[samarth.bhatia]

It seems to be a lucky day for me! Got to read the brilliant Harley thread first, and now an awesome Thar travelogue in the making here! Two dreams, two threads, one day.

Well written, crisp account so far, with very nice pictures to accompany it. Looking forward to more soon, Vroom!

BTW, 140 kmph on a Jeep with little to no crumple zones and other basic safety essentials? Didn't it feel scary?

Sam

[parsh]

Thanks for bringing it all back. Amazing and truly nostalgic for me, reminiscent of my 4 week Gujrat, Rajsthan trip quite a few years down the memory lane, Gir, Mt Abu, Delwara, forts, sand dunes, spotting Chinkaras on camel back in the terrains, sleeping on sand in night under the open sky while the animals crawled by, walking thru that hot sand and climbing atop the Indian Border Post tower looking over Pakistan posts, and touching Indian border fence...just too much.

Nice one coming out there. As GD sir said, some Thar'ing moments in the sand dunes would have done much too good to the already fab log. Keep it coming.

[ashphil]

Lovely travelogue! All agog to read your comments on the Thar. Looking forward to more from you. Your cherry red Thar is eye candy for those who love jeeps.
regards,
Ashphil

[Vroom barabar!]

Originally Posted by Contrapunto

Excellent travelogue. It would be interesting to hear some more about yourselves and the car as well. How was it to drive long distance, what did you like/ dislike about long distance travel in the car, FE, comfortable cruising speeds etc.

Keep 'em coming.

Originally Posted by motomaverick

Good to see a Thar travelogue after sometime and that too a cherry red one . I am eager to know how you guys coped with the wind noise, weather under the soft top of the Thar.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Thar looks really hot in Red. Excellent snaps. Since you fin friend has done extensive calculations, kindly share them on the portal for future referencing.
Thanks in advance.

Thanks guys. Will be completing this travelogue this saturday and will share whatever information I have on the Thar as well as the trip. Stay tuned.

Originally Posted by gd1418

I almost bought a Thar last year after I sold my 4x4 Safari, but settled for a mHawk Lx 4x4. The longing for a Jeep still remains.

Your trip took me back in nostalgia and reminded my own trip in 2008 to these places.

Nice crisp pictures, especially of the Thar. Wish you had put the Thar through its paces on the dunes.

Thanks Gd. Have gone through your travelogue. Absolutely amazing. We are novices and have never driven off road. The vehicle at that time was just 2 month old, we were far away from home and had to get back on time without any hassles.Tried to play it safe. Though would now love do some off roading and make full use of Thar's capabilities whenever possible.

Originally Posted by samarth.bhatia

It seems to be a lucky day for me! Got to read the brilliant Harley thread first, and now an awesome Thar travelogue in the making here! Two dreams, two threads, one day.

Well written, crisp account so far, with very nice pictures to accompany it. Looking forward to more soon, Vroom!

BTW, 140 kmph on a Jeep with little to no crumple zones and other basic safety essentials? Didn't it feel scary?

Sam

Thanks Sam. It will not be that scary if there are miles and miles of flat dead straight roads in front of you with no traffic at all. I am telling you, Rajasthan roads are just amazing.

Originally Posted by parsh

Thanks for bringing it all back. Amazing and truly nostalgic for me, reminiscent of my 4 week Gujrat, Rajsthan trip quite a few years down the memory lane, Gir, Mt Abu, Delwara, forts, sand dunes, spotting Chinkaras on camel back in the terrains, sleeping on sand in night under the open sky while the animals crawled by, walking thru that hot sand and climbing atop the Indian Border Post tower looking over Pakistan posts, and touching Indian border fence...just too much.

Nice one coming out there. As GD sir said, some Thar'ing moments in the sand dunes would have done much too good to the already fab log. Keep it coming.

Thanks Parsh. Wow 4 week is a good long time.Must have been fun. As told before , we had our limitations. Hopefully will go an off road adventure soon.

[W.A.G.7]

Wow! Very interesting travelogue and great pictures as well! Roads in Gujarat and Rajasthan are simply too superb for driving; and made for mile munching for hours on end. Very nice to see a contrasting red coloured Thar with those beautiful alloys against the backdrop of yellow and blue. I feel, to see Rajasthan, you need to tackle one place at a time; there are so many things to see in every place. In spite of the lack of rainfall Rajasthan is a beautiful paradise waiting to be explored.

[Dieselone]

Great writeup and photos, was wondering, did the third passenger sit on the jump seat behind ? how confortable was that for a long ride like this? Anyways envy you guys.

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Dear Vroom Barabar (good name I say!) - I am waiting for the Thar CRDe feedback, especially on account of changed offset of the wheel rims. Let it come!

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[sudev]

No dunes offroading?

[Vroom barabar!]

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

Wow! Very interesting travelogue and great pictures as well! Roads in Gujarat and Rajasthan are simply too superb for driving; and made for mile munching for hours on end. Very nice to see a contrasting red coloured Thar with those beautiful alloys against the backdrop of yellow and blue. I feel, to see Rajasthan, you need to tackle one place at a time; there are so many things to see in every place. In spite of the lack of rainfall Rajasthan is a beautiful paradise waiting to be explored.

Thanks a lot! Yes Rajasthan is indeed very beautiful and best experienced by road.

Originally Posted by Dieselone

Great writeup and photos, was wondering, did the third passenger sit on the jump seat behind ? how confortable was that for a long ride like this? Anyways envy you guys.

Thanks Dieselone! As I have mentioned in my travelogue, we created a flat bed at the back with the use of a heavy quilt and our luggage in between the two seats. I cannot say that it was totally comfortable, but the fact that there was enough cushioning and the passenger can stretch his legs, it was good enough. Much better than sitting on that bench with minimal cushioning and uncomfortable posture.

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

Dear Vroom Barabar (good name I say!) - I am waiting for the Thar CRDe feedback, especially on account of changed offset of the wheel rims. Let it come!

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

Thanks Behram Sir. The Thar got the new wheel rims right on day one, so will not be able to comment on the difference it made. The feedback is coming shortly

Originally Posted by sudev

No dunes offroading?

Hi Sudev, no dunes offroading, have mentioned the reasons in the travelogue, we are novices and wanted to play it safe.

[Vroom barabar!]

DAY-4

We wanted to get up early all throughout the trip but were never able to (unless we had to drive in the morning to get to a destination). It’s just that we (Me and chef) love our sleep more than anything else and especially when we are on a holiday. The finance geek was miffed with us and kept on insisting that we should wake up early and explore whatever we can as we may never get an opportunity again. He was right, but we still slept tight!!

Had our free breakfast at the hotel, the usual bread omelette, cornflakes , tea etc. and jumped on to the Thar for the Mehrangarh fort. The fort is situated at a hillock and you need to go through some tight spaces to get to the fort. Once you reach the fort, it gives you a stunning view of the city. Any photo clicked from there will guarantee you a facebook profile picture!

It is a huge structure and really impresses you with its presence and opulence. People dressed in traditional rajasthani dresses welcome the visitors by playing Shehnai at the entrance. There are audio guides available, but if you want the good old guide in flesh, he is also available . The huge hall ways and verandahs lead you to various rooms like the ‘Daulat Khaana’ where the king used to keep all his prized possessions, beautiful Sheesh Mahal, Moti mahal, the lavish bedrooms etc. All these have been now converted to a museum which is considered to be the most well stocked museum in Rajasthan. It reminds you of an era where the word ‘Opulence’ was given a whole new meaning. The fort also has a temple and a store where visitors can buy classy Mehrangarh branded merchandise.

After visiting the majestic Mehrangarh fort , we went to visit another famous building in Jodhpur belonging to the same family, considered to be the world’s largest private residence , Ummaid Bhawan . Supposedly, the Palace was build to provide employment to thousands of people during the time of famine in the region. The Palace is divided into three functional parts - a luxury Taj Palace Hotel ,the residence of the erstwhile royal family and a Museum focusing on the 20th century history of the Jodhpur Royal Family. As compared to other forts, this was considerably new but the architecture and grandeur was equally overwhelming. The maharaja also had an enviable collection of vintage cars lined in his garage for the visitors to see. Our trip to Jodhpur was a memorable experience and from one royal city we moved to the next, Jaipur!

We had packed around 12 Aloo tikki burgers from Mc Donalds Jodhpur for our journey to Jaipur. It took us 6 hrs to reach Jaipur. As we reached closer to Jaipur, our stomachs were almost empty and we badly needed to refuel. Planned to go to Zaika restaurant as we had heard good reviews about it on the net. It took us time to locate that place, but in the end we finally made it. After good filling dinner, went to our hotel (Forgot the name).It was a decent hotel with huge rooms. Since, we just had to sleep over for the night, we didn’t pay attention to what luxuries it offered.

Mehrangarh Fort




















Ummaid Bhawan

[Vroom barabar!]

DAY- 5

We all had visited Jaipur before and had planned just a few hours in the city. The first thing in the morning we had kachodis at a joint named JMD. After our sumptuous breakfast , we went to the Amer Fort . This is also a majestic palace full of Rajput heritage. It is located on a hill and is around 15 kms from Jaipur City. If you have a car and want to take it to the parking, you need to navigate through small streets leading to a steep entrance to the fort. The cars are precariously parked at a 40 degree angle. From there you need to take a walk to the fort through the steep slopes.

This is a very popular tourist destination in Jaipur and you will find a lot of crowd anytime of the day. The layout of the fort is fascinating and it has multiple pols or gates. The most beautiful gate is the Ganesh Pol which has colourful sculptures all over .There are huge courtyards with beautiful gardens, Diwan-e-khas,Diwan-e-aam,Sheesh Mahal etc. The walls of these structures are intricately carved with marble and sandstone. We moved about the palace for a few hours and then went straight to the emporium on the way to the exit. Shopped for our family back home and then we were all set to head back home and say Goodbye to the royal state of Rajasthan. Took the NH8 to Gurgaon and with the usual heavy traffic and diversions we reached home in around 5 hrs. If i remember correctly it was 8.30pm in the night and we were both happy and sad.Happy, because we had a good time together and Sad, because it was over and the routine starts again.

We all went back to our mundane robotic lives cherishing the memories of this wonderful trip. Now , after almost a year , our hearts say ‘You morons, what the hell are you doing, there is one life to live – Live it to the fullest’ and we plan to pick up the Thar and go someplace else.

Amer Fort and Jaipur

[Vroom barabar!]

Points Observed in the Mahindra Thar :

• Raw, Bare bones SUV

• No safety equipment and features. Nothing at all.

• Bad quality dashboard, seats, door handles, door pads, everything

• Head turner. Gets attention wherever it goes

• Great seating position with full visibility of the road

• Free revving powerful engine. Touches 100 kmph in no time

• No aerodynamics. Leads to very poor fuel efficiency on highways – it gave us 8 Kmpl

• Not a great handler

• Power steering is a boon. Easy to manoeuvre in the city. Though it lacks feedback

• Lots of squeaking noise, wind noise, road noise and engine noise in the cabin while driving

• Terrible rear seat comfort (Unless you convert it into a bed like we did)

• With all its short comings its still fun to drive

• For long distances don’t take more than 3 passengers

• Best seats are at the front, though the comfort is nowhere near contemporary cars

• Be careful - Can be a neck, back, bones breaking experience if it goes through really bad roads

• Love the big Mahindra logo on the windshield

• Whatever said and done, it is a true jeep and we love it for what it is

[rajeevn]

Fantastic pictures, especially the one below. Can be framed and put up on the wall in a 5-star hotel.



Thanks, Vroooom bhai, for this great T-Log.

[Kandisa]

Wow the red hot THAR looks gorgeous in this kind of backdrop.

Originally Posted by Vroom barabar!

•Terrible rear seat comfort (Unless you convert it into a bed like we did)

Can you share some pictures of the modifications you did at the rear?

[Deepalimal]

Originally Posted by Vroom barabar!

Points Observed in the Mahindra Thar :

• Be careful - Can be a neck, back, bones breaking experience if it goes through really bad roads

Well-written travelogue and nice clicks too. I was enjoying reading it while wondering if I can ever take up such an adventure due to a weak lower spine. And then I finally read the lines on.."neck, back, bones breaking".

Neverthless, thanks to people like you who take out time to write such Tlogs to take us on a virtual trip. (Atleast I am motivated to take another road trip to jaipur)