I set out for the most awaited drive of the season – our traditional annual monsoon drive to Goa and South Maharashtra (Konkan and Western Ghats), with my close friends.
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20,000km Service, and a Thrilling Monsoon Drive
Just a week ago, I completed 20,000km on Thar, during a thrilling monsoon drive with my BHPian friends. Before that, I also completed the third service a full thousand km in advance. More on that later.
But first, let me mention a nice morning drive to a nearby lake which I did with a few BHPian friends and their SUVs. That drive is covered in detail in a separate report here, but allow me to share a couple of pictures here for the sake of the completeness of this thread.
Dusty on a Lake:
With the Mahindra friends:
One more shot on the lake:
Our convoy enjoying the location:
Another shot from that scenic lake:
20,000km Service at 19,000km
After this short lakeside drive, my next drive was a 1,800km long “monsoon drive”, through Goa and to Maharashtra, deep inside the ghats of Sahyadris. But now the odometer stood at 19,000km, and the next service was due at 20,000km. If I had taken the car for the monsoon drive without this service completed, then I would have ended up at 20,800km at the time of the service, which was 800km too late.
I always believe in completing the service and any maintenance in advance rather than late. Therefore, not risking overrunning the car by 800km for the third service (20k km service), I decided to finish this service early and booked an immediate appointment with Mahindra Service Center
The odometer at the time of the third service (20,000km service):
The service experience at Sireesh Auto Service Center was excellent! I have been having great service experience with them since I got the car, and this time was also no exception. They completed all the work nicely and promptly.
After the service, I took my car for Wheel Alignment at my trusted place, Madhus Tire Centre, Wilson Garden. This is the only place I trust for all tyre and wheel work, including Wheel Alignment and Balancing, for all my cars. So this time too, I took Dusty there for alignment before that upcoming monsoon drive.
Dusty at Madhus for Wheel Alignment:
Overall the car was fine. Apart from the regular service at 20k km and the wheel alignment, no issues that needed any attention. Happy to report that the petrol smell I mentioned earlier is completely gone now after the fuel filler cap was changed. Thus, indeed the fuel cap was the culprit, and changing that solved the problem.
Monsoon Drive (Goa and Maharashtra) with Friends:
After this early service, I set out for the most awaited drive of the season – our traditional annual monsoon drive to Goa and South Maharashtra (Konkan and Western Ghats), with my close friends. Our close group of BHPian friends, including @robimahanta, @graaja, @KarthikK, @abirnale, @praveenbalan, @tilt, and myself set out for this epic drive through the worst rains of the season, and through the heartland of heavy monsoon.
This drive was full of adventure, drama, and action as we traveled across some breathtakingly beautiful scenery and lush green hills and forests, and experienced some torrential rains, some totally broken roads, some challenging hills, and many sections full of heavy rain and thick fog with zero visibility! We had all the elements of a challenging monsoon drive mixed in this single trip.
One of us will write a separate detailed travelogue on this drive. But I could not resist sharing a few pictures from this epic drive here for now.
Dusty on her way to Goa, for this monsoon drive:
Scenic forest roads drenched in the non-stop rain:
Some challenging road conditions on the way to Goa:
Posing next to @abirnale’s famous “Red Sparkle”, under thick fog and very low visibility, at a restaurant near the Karnataka-Goa border:
After traversing some horrendous roads through the hills, now on the smooth and scenic roads of Goa:
Next to @robimahanta’s Thar at Holiday Inn Resort, Goa:
With “Red Sparkle” somewhere in Maharashtra, at a highway-side restaurant:
Scenic roads through the ghats of Maharashtra:
Our convoy on a mild off-road trail:
At a lake:
Posing with the other Thars in the group:
At the famous Anuskura Ghat, under thick fog, heavy rain, and close to zero visibility:
No monsoon drive to Maharashtra is complete without piping hot vada pav with green chilly on the side:
At another scenic roadside location:
Overlooking a lake:
The three Thars (@tilt’s Thar, my Dusty, and Robi’s Thar):
At another lake, views from the windshield:
So many lakes for Dusty to enjoy in this drive:
View from the driver’s seat:
On the final day of the drive, on the stretch back home, Dusty was truly dusty and muddy after this epic drive through the toughest of the monsoon conditions:
The trip meter at the end of the drive stood a bit above my estimated 1,800km:
What an amazing drive it was! Surely a memorable drive. Dusty stood true to her name and character, and handled every possible challenge with aplomb! This was the perfect car for this drive, and I am feeling so happy after completing this drive with Dusty.
Please stay tuned for a full and detailed travelogue on this drive by one of us, to be written sometime soon.
Till then, this is all. Thank you very much for reading!
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