GREAT ARC VINTAGE CAR RALLY 2009

The Great arc vintage car rally started from kanyakumari in the southern tip of India to Mussorie in the Himalayas to commemorate the ‘great arc’ survey done during the 19th century.
The Great Arc, a mammoth project, began 200 years ago by a visionary called William Lampton.The plan was to map a line 2500 km long from north to south that would reveal the curvature of the earth and begin the task of accurately mapping the entire subcontinent. Nothing similar had been attempted before nor has been since. A half -ton theodolite had to be transported by foot through unchartered territory- but the heat and malaria took a heavy toll. The project took over 50 years to complete, claiming countless lives including that of lampton himself, all in the name of science. indeed such was the nature of the task that it would arguably never have been completed had it not been for the determination and genius of lampton’s successor, sir George Everest, after whom mount Everest was named.
Hailed as ‘one of the most stupendous works in the history of science’, the great trigonometrical survey, set the base for the definition of Indian topography. This is the foundation on which all of India’s infrastructure-roads, the extensive rail network and telecommunications are planned.

This car rally was organized by ROARR (rhythm of the road rally) and kalypso adventures. The rally consisting 27 participants in 12 cars and 3 SUV’s.We recreated the living environment of ancient 19th century camp at each of these locations. Luxurious tents in scenic spots in rural countryside with attached toilet, hot water bath, dining areas with a moving kitchen, were transported across the country to cater to the rally schedule. Needless to say that the mobility and functioning of this mega facility involved phenomenal logistics and supporting vehicles and a specialized crew.
Starting on the 6th of February ’09 at Kochi in the state of Kerala this rally passed through 10 states covering 5000 kilometers to reach Mussorie in a month’s time.

The cars participating were:

1935 Bentley special sport
1937 Lagonda
1952 Chevrolet convertible
1958 Jaguar XK150S
1965 Volvo 122s
1966 Volvo 144s
1968 Mercedes Benz280sl
1969 MGB roadster
1970 Mercedes Benz 280sl
1970 Buick convertible
2007 Land Rover 90 Defender

Camp Dindigul (Tamil Nadu)

Six days of hard work furnished us with a camp fit for kings.15 luxury tents with attached western style toilets,hot water showers and a central dining area.Now all we had to do was wait for the royalty to show up.much to our surprise ,when they did it was much before the scheduled time .over a span of seven hours the rallyist trickled in and we had our hands full settling everyone in.

A good shave and a massage after a long long day

Day 1. This first day we had something special rolled up our sleeves.A wine tasting session(in the middle of no where with the bar being a bullock cart!).



Day 2. For the early birds we started the day with a birding walk,sighting quite a variety . The plan for the day was a drive up the palani hills and back by late afternoon followed by a formal dinner.

Formal dinner



Ten years of age and a veteran of three rallies already

Day 3. An easy day in comparison.Generally around the camp and working on the cars for the next days long drive to ooty.

Tinkering


Camp Hampi(karnataka)

Day 1.yawn, 18hours of straight travelling and the 14hours of overnight sees the camp completed.Quite an achievement considering it took us 5 days to complete the first camp. But then we have only 8 hours to complete the next one.This campsite is on the bank of the river Tungabhadra situated in a river island called the 'hampi island'.



'BEST VIEW BARBER SHOP' Hampi


Day 2. This day is spent lazing around in camp, some go on a historic tour of hampi and ofcourse some use it to tinker around with their cars.A special candle lit dinner is in the cards.

A hampi sunset





We call it the island of light

Camp Kaddam (Andhra Pradesh)

Situated in northern andhra pradesh, it was quite a surprise for even us to find forests over here.In fact on recce we met a couple of officials running DNA tests on tiger skat.Seems like there are about a dozen tigers roaming in these jungles and yes we did spot a leopard that night in the vicinity of the camp.anyway , so like i was saying, only 8 hours to prepare this camp!
Good morning bentley


This day an optional drive and picnic lunch was planned,an loop of 120kms and lunch on a river bank near the dam.

joy ride

Camp Panchmarhi(Madhya Pradesh)
Panchmarhi is a old cantonment town, it is also our last camp for this rally.The campsite being a police firing range. Again we had only 8hours to complete the camp, but by now every one was on top of what they were doing so wasn't much of a problem getting it set up.

Alignment

the catering team

final fare

This is where we part ways, the rallyist drive further north passing through three more states to reach their destination whereas We head south glad that everything went according to plan. till the next time.....

cast and crew

TREKKING AND RAFTING THROUGH KERALA

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a Raleigh expedition, one phase of which involved a 17 day trek and rafting experience across Kerala, organized and run by Kalypso. This was no easy feat especially for someone like me with no previous experience in trekking or any strenuous physical activity for that matter. So having to one day start trekking with a heavy rucksack, for an average of 10 hours a day came as a bit of a shock to my unprepared body. But as a group we stuck with the challenge, overcoming exhaustion and pain, while focusing on reaching the campsite for the day.

The first 2 days were definitely some of the hardest, not only because of the tough terrain but also because we had to keep it up for up to 12 hours each day. Despite this, some my clearest memories come from these days as we trekked up and down mountains in what seemed to be a constant drizzle, sat on top of mountains eating lunch while taking in spectacular views and sceneries, walked as fast as possible through forests crawling with leeches that attached themselves to us anywhere they possibly could, crossed streams as soon as we began to dry out, slipped and slid down rocky mountains spending more time on our rear that we did on our feet and took turns to sit around a fire during the night to keep a look out for elephants while trying our best not to fall asleep.

Our Kalypso guide- Jerry

Reaching campsites at the end of each day filled me with such a sense of achievement that I had managed to finish yet another day of trekking, but our work did not end there as we had to set up tents, cook dinner and complete all the other tasks that needed doing before settling down for the night.

Cooking on a campfire

Getting a special meal ready

One of our many campsites

As the trek progressed, we got into the routine of getting up at the unearthly hour of 4.30 each morning, packing rucksacks and taking down tents in the dark, stuffing as much porridge as we could down our throats and setting out for yet another day. As we headed out each day I would anxiously wonder if this was the day I would finally be unable to reach the campsite. But thankfully with a little help from my supportive group, most of whom spent quite a bit of time holding my hand and pulling me up hills, we managed to reach campsites everyday in good time.


Girls will be girls

Honing our navigation skills

Along the way, we would stop at tiny chai shops where a nice hot cup of chai and a banana did a lot to rejuvenate tired bodies and spirits. If we were lucky we would also manage to spot tiny restaurants and gorge ourselves on parotas and egg, fish, chicken and beef curry, pretty much buying the entire place out and thus avoiding the much dreaded “rice bags” which we carried as lunch. As we stopped for breaks in these small towns, intrigued locals would stop and ask us why we were walking with all our heavy gear when we could just as easily take a bus.
We also developed an affliction we termed “the trekker’s waddle” which was the result of all the aches and pains and which replaced our normal gait with a mix between a limp and a waddle.

Lending a helping hand Sitting outside a tiny chai shop

As the days wore on, we trekked through forests so thick we could barely see the person ahead, got a few more leech bites, climbed to some of the highest points in South India, jumped into rivers whenever we could for a welcome swim and wash, washed clothes as we sat on rocks in the middle of a river, nearly had our tents blown off in the middle of the night as we camped on top of a very windy hill and I personally discovered that I have a very poor sense of balance.

Time for a wash

Learning the art of lungi tying

As the final day of trekking drew to a close, we finished on a high, having had to push ourselves on the final stretch which was all uphill, finally arriving at our campsite with whoops of joy and hugs all round. We ended the day with a candlelit dinner around a table (a rare occurrence) which was kindly cooked for us by our host.

Celebrating the end of the trek The final sunset in the mountains of KeralaThe next day we set out for Neriamangalam to begin the rafting and it was a relief to be able to sit in a moving vehicle rather than be on our feet. On reaching we were instructed on how to build raft with bamboo poles, rope and inflated tubes. Splitting ourselves into teams: ‘The Pirates’ and ‘The Titanic’, we completed the task in about 3 hours and set out on our journey down the Periyar River. But due to the dam being shut, the river was as still as a pond and no current meant that it took us about an hour to do 1 km. Rowing was hard work but us Pirates (Arrr) and the Titanic persevered, despite one of our tubes developing a hole which I held closed with my thumb for the last half hour thus earning me the name ‘Captain Gluefinger’, and accidentally losing one of our paddles leaving us with only seven rowers. The rafting proved to be tougher than imagined but was an equally memorable experience.

To bring this adventure of ours to a close, we decided to spend our last day at Fort Kochi and had a relaxed time wandering around seeing the sights before heading back to Mysore to say our last goodbyes to everyone.

This trip has definitely been an experience of a lifetime and it still amazes me that we actually accomplished all that we did. Some of my most memorable moments were taking a small detour down a slippery and rocky mountain path to see the most beautiful, pristine waterfall in the middle of nowhere which I’m positive only a few people have ever had the opportunity to witness, sitting and having a wash in the middle of a stream while watching tiny fish swim past, deciding to slide down rocks instead of navigating it on foot, pretending to be pirates, a whole lot of hand holding and the sense of achievement and pure joy on reaching the final campsite.
This is an experience I would recommend to anyone!