The group included 9 friends and 5 vehicles – three Mahindra Thars, one Toyota Hilux and a Maruti Jimny.
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A couple of months ago, I had done a solo drive to “Shola Heights” in my Thar 4×4. That trip is covered in this travelogue.
Shola Heights is a famous homestay in the off-roading circuit. This is located atop a hill, overlooking the majestic Kudremukh Peak. A nice hilltop place overlooking scenic valleys and mountains all around! While the homestay itself is a beautiful place, it can only be reached by a 6km treacherous hill climb on a dirt track where only 4×4 vehicles can ply! Even with a 4×4 vehicle, this trail offers enough challenges and fun. For more details on the place, please check out my previous travelogue mentioned above.
Now we visited this place again, this time with a group of close friends in their own 4x4s. Further, last time was a hot and dry February drive. This time, with the early arrival of monsoon, we did this trail under heavy downpour, and typical monsoon conditions (with mud, slush and a couple of stream crossings too!).
The two drives to the same place, just two months apart, had totally different conditions and felt like totally different experiences. I loved them both!
This time, our group included 9 friends and 5 vehicles (all 4x4s): I driving my Thar 4×4, @robimahanta driving his Thar 4×4, @jfk1975 driving his red Toyota Hilux, @Hemanth.Das driving his brand new White Thar 4×4, and @PrideRed driving his Jimny. In addition, @Rakishram, @praveenbalan, @MonkOnWheels and our friend Prabhath (who is not a forum member yet) were the co-drivers.
Since this place and the trail are already covered in detail in the previous travelogue, let me directly jump to the pictures from this drive, a drive that turned out to be a proper “monsoon drive” once again, without further ado.
The convoy of 4x4s at the beginning of the trail:
My Thar on the trail:
Robi’s Thar:
The convoy on one of the hairpin bends on the trail:
The brand new Thar of @hemanth.das, looked stunning in White:
The real head turner in the group, red Hilux of @jfk1975:
A waterfall and a stream in my windows, and the red Hilux in my rear view mirror:
My Thar crossing a small waterfall and stream (picture credit: @RakishRam)
The red Hilux in the stream:
The White Thar at that location, one of my favorite photos from this drive:
Evening Trail
After reaching Shola Heights and enjoying a sumptuous lunch and a session of laughter and chit-chat, we headed out for another trail in the evening. This was a much more difficult trail because it was full of mud and slush, and by now, it was raining heavily. Most of this trail was covered in 4L mode.
Red Hilux on this narrow trail:
Another view of the imposing Hilux, full of interesting stickers:
Views from the windshield, with heavy rain and mist all around:
White Thar tackling the trail:
Robi’s Thar (you can see heavy rain in the picture too):
A beautiful tree on a scenic corner of the trail:
Hilux under the tree:
Another view of the majestic Hilux:
The Thars following the Hilux:
Close-up of the White Thar of @hemanth.das:
And a close-up of Robi’s Aquamarine Blue
After that evening trail, under heavy rain, where we tackled plenty of mud and slush in 4L, we returned to the homestay for another laughter and chit chat session in the night. We had a sumptuous dinner too. It was a great evening to spend with friends.
A scenic location, our 4x4s parked outside, pouring rain and the sound of it on the roof, company of friends, great food, and never-ending stories of our road trips. It was a memorable evening. Thanks to all the friends who joined us on this memorable drive and made this trip so much more fun!
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