came across the playground and almost immediately, the enthusiasm doubled. Such were the roars coming from the crowd that we (somewhere in the middle of the pack) could listen to the cheer coming from the leading vehicles. With the cars lined up and raring to go, we wound up for the real adventure that lay ahead.
Much to the surprise of us and the Mahindra Adventure team, all of the participants put on quite a good show, taming challenges including crossing deep slush beds, wading through a shallow stream and tackling steep inclines. Shortly after snaking through the opening stages of the course, we all lined up for a photo op near what appeared to be a disused playground. And with that done, nearly every team went all out, throwing their SUVs round the soft playground to make a few mud-filled donuts.
It wasn’t all fun and games though, as up ahead on the course we all were about to face some serious terrain to conquer. While the Thar we were driving triumphed against all the odds that nature had to throw at us, the RWD-only Stinger and a couple of Scorpios took their own sweet time clearing the hurdles. As we drove further along the route, the flat land gave way for hills so vast in their content that the other side of the landscape remained hidden beyond the horizon. It was then I took a little walk down memory lane and realized that this trip couldn’t have come at a better time. Although it wasn’t as much of a trip as say ‘Sit by the beach and unwind in peace’, the idea of leisurely driving to exotic locales is undeniably appealing and is far beyond what our everyday routine can offer.
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