Make your own road - the Jeep & Gypsy way.

As I guessed (so rightly), Chennai was back to its normal hot weather on Saturday. There
was no sign at all of the rains and good weather that we had had for the preceding 3 days.

But that did not deter us (a group of 30 guys) from doing the long-planned road trip. We met
at 12PM (hot, hot sun) and then drove down on the East Coast Road (known better as ECR - runs along the sea) to a secluded beach which the off-roading gurus deemed as a good place
for off-roading.

As the 10-odd cars turned spectators to a sport that they cannot even think of doing in their wildest dreams, the 2 Suzuki Gypsys (known as the Suzuki Samurai in other parts of the world) and the 2 4WD Jeeps took over, mesmerising the audience, most of whom were seeing offroading for the first time.

There was nothing that deterred these beasts - they ran over shrubs, jumped into pits which were like 3 feet or more deep (and came out easily), drew circles on the beach sand and even climbed wild inclines. In short, They made their own road. See pics below.

1. The beasts set off for some fun on the beach.


2) The Gypsy did get stuck once when it bit a little more than it could chew - see below. But
then the Jeep came to the rescue with its winch and steel cable.


3) The Gypsy is not deterred by a failure and tries again. But does not succeed.


4) The Jeep does make it (on the 3rd attempt though). But then it has AWD.


5) I have loved the Gypsy from childhood and after this, I am smitten. Check out this pic.
Looking as if it is coming up from the sea. A la Halle Berry in that Bond movie. :-)


6) The other Jeep - I liked the open looks of this one.


7) The cars at the restaurant parking.


8) Some wild shrub with flowers, on the beach.

9) The Jeep making its own road.

By the time we were done with this and reached Mahabalipuram for lunch, it was like 4PM. Everyone was hungry and thirsty and tired - more so because all the action was under the

hot sun. But all was forgotten as soon as the Kingfisher beer bottles came out. :-)

As the tagline for the beer goes, "The king of good times".

P.S.: If you happen to find yourselves at Mahabs, the Moonrakers restaurant is a good place

to go to, if you like seafood (nice calamari) and beef. And ofcourse, nice chilled Kingfisher to

wash it all down with.