14th January 2024, 12:03
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| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Bengaluru
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Thanked: 645 Times
| Thar Bengalurians on an Off-road Expedition to Nagaland "I have found a new passion to work the whole year to earn a well deserved reward in the form of an yearly group expedition!" This has been the mantra of our group Thar-Bengaluru since the time we started the "Yearly Expedition" concept 2 years ago. Last year, it was an expedition to the wonderland Spiti which is covered by @turbonath in the https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...onderland.html (36 Thars and a Winter Wonderland) thread. While Spiti was the inaugural expedition in search of Snow, this year we wanted to up the ante to make the best use of what Thar is designed for! So, it was Nagaland  Disclaimer Permissions for all the trails inside forest and waterbodies were duly obtained from the local authorities by the expedition organizers A teaser of what to expect     Prelude Expedition bug once caught cannot be overcome, ever! After an amazing Spiti drive, everyone of us were eagerly looking forward to the announcement for the upcoming adventure. In the last 2 years, our love towards off-roading had increased multifold and so had our level of confidence on our Thars performance. Given this, it was obvious that as an adventure focused group we wanted off-roading as the main criteria surrounding the expedition. Although there were a few options like Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Nagaland, it was decided that the expedition would be to explore the unexplored Nagaland as it meets our core need Planning With 25 Thars and 45 people signed up, planning itself becomes a daunting task! Since the plan was to explore deep inside, there were a lot of initial apprehensions around the accommodation, food and most importantly safety. Off-roading is very much supported by the local authorities in Nagaland and we zeroed in on an organizer called 4x4 Attitude. This turned out to be one of the best decisions we had undertaken(more on that later). While 11 of the Thar owners decided to transport the Thars through Trucks to Guwahati, rest of them formed small groups and decided to start earlier and explore North East in a greater length. High level plan Dec 25th: Reach Guwahati and unload Thars Dec 26th: Journey to Dimapur where the expedition would actually begin the next day Dec 27th:Dimapur to Wokha through off-beaten path Dec 28th: Trail day around Wokha, coffee tasting at Lithanro Coffee estate and reach Mokokchung Dec 29th: Reach Longwa, Indo Myanmar border Dec 30th: Enduarance drive to reach Zunheboto Dec 31st: River trail and reach Touphema, New Year Party Jan 1st: Conquer Kopamadzhu peak, camp Jan 2nd: Visit Kohima War Memorial, Green village Khonoma and reach Benreu Tourist Village Jan 3rd: Trail around Peren and camp Jan 4th: Reach back to Guwahati, local shopping and stay the night Jan 5th: Load Thars to truck and fly back to Bengaluru With us going to be exploring deep inside Nagaland, the organizers had their homework cut out to recce every weekend to mark the route and book accommodations. Thanks to WhatsApp, a big group was able to socialize and get to know each other through hilarious chat sessions, Q&A sessions(thanks to our beloved BHPian @airguitar  ), announcements by the expedition leads which kept us all on the toes in anticipation of the D-Day.My wife needs a reason to shop! Last year in anticipation of the nail biting cold, This year was snack and camping related. She shopped ferociously and also prepared a lot of home made ready to Eat mixes as we had to feed our 10 and 13 year old kids. Upma mix, Poha Mix, Puliyogre you name it, she had it! Home Made   Store Bought  While some got busy shopping for food, proud owners of Thars preferred making them ready for expedition! Aux/Bumper lights/Mounts in anticipation of fog        Jerry Cans  Thanks to @robimahanta for helping me with his Jerry can(not in the pic) I got my differential breathers extended to under bonnet in anticipation of water crossing   This is how a happy shopper looks like, Suchitra Bhide upon getting delivery of his Mad-dog aux fog lights  First Flag-Off 11-Dec: Thanks to Madhus Tyre Center for supporting us by hosting us for a flag-off. Had a great chat with Nikhil over coffee and cookies! We had to load our Thars to trucks the next day! My Thar getting ready for flag-off  at Madhus  With Nikhil  Flag-Off  What followed the flag-off was our tradition of photo-op/flag-off at the Iconic Vidhanasoudha, a sumptuous breakfast at the Jayamahal Palace Hotel and a briefing by the expedition leads   12 Dec: Finally sent off our Thars to Guwahati with repentance over not having the time at hand to drive all the way. 2 trucks were parked at Nice road exit near PES college and 11 Thars were loaded  As our wait began for Dec 25th which is when we would fly into Guwahati, a few other groups started their adventure early and hit Arunachal Pradesh. Some random clicks from their trip Snow at Arunachal  Gang at Bumla Pass  BHPian @airguitar's thar at Sela Pass  BHPian @Bibendum90949's Thar in Arunachal  Kaziranga National Park  To be continued.. Last edited by karthikd21 : 18th January 2024 at 18:19. |
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19th January 2024, 08:46
| #2 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Bengaluru
Posts: 135
Thanked: 645 Times
| Re: Thar Bengalurians on an Off-road Expedition to Nagaland! Dec 25th: Start of a lifetime of a journey! The waiting was finally over. Reached Bengaluru Airport by 9 AM and security check done by 10 AM to find that our flight has been delayed by 4 hours! Took advantage of our cards and enjoyed the beautiful Terminal 2 and the lounge for a few hours while our buddies who reached earlier unloaded the thars as we had to have an early start to Dimapur the next day Beautiful Terminal 2 at KIAL  Our group of the many boarding, BHPian @abimaks with a thumbs up  I thought we could offroad on the mud strip, but a buddy mentioned it's the special Economic Zone for Airport and likely my vehicle would be seized  Unloaded Thars at Guwahati  Reached the resort by 8 PM, had a get together to celebrate the start and winded up for the day. Dec 26th: Guwahati to Dimapur 10 AM Flag off at IOCL, our fueling partner. Indian Oil has a great network in North East and the way they supported us by having pumps open for us on the literal close down of whole of Nagaland during New Year's eve and the New year Day and also making sure that premium fuels such as XP95 being made available is commendable! They also treated us with a yummy packed sandwitch and a delicacy.   Guwahati to Dimapur is a nice divided highway. We reached Hotel Saramati by evening. Entry point of Nagaland  Hotel Saramati, has ample parking for 30-40 vehicles  This is where we met our organizers 4x4Attitude. They conducted a nice briefing session detailing our itinerary for the next 9 days. They had done their homework and had 6 vehicles in total to support us. In coordination with Mahindra, they had also picked up various spare parts that might be necessary. Kudos to Mahindra for also supporting by sending one of their techs from NE to accompany us throughout the expedition! Junta at the briefing  Dec 27th: Dimapur to Wokah The moment we had all been waiting for was finally here! Excitement was in the air. All the vehicles were made to line up at a parking lot of strip mall where we were addressed and wished by the Chief of Nagaland 4x4 association and then the journey started  Organizer's nice gesture of Arranging a blessing by a Priest  BHPian and one of the expedition leads @abimaks  Hats off to these women of Thar Bengaluru who endured the expedition  Me and my Better half at a lineup just outside of Dimapur  What started with a highway slowly started vanishing and we hit state roads and finally no roads . It was a picturesque off beat route chosen by the organizers to make sure we witness the beautiful Rivers, Forests, Valleys, Villages of Nagaland. At some points, we were traversing a path Bordering Nagaland and Assam. Let the pictures talk for a while now:Nagaland on the Left, Assam on the right  one of the many streams we crossed  Flower plantations seen across Nagaland  Then we hit the Doyang River which had to be crossed to reach our destination Lineup for river crossing  Lead vehicle doing the recce  and then we cross one by one  Kids and Kids like adults enjoying playing with Nature Random Shots at the riverbed   Futile attempt by me(Black Thar) and our lead Vasthav(Red Thar) to reach the top and then drop from the other side at an obstacle curated by the organizer just after the river crossing  A video of my attempt After an eventful day, majority of us reached Wokha by 9 PM while some opted to camp on the way at the Lithanro Coffee Estate which was the breakfast point as well for the next day Camping at Lithanro Coffee Estate  Continued .. Last edited by karthikd21 : 29th January 2024 at 00:29. |
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28th January 2024, 13:39
| #3 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Bengaluru
Posts: 135
Thanked: 645 Times
| Re: Thar Bengalurians on an Off-road Expedition to Nagaland! Dec 28th: Local Trail around Wokha and reach Mokokchung Day started with a visit by the tribals!   Following this, we headed for our breakfast at Lithanro Coffee Estates. Had a spread of bread, butter, eggs, oranges, bananas, cashews and got to taste local coffee.  Nagaland is self sufficient and relies a lot on Natural resources. One sample is a series of water outlets made of Bamboo. I was impressed by its simple engineering. Having filled up our tummies, we headed for an extravaganza of nature. Rivers  Mountains    We kept passing through beautiful villages. Villagers take pride in keeping their villages super clean.  Village house  Watch tower  As we ventured deep inside the forests, the trail got smaller and smaller     We passed a few obstacles en route. This one took some time for a few vehicles to pass as there was a huge dip followed by sudden inclination. Organizer placed metal traction ladders for easy passage after a few vehicles struggled  Soon, we were at a very steep decline full of slush which was not that difficult to climb down. However, the upward climb while returning was super fun. Beauty of convoy blended with nature  After this point, we hit a dead end and had to make a U turn. It was 2 PM and the organizer had carried Samosa, local made delicacy and also chai  . A war veteran was invited and he also showed us how a war cry used to be done. We then headed back to Lithanro Coffee Estate for the lunch.Naga War cry Glimpse of the slushy upward climb Glimpse of the slushy upward climb Recovery Lunch at 4.30 PM was a fine spread of protein rich local food   Our next destination was Mokokchung. 4 Hours/100 kms away. First 50 kms was a nice highway and the rest of the 50 kms was no road absolutely. I had a blast in my Thar. Had aired down to about 22 PSI on my Maxxis MTs and they performed very well(others were left in dust  ). Reached by 9 PM.Mokakchung at Night   Decorated Gypsy for Christmas  It was a very nice accommodation that helped relax from the last 50 kms of fun Continued .. Last edited by karthikd21 : 29th January 2024 at 00:34. |
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28th January 2024, 18:01
| #4 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Bengaluru
Posts: 135
Thanked: 645 Times
| Re: Thar Bengalurians on an Off-road Expedition to Nagaland! Dec 29th: Camping at Longwa, Indo Myanmar border Today was a no trail day. We had to reach Longwa Village, which is situated at the Indo Myanmar Border 185 kms from our current stay . The specialty of the place is that the Indo Myanmar border cuts right through the King's house! My family with the organizing team before leaving Mokokchung  Some random shots on the way    Nagaland is undergoing massive transformation and huge roads are being built. But, for now its these kind of mud roads at a lot of places.  Thar Warrior using a local Machete to take some floral memories back home   Hunting is legal for a few months in Nagaland. This is a common sight of gunmen everywhere  We reached Longwa just before sunset around 4 PM and headed straight for the Indo-Myanman border.  At the border  One of the expedition leads, Vijay Narayan. He is an avid traveler both on Motorbike and Thar and is the master mind behind the planning of this expedition  Thar Bengaluru flag at the border  Out of the 100s of photos taken at the border, this below one is my favorite  Next, we visited the King's house. Had a great conversation with him and presented Our Groups Cap as a honor to him. King's house is located centrally to the Longwa village at an elevated position and most of the village is visible from here. People at Longwa were very welcoming, living life in a very simple manner, played outdoors and most importantly were found to be very very happy! Kings House  Playground visible from the King's house  My family with the king  Presenting Thar Bengaluru Cap to the King After meeting the king, we headed to our places of stay for the night. The organizer had arranged a cultural extravaganza with camp fire. We witnessed folks songs and dances from the local tribals   Camp fire!  We were allowed to operate muzzle guns that are used for hunting. Apparently, these can kill an elephant with a single shot! We as a group played an instrument. The insturment was made of wood and was mostly hollow inside and produced sounds mostly like a drum. Kids enjoyed mingling with the local kids  Some folks purchased local ornaments  Kitchen  Some antiques   Who said Veerappan is dead? we found him at Longwa with a headhunter   Veerappan with his associates  We had a great time. Since there were a few vegetarians and the cuisine was mostly non-veg, it was time for my wife to get our ready to eat food. She cooked upma and served us . Post dinner, while some folks decided to stay back at the resort, a few of us decided to experience epic camping at the border as suggested by the OrganizerCamping site at the border   Views in the morning were breathtaking and made the camping at 10 Degrees worth   Continued .. Last edited by Aditya : 29th January 2024 at 19:35. Reason: As requested |
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28th January 2024, 21:53
| #5 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Bengaluru
Posts: 135
Thanked: 645 Times
| Re: Thar Bengalurians on an Off-road Expedition to Nagaland! Dec 30th: Endurance Drive to Zunheboto! On the briefing session, our Lead organizer had mentioned about an endurance drive on the 30th dec so that we can have a very small drive on the 31st to be fresh for the new year party. Last few days we had got a taste of the roads at Nagaland and one thing we had gotten clear - "when google says it takes 1 hour to traverse 20 kms, it is not kidding!". Given that, I wanted to get an understanding of what our day looks like. Dialogue at 6 AM with the lead organizer Me: Today is the endurance drive right? Lead: Yes! Me:Hmm.. So, how are the roads? Lead:There are no roads! Me: OK, bye Called my wife and asked her and kids to get ready for a long drive and Left running from the Border camp site 7.30 AM: After having tummy full of home cooked poha followed by Chai, we hit the road with 2 other Thars. Just as the lead had mentioned, there were no ROADS! we followed the coordinates and google got confused at times and finally reached the circuit house for lunch at 5 PM. Beautiful Circuit house, good food. Got to eat Chapati after 5 days!  Quickly finished lunch and started again. There was still about 100 more kms/4 hours to go! After this the real dance started. No kidding there  I got thar in 4H, 2nd gear and let it go by itself as my left leg had almost stopped responding from the constant clutch usage for the last 150 kms 9.30 PM: We finally reached. I had the responsibility of the room allocation. Guest houses were located at various places. Got wifey, kids and the others settled. By the time room allocations were completed, it was 11.30 PM. more than 20 Thars were still left behind. They had a ball of a time cooking on the road side  a few pics from the 2nd convoy  Locals collecting firewood      Red Monster!  Convoy at night on the last 40 kms stretch I left a detailed note on the Whatsapp group to the 2nd team with room allocations asking not to wake me up and slept at 12 AM. 2.30 AM: Vasthav calls me, the party has to go on . Had a ball of time talking about the endurance drive with the 2nd convoy and feeling proud to have completed it, hit the bed again by 3.30 AM! Tomorrow is another day in a few hours!Continued .. Last edited by karthikd21 : 29th January 2024 at 00:41. |
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28th January 2024, 22:53
| #6 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Bengaluru
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| Re: Thar Bengalurians on an Off-road Expedition to Nagaland! Dec 31st: River trail and reach Touphema, New Year Party Today was supposed to be a relaxed drive to Touphema about 175 kms away/4.5 hours. We would do a river trail of 4-5 kms on the way. There were supposed to be roads all the way! Previous day's endurance drive tested both physical and mental strength of humans and that of the machines! Both humans and the machines had passed with flying colors. With the feeling of new accomplishment, we started our day! The river trail was outstanding as promised. We drove on roads till lunch and stopped by the river for lunch. Great food! Let the photos do the talking       Convoy on road     Your's truly       A river trail is incomplete without recovery. 2 Generations of Suzuki for the rescue of a Heavy Mahindra!  River trail drone footage Reached resort by around 7 PM. Had a great new year's party!   Vasthav and Me  Continued .. Last edited by karthikd21 : 29th January 2024 at 00:42. |
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28th January 2024, 23:08
| #7 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Bengaluru
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| Re: Thar Bengalurians on an Off-road Expedition to Nagaland! Jan 1st: Conquer Kapamadzhu peak and Camp Kapamadzhu is the 2nd highest peak of Nagaland and blooms with Flowers during Spring season. It was about 100Kms /4 hours from Touphema. Plan was to reach Kapamadzhu peak by 4 PM. The organizer had booked accomodation at Pfutsero which is at the base and about 45 mins drive from the peak. It was also mentioned that some adventurous folks can chose to camp at the peak as well. Having a big convoy at times is a bane! we reached the peak at 6 PM and hence missed the sunset. Now that we missed the views, almost everyone decided to camp and wait for sunrise instead of heading down . A few of use however decided to head down and returned to the peak by 6 AM       Vijay Nagesh's Thar with roof top tent was in full use througout the expedition. He had also set up a full fledged kitchen by removing the rear seats and served home cooked food graciously at several occasions      Last edited by karthikd21 : 29th January 2024 at 00:43. |
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28th January 2024, 23:36
| #8 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Bengaluru
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| Re: Thar Bengalurians on an Off-road Expedition to Nagaland! Jan 2nd: Visit Kohima War Memorial, Green village Khonoma and reach Benreu Tourist Village Kohima War Cemetery is a memorial dedicated to soldiers of the 2nd British Division of the Allied Forces who died in the Second World War at Kohima, the capital of the Indian state of Nagaland in April 1944. [Source - wikipedia] Making tea on the way, this was a daily ritual  Kohima war memorial  Kohima war memorial  Kohima war memorial  Paying respects at the Kohima Wat Memorial  The drive to Kohima was through lush green forests and winding roads. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Organizer had already liaised with the local police to make way for the convoy . We had a smooth entry and exit!After the war memorial visit, we headed to Khonoma which is about an hour's drive from Kohima. It is the first green village of India. The village is self sufficient, covered all around by mountains and uses Terrace farming for cultivation. As per the local guide, till about 1800s, the locals did not even know that there were other humans outside their mountains      We started our journey towards Benreu tourist village which was our final destination for the day. It was a combination of roads and off-road with wild life sightings along the way. Sighting Elegant Mithun  Benreu    Continued .. Last edited by karthikd21 : 28th January 2024 at 23:41. |
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29th January 2024, 00:01
| #9 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Bengaluru
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| Re: Thar Bengalurians on an Off-road Expedition to Nagaland! Jan 3rd Kaziranga and Jan 4th back to Guwahati I love my family for putting up through the tough terrains. Especially my kids who were always on the rear seat of 3 door Thar! It was a time to give back to them. They wanted to not miss Kaziranga National Park. So, I decided to cut them slack and broke off from the expedition as it was the last day and only 1 trail was remaining. I have requested BHPian @Bibendum90949 to cover the account of the last day in this thread. My family headed to Kaziranga. It was a beautiful drive from Dimapur to Kaziranga. Great roads through the forests. We reached Kaziranga about 3 PM and decided to rest for the day having booked a safari by 6 AM the next day. Safari  Spotting a bird  Rhinos  Elephants  We then headed back to Guwahati, checked into hotel and went on a short cruise on the mighty Brahmaputra River and ended the day.  Following day, got the Thar washed and polished making it ready to be loaded to the truck and fly back to Namma Bengaluru with loads of memories and a heavy heart! A big Salute to the Mighty Thar standing rock solid after abuse of its lifetime   Back to full glory  Loading Thars Only a petrol head can understand the pain of saying good bye to their beloved steeds even temporarily   Signing off with a big shout out to: Vasthav HK- Founder of Thar Bengaluru Vijay Narayan - Expedition lead Dr. Abhijeet Makhijani - Expedition lead Smruti Nayak- Expedition lead 4x4Attitude - Awesome organizerSpecial Thanks to BHPian and good friend @robimahanta for providing guidance throughout the planning process and conducting rounds of Q&A sessions Suhas Reddy - for continuously tracking the trucks to make sure our Thars are safe IOCL, Mahindra & Mahindra, Madhus Tyres and Autostyle, Koramangala for supporting us for supporting usSpecial Mention to Maddog industries Bangalore for providing timely delivery of the awesome Maddog fog and Auxilary lights that proved to be Amazing! A journey is made awesome by the people involved! Kudos to all the members who were part of the expedition! Until next expedition.. P.S: All credits to respective owners of the pictures and videos Last edited by Aditya : 29th January 2024 at 18:27. Reason: As requested |
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29th January 2024, 04:43
| #10 |
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29th January 2024, 09:29
| #11 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Mar 2020 Location: Blr/Kochi/Wynd
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| Re: Thar Bengalurians on an Off-road Expedition to Nagaland Wow ! Thanks a ton Karthik for penning down the whole expedition for us and all readers. Kudos to you for that  .For me, that's a tough job than the whole trip. I'm super glad and lucky to have been part of this once in a life time expedition, even more so it was to NL which isn't an easy place to get access too. This is the best i've ever done in terms of marathon driving and the adventure that came with it. I really doubt I can better this. I was one of the few who started off early to explore Arunachal along with bhpian airguitar and few other members of the group, before joining the larger group at Guwahati. I ended up driving 10,500 kms over 30 days. I'm still reeling from this trip. Hoping to put out a photologue and a write up soon. Thanks Karthik again and this thread should act as a much needed motivation for me Last edited by Bibendum90949 : 29th January 2024 at 09:31. |
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29th January 2024, 12:28
| #12 |
| Distinguished - BHPian   Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: BLR/GAU
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29th January 2024, 19:37
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| BANNED Join Date: May 2006 Location: Belgaum
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29th January 2024, 20:19
| #14 | |
| BHPian | Re: Thar Bengalurians on an Off-road Expedition to Nagaland Quote:
1. All vehicles came out of the expedition unscathed. 2. No, even the vehicles that did high altitude /Arunachal etc- did very well, no DPF issues. Some of us had done a manual regen at the service center before we embarked on the expedition, just to the give the system more buffer. 3. Majority of us took the coastal route: Bangalore - Bezawada - Bhubaneshwar - (Kolkata/Durgapur ) - Malda - Siliguri - Sevoke - Malbazar - Jaldapara - Barpeta road - Udalguri - Bomdilla - Tawang - Tezpur - Guwahati - Dimapur. Some others took the Nagpur - Benares - Muzaffarpur - Purnea - Dalkhola - Siliguri and the rest of it the same as above. Last edited by Chetan_Rao : 30th January 2024 at 01:12. Reason: Quoted post edited. | |
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30th January 2024, 00:03
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| BHPian Join Date: Dec 2023 Location: Thane
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