It has now been 2+ years since my last update. In this time, a lot of things have transpired in relation to this vehicle. My cousin has been using it on nearly a daily basis, been to a couple of fun (non-competitive) offroad events, and explored the offroad trails of coastal Karnataka as a weekend warrior. Our last engagement with Samurai's old mechanic was to get the MRCBT steering conversion, and the crossmember fix, both of which have worked flawlessly.
For my annual visit to India this December, the two of us really wanted to challenge ourselves and this vehicle to take it above and beyond just local stuff. In preparation for future endeavors, we wanted this trip to have elements comprising a real trans-continental overland journey - long days driving on tarmac, offroad terrain that keeps both man and machine on their toes, exotic and rarely traveled regions, camping in unfamiliar areas, optimizing use of equipment etc. - and most of all, no hotel reservations! Most people we spoke to advised against doing this, citing ride discomfort, questionable reliability, our safety, etc as reasons, which really compelled us to want it even more
!
After considering several destinations, we settled on Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, as a stretch goal. As soon as I understood how big this distance is, the fine lads at SG Automotive in Udupi
(an authorized Mahindra First Choice location), were enlisted to prepare the vehicle since the old mechanic had labor issues and therefore unable to meet our timing. After a thorough inspection, they came back with a laundry list of things that needed attention
(mostly routine suspension and body stuff). 3 weeks and about 30k later, we had a fresh and raring to go MM550 - except, with less than 12 hours to go before departure, Manipal RTO had still not given us fitness certification documents though being inspected and submitted a month in advance. Long story short, a full day of keeping the pressure up with our contact down there yielded results. Gujarat was a go!
Anyway, this is not a travelogue, so I will say this instead. After 4336km
(GPS logger distance) of throwing everything at this vehicle - soft sand, salt marsh, thorny scrub, murderous Indian highways and badly broken interior roads, we came out the other end without a single issue. The only thing that broke was the latch on the swingout rear bumper, which was held on with nylon rope until fixed with an oxy-acetylene welder at the next town. I am proud to say both of us held up quite well too, LOL. This has been a journey of a lifetime for me, certainly the first of perhaps several seeing my own home country by road (and offroad
). Some of the high points of the trip:
1. Maintained 75-80kph with ease on most of the 4/6 lane highway between Hubli and Ahmedabad. Overall moving average was a not-too-shabby 65kph!
2. Crossed the emptiness of the Little Rann of Kutch
(a misleading name!!) in 4WD Hi / 20psi tire pressure, a total distance of 70km on the salt flat. In hindsight this was quite foolhardy given the continuous light drizzle due to cyclone Ockhi, but we only came to know of this after speaking to several locals - the Rann wasn't really dry enough yet to drive over, and impassable on the Western side. Even light rain is sufficient to start softening the hard crust of mud that forms on top of the marsh. We had no winch or ground anchor, and no backup vehicle. so took an extremely cautious approach opposite to what is seen in most "OTR"s these days - reading the surface well in advance, recce on foot where it looked sketchy, then using a combination of momentum and prayer to get across 20-30 feet of wet quagmire at a time. The satisfaction, no actually the relief, from reaching the rim of the Rann was awesome.....
3. Camped overnight in the middle of the 70km Rann crossing, which was actually sublime! The amount of wildlife here is simply amazing for being an arid desert, and not a soul in sight!
4. Drove all the way to India Bridge about 20km from the Pak border, and met with BSF guards posted there. Almost ran out of diesel due to corrupt gas station attendants at Khavda, but managed to bribe our way through it. Speaking of diesel this vehicle has a true range of 450km with perhaps a 25km reserve, which is fantastic! Mileage for the trip was a true 14.9km/l which is also, fantastic!!
5. Camped at the rim of the Greater Rann
(yeah, the Amitabh Bachchan one without the blaring lights or loudspeakers) after finding out quickly that driving across it would be even more impossible than the Little Rann.
The night sky at this spot was quite simply amongst the best I've ever seen, and I've been lucky to have seen some of the best night skies out there! Its pretty easy to see why this border is so sparsely guarded, nothing can cross it when the surface hasn't formed a thick-enough crust yet.
6. Drove about 15km on the rim of the Greater Rann before turning around after deciding the risk was far too great for getting stuck further and further from civilization.
7. Visited several other towns, villages in the area such as Bhuj, Dhordo, Bhujodi and sampled the local cuisine and culture in a comprehensive way (well, within the limitation of a 11-day trip).
8. Visited the amazing Pranlal Bhogilal collection in Ahmedabad after reading about it in Indian Auto and Auto India magazines since I was a little kid.
I'll leave some pictures here for the reader's enjoyment and posterity.
About the only thing that needed attention during the trip apart from daily fluid and tire pressure checks....shackle grease!
Driving inside the Asiatic Wild Ass Sanctuary south of the Little Rann.
Camp in the middle of the Little Rann. This was actually taken at 9pm or so at night. The lights of Zainabad town can be seen in the distance.
A glimpse of the Great Rann on the land bridge to Dholavira (a Harappan civilization excavated town). The right rear mudflap fell off after being saturated with mud during the Little Rann crossing
.
Moonrise over the rim of the Great Rann.
Camp at the Great Rann. We were self-sufficient for food, water and supplies for the entirety of the Rann crossings. True Overlanding? Maybe!