As part of Republic Day drive Madras Jeep Club did a Trail to Gandikota
A small pack of jeepers began the journey to Gandikotta from Chennai on 25th jan 2020 as part of Republic Day drive. The pack was small but there were 7 Jeeps making the small pack powerful throughout the drive. Visiting the Gandikotta fort, viewing the magnificent sunset and beautiful sunrise over the so called Grand Canyon in India. It was fun and adventurous. Ending with a trip to Belum caves a naturally formed cave dating million of years ago. The pack started its rally back to chennai to end the memorable drive.
The start and the end of the legendary trail of MJC ™ Chennai to Bhutan. It has been a legendary trail as this is the first of its kind from any Regional Jeep clubs in india.
The team participated in this trails as below:
Radhakrishnan
Parthasarthy
Manickavashham
Muthu
Prakash
Vimal
Rahuraman
Krishnakumar
Vinay
This trip was Meticulously planned and arranged by the above members only a true example for complete group effort.
Any Travel or Trips has a definite start and an end but the memories generated out of the experience has no end. I speak on behalf of the above when I say this. The group had a great bonding during the travel and have also discovered how strong and durable they are and how dependable Jeep Compass is. This is not a simple task travelling close to 3000 kms on tough roads ,hills and crazy traffic 🤦♂. The group ensured unity and shown the strength all the way. Everyone’s on their way back and settling down. Let’s give three cheers to this team. MJC™ rocks. Hope everyone here brings out their inner explorers and goes on such trails.
Special thanks To FCA & RDC for technical support, vehicle maintenance pre check before the trails and a get together arranged at Kolkatta.
The second major event by GOJ in association with BJC was scheduled in 3rd week of January. The trails was structured by the organisers from GOJ with a couple of recce to purpose the best experience for all Jeepers. The main event was organized at the famous Vagamon Heights and the off-roading was also in a controlled path inside their property.
Jeepers were thrilled at the preliminary approach to the reception of this resort itself with great off-road path and not to remark – only the resort’s private vehicles with their expert drivers were only allowed to ferry guests from parking place to reception area – but the path was exclusively open for all JEEPS.
A welcome drink to all Jeepers followed by lunch and exchanging of experiences amongst Jeepers was a pleasurable beginning to the event. The off-roading drive kicked off by 15:00hours and was scheduled to conclude at mountain top sunset point for a helicam shot. The drive’s first pit stop within 800mtrs was for a briefing of the off-roading pattern and advises to new comers by an experienced fellow Jeeper.
From there the drive through rough terrain was for the first steep ascend wherein every Jeeper was again briefed about approach procedure and maintaining the momentum. All Jeepers were able to climb the hill with ease and were delighted by the performance of their beast. The convoy lined up in same sequence as they started and proceeded to the next level off-roading with another hairpin ascend followed by downhill crawling on the stones. The path was barricaded with caution tapes on the edges of the boundaries of the mountain by the resort team – so that the Jeepers can maneuver swiftly.
With a few more rough terrain experience of stones, sand, mud the convoy descended on the lake area one by one. The trails proceeded to the last and exhilarating water / slush crossing – every Jeeper was guided cautiously with the speed to be maintained while crossing the muddy slush. The off-roading for the day was thus concluded by everyone lining up for the spectacular photo shoot at the sunset point.
All Jeepers with their family later assembled for the special cocktail dinner with lot of entertainment by fellow Jeepers and their family members. A little chilling weather later heated up by the activities on the floor and churning the cocktails. Karaoke, camp fire ballets and few more indoor activities kept everyone busy on their toes – till all restored back to their respective rooms.
DAY 2 started off with a group breakfast and the convoy lined up for yet another exciting drive through the narrow and secluded roads of Vagamon. The drive later moved through the town of Vagamon to reach one more hill top for yet another stunning photo shoot. The peak at the hill top was exclusively for the local extreme 4×4 tour operators, but a couple of our Jeepers tried to tame their beast on this stretch too and was successful with assistance from the fellow Jeepers.
This was also the dissolving point for other Jeepers who were supposed to head back to their respective cities. The rest of the Jeepers thus proceeded to the lunch point at the resort with added off-road drive to the reception area.
There comes the curtain down for yet an amazing trail.
Happy Jeeping…
Original Agenda
Our main event and the off-road trail will be organized within the properties of Vagamon Heights Resorts. This includes Jan 19th Barbeque Dinner and Cocktail Party, Jan 20th Breakfast, Off roading trail sessions with in their property and Jan 20th Lunch.
For accommodation, since the rooms are limited in Vagamon Heights, the Jan19th night stay we are getting arranged at nearby hotels to Vagamon Heights. Since the night stay is going to be in different hotels, please don’t expect the same standards across these places. We are working with Vagamon Heights to confirm on the near by resorts and will update soon.
Jan 19th
12:00 PM: Lunch place to be decided. It will be near Kattapana. People driving from different parts of Kerala is requested to reach here before 12:00 PM. BJC/MJC will be reaching here via Dindigul after overnight stay.
12:00 PM to 1:00 PM: Lunch.
1:30 PM: Start of the Drive through the Scenic Routes in Kuttikanam and Vagamon. Route to be finalized soon.
5:30 PM: Reach Vagamon. Each of you will go to the respective resorts where the room is allocated. Get Refresh.
7:00 PM: Reach Vagamon Heights Resorts for the Barbeque Dinner and Cocktail Party
11:00 PM: Back to Respective Resorts
Jan 20th
6:00 AM: Those who wants to participate in the Off-road trails needs to reach Vagamon Heights by 6:00 AM.
6:00 AM to 9:00 AM: Off-road Trails.
8:00 AM to 10:00 AM: Breakfast
10:00 AM: Back to respective resorts to get refreshed
1:00 PM: Reach Vagamon Heights for the Lunch
2:00 PM: End of Trail and the group will disperse
South Mountain Trails at Vagamon
The second major event by GOJ in association with BJC was scheduled in 3rd week of January. The trails was structured by the organisers from GOJ with a couple of recce to purpose the best experience for all Jeepers. The main event was organized at the famous Vagamon Heights and the off-roading was also in a controlled path inside their property.
Jeepers were thrilled at the preliminary approach to the reception of this resort itself with great off-road path and not to remark – only the resort’s private vehicles with their expert drivers were only allowed to ferry guests from parking place to reception area – but the path was exclusively open for all JEEPS.
Jeeping to Kolli Hills (Mountain of Jeepers / Mountain of Death)
A drive to Kolli Hills jointly organized trail from Bangalore Jeep Club and Madras Jeep Club on 9th / 10th June 2018, had a mammoth participation registered for 21 JCs. A couple of them had to opt out at last moment due to some personal issues, but were with us virtually for our entire drive.
An atypical delay in start off due to an unexpected long queues at the Toll just before our meeting point, deferred our scheduled by one hour. The Jeepers were able to cover up the delay by reaching the next breakfast point on time to have an astounding and yummy breakfast at Sri Muruga Bhavan – a country side restaurant. Must try their famous Ghee Roast and Idlis with a traditional serving on banana leaf. MJC Jeepers also cruised to reach this infamous spot on the dot.
After the scrumptious breakfast we headed to our next PIT stop / refueling point near Kalangani to be welcomed by a representative of a NPO – Leaf Society. This stop was also to handover the donations to Leaf Society – the cause of this drive to support the tribal community children’s education through them. All Jeepers and their respective accompanying enthusiasts donated generously for the welfare of the children.
A quick photo shoot and kicking off from this point to be headed through narrow lanes of village limits to join the District Highway to Kolli Hills, the intelligent Google maps identified that Jeepers are using it’s guidance and it deviated us from normal path and took us for a short off roading to start the trails to ascend the hills.
Jeepers were thrilled with maneuvering capabilities of JCs in accomplishing the 70 strenuous hair pin bends with an ease. The JCs convoy lead by Volvo was a breathtaking view to by passers and on coming traffic gave way to our convoy with due respect. A quick stop atop hill for photo shoot and couple of Jeepers trying their foot capabilities to the rock on the mountain.
Steering to the resort to start with an appetizing lunch and later check in for a short relaxation before the next program. Jeepers savored the delicious varieties of mangoes which were handpicked in the morning by JeepHR.
A quick scrutiny and trespassing by our Jeeper gang-leader on the surroundings led us to shuffle our scheduled program and move on to an off roading experience with 3 levels to descend the hill and return back through the unsurfaced narrow track with steep inclinations. A perfect guidance by fellow Jeepers shove back all the Jeeps from the dead-end path, Jeepers also accomplished a dusk climbing up through those narrow path.
Back to resort it was time for fun and everyone eyeing to win the challenge to own the Jeep Wrist Watch. The table aside the bonfire was filled with loads of the Scotches, Rums and what not – the toast was raised by all Jeepers with a Jagermeister. Jeepers shared their experiences with their beast and a lot of leg-pulling to fellow Jeepers. This was also a dais to update on the history of Jeepag and it’s forthcoming developments about our Group. The party continued even after the dinner and went on till midnight. The scheduled late night 150 minutes’ drive was cancelled owing to safe drive practice policies of Jeepers.
Day 2 started off with Jeepers at breakfast table and later distribution of BJC ‘T’ Shirts to everyone. An additional off roading was accomplished for the Jeepers who had missed out the first day’s adventures. After checkout from resort and a group photoshoot in tees, we Jeeped back to descend the spectacular hair pin bends. Jeepers lined up once touching the main highway to greet and see off the MJC Jeepers and cherishing the wonderful drive spent together.
The convoy proceeded towards the next Lunch stop at another famous “Ambur Star Biriyani” for a mouth watering Biriyani and a prettily packed beeda.
Another quick coffee break at Adhith Bhavan and a drone shoot of the convoy, all Jeepers drifted back to Bangalore with colossal memoirs of the drive and flooding the amazing pictures on group.
There ends this Journey, marking a beginning for the next drive.
Original Itinerary
DAY 1 – 9th June 2018
06:30AM – Meeting Point – BJC /WW
Attibele Toll Plaza
Follow the convoy and please stick on to your position from start point.
Maximum speed limit 140kmph.
07:30AM – Coffee Break & Meeting Point for MJC (route 1)
Sree Saravana Bhavan – Krishnagiri
on Salem Highway
Opposite to Boat House.
08:30AM – Breakfast
Saisangeet, Dharmapuri
After hearty breakfast drive down towards Salem and take bypass towards
Salem-Namakkal Highway.
11:30PM – Refuelling at BP COCO, Kalangani
Take left towards Kalangani-Kolli Hills road just after the BP COCO Petrol
Pump.
12:30PM – PIT Stop at Karavalli
Stop before the start of first hair pin bend – for grabbing some snacks and
drinks, also slight relief for the Tyres and brake pads.
Drive through challenging 70 hair pin bends struggling through passing
trucks and narrow roads.
01:30PM – Semmedu – Meeting Point for MJC (route 2)
02:00PM – Lunch at Silverline Retreat Hotel
Checkin and relax, enjoy the picturesque view from the hotel at 3500 feet ASL.
04:00PM – Visit to Arappaleeswar Temple / Water Falls.
Advisable to squeez into fellow Jeep due to limited parking place near
temple.
A must visit ancient and very popular temple, the water falls is just next
to temple but need to descend by foot and not in Jeep.
Tentative (waiting for confirmation from Hotel Agent/guide) A Short drive to Coffee / Pepper Plantation.
06:00PM – Back to Hotel and at leisure
Exchange experiences with fellow Jeepers and especially with our CM about his drive to London.
Note : There is no Bar / Drinks available at this hotel, please carry your
own if required.
DAY 2 – 10th June 2018
10:00AM – Checkout and Descend the Hills
Drive smoothly and control the speed with lower gears, AT owners have no
other option but try not to keep foot always on brakes or use manual lower gears.
11:30AM – PIT Stop at Karavalli.
Give a break for the Tyres and Brakes to cool down sufficiently.
Head towards Salem Highway – follow the convoy.
01:00PM – Lunch Stop at Salem Toll
Hotel Salem Saravana Bavan just before the Toll after cross Salem Bypass.
The Monsoon Trails in Kerala was initiated and organized by KJC, had an equal participation from neighboring states Tamilnadu and Karnataka. This trail fulfilled the craving of Jeepers to drive through lush greenery and rainy off-roading over the slushy paths. Jeepers also had an opportunity to steer through the dense jungles of Idamalayar reserve forest.
The journey started from their respective cities of 3 states to meet up for lunch at a river side resort in Pollachi. All Jeepers were welcomed by a scrumptious lunch and a foreword / guidance to all Jeepers about the route to take, safety advices and off-roading instructions by FCA Team. A Jeep merchandise stall was also made available in the venue with lot of interesting stuff for Jeep fanatics.
A welcome kit consisting of snacks and emergency gears for insect / leeches care was placed in each Jeep. The convoy lined up to their assigned positions and moved forward through the Aliyar dam and Aliyar reserve forest to reach Valparai. The convoy of 32 Jeeps cruising through the towns and villages, astounded the onlookers and many came forward to question as what was going on. The convoy was give an almost a green corridor path by the pedestrians and by on-coming traffic – with dozens of cameras capturing us.
The Monkey falls greeted us to start our climb up hill to cover the strenuous 40 hair pin bends to reach our respective destinations. En-route we passed through a few famous places like Carver Marsh statue covered under scotch mist, breathtaking view points to overlook at the overflowing river and Muneeshwarar temple. All Jeepers were accommodated in the best available resorts of Valparai and the age old well maintained bungalows. After a quick freshup and couple of Jeepers taking a quick walk through the tea plantations greeted by lot of Leeches and Bison, headed to group dinner and cocktail at Directors Bungalow. Jeepers exchanged their experiences and winded up on time to retire to bed as scheduled.
Day 2 started off early with Jeepers lining up by 5:30 AM for the 4 kms off-roading trail through the Briar’s plantations which was exclusively made open for Jeepers – another great endeavor by KJC organizers. Everyone were astonished by the capabilities of their beast cruising through the slippery slush, bouldering the rocks, crossing the water logs and climbing the unimaginable steep slopes. After a fresh tea break at the peak all of us headed back to our respective bungalows / chalets and tents for the late breakfast.
A quick lunch at Director’s bungalow and everyone lined up for the next journey through the reserve forest to the Athripilly falls. All Jeepers were disappointed when the scheduled trip was about to be cancelled due to road closure through the narrow lanes of forest due to falling of trees and a local bus veered off – blocking the road. When everyone were about to turn back their Jeeps, the organizer got a green signal from forest officials to enter the forest area and those officials were kind enough to lead our convoy for few kms. The view through the dense jungle ride was astonishing with a few water crossings and whispering birds / animals all through, also a few resonance waterfalls on the way to main water falls.
The entire forest roads were filled with and only Jeeps all through, as this was limited entry roads with pre-approvals to drive through the jungle. The most highlighted scene of this trail was we keep seeing boards everywhere like elephants crossing / animals crossing, but for the Jeepers it was unique sight as if the elephants were warned with a board “Caution – JEEPERS crossing please give way”.
The next stop at Rainforest resort opposite to Athripilly water falls hosted a grand dinner exclusively for us, with very tasty and live counters of local delicacies. The view was mind-boggling from our seating area and we could feel the showers and mist from the falls. There comes the end for another fabulous trail and respective Jeepers departing to their schedules or stays, clutching lot of memories from the drive.
The additional stay for BJC and MJC was well spent witnessing the spectacular FIFA finals on big screen with Champagnes, Beers etc. Everyone back to home shared their experiences of the Trails and thanked whole heartedly the organizers for putting forward such an exceptional show, the last liner uttered as usual – when and where is the next trail..
Happy Jeepin.
Original Agenda and Itinerary
Kerala Jeep Club has planned a Monsoon trail during June/July. This will be a great opportunity and experience to enjoy the drive through the natural beauty of Gods own county during the splendid rains in Kerala. This will be planned along with Bangalore Jeep Club and Madras Jeep Club, including participation from south members as well as from other club members who wants to drive down to Kerala.
Depending on the availability of space for co-passengers in our jeeps, the invite will be extended to North, West and East members so that they can fly down here and join one of the jeeps and enjoy the drive.
55 kms from Valparai to Athrimpally through core forest.
Offroading Trail planned at Valpari Briar Plantations
Itinerary
BJC & MJC:
BJC to start by 6:00 AM from Atibelle Toll Plaza, Bangalore
MJC to start by 4:00 AM from Poonamala Toll, Chennai
Break fast at Sai Sangeeth , Dharmapuri by 8:00 AM to 9:00 am.
9:00 AM drive to Pollachi
Lunch at Pollachi by 1:00 PM (Place: Sakthi Resorts), SAKTHI RIVER RESORTS INDIA PVT LTD, 10th km , Opp to Subbe gounden pudur pirivu,Meenkarai Road , Trissur Highway , Pollachi.
KJC
Meet at Saravan Bhavan , Vadakkencherry for Coffee at 10:00-10:30 AM
11:00AM Drive to Pollachi. Reach SAKTHI RIVER RESORTS by 12:30. Have early lunch before the MJC and BJC. Once MJC and BJC arrives, KJC will help with stickering the vehicles, arranging convoys etc
Starting Point of Drive: Pollachi (on a Saturday, 14 th July)
Once MJC and BJC arrives, KJC will help with stickering the vehicles, arranging convoys etc
Sub convoys will be arranged depending on your assigned place of stay with an admin vehicle for each sub convoy
Starting point of drive from SAKTHI RIVER RESORTS by 2:30
2:30 PM drive together to Valpari. This is a 2 hrs scenic drive with 40 hairpin bends.
Saturday Night
Reach Valparai by 5:00 PM
Each team will go to their respective assigned resorts/Bungalows to get fresh
Stay is arranged at multiple bunglows like
Stanmore Bungalows, Briar Group
Monica Bungalows, Briar Group
Sirukundra Bungalow, Briar Group
Fair Villa Bungalows, Briar Group
Directors Bungalows , Briar Group
Soul Bungalows, LNB Group
Meet for Dinner by 8:00 at Directors Bungalow
Sunday
Breakfast 6:30 to 7:30 at their respective bungalows
8:00 AM Trail through Briar Bungalow plantations.
Lunch 11:00 to 12:30 at Directors Bungalow.
1:00 PM drive to Athrimpally. This is around 60 KM scenic drive through Sholayar forest to reach Athrimpally.
3:30 PM: Reach Rainforest Athrimpally for dinner with lake access and waterfall view at Rainforest Resorts, Athrimpally
8:00 PM: Bangalore and Madras group will move to Trichur for Sunday night stay at Casino Hotel and for the screening for World cup Finals. Kerala group will disperse (any one requesting stay will be provided a Sunday stay).
Monday
Vadukumnathan Temple visit for those who wants at 6:00 AM
Morning Breakfast at Casino. Start from Trichur by 8:00 AM to Bangalore and Chennai
MJC (Madras Jeep Club) wanted to create an opportunity for a meet up where family members can also be part of. A ground work done by Deepak, Kirubakaran and Yogesh of close to 3 months got around 15 families participation. True to the name of Yercaud Trails the stay was in GRT Trails one of the best Resorts in Yercaud right at the 20th hair pin bend.
As they say any trip starts with a bang. It literally happened with thee JC punctures. True to the word of jeepers drive together. Fellow Jeepers stayed to help each other.
MJC wanted everyone to have a feel of how the trails would be as we have seen videos of other trails hence it was organised with help of Mr Razaq of Yercuad. We were taken to a scenic 1000 acre estate having 10 KM trails. This was an awesome experience ,the beauty was all Jeepers managed this trail in midst of jungle type estate with ease and as pro’s.
MJC had written to FCA for support and support was arranged by FCA in the form of Salem Jeep Dealer True Sai. They were throughout the trails to provide support for us during the trails. This trail completed without any hick ups.
The convoy travelling on a 16 km stretch from heart of yercaud was a sight to see for the locales as many took videos of the convoy and jumped on an opportunity to take photos. Many stopped to ask if it was any shooting or what was happening
There were surprised families at GRT who had stopped me and asked what is this story of so many Jeep Compass around and I was questions as I was wearing Jeep AG t shirt. Benefits of merchandise. The family was so shocked of our unity and all he could say was “I am surprised that a metal has bought unity of families”. He thanked me saying now I can sleep peacefully as now I know.
For 15 families being there and meeting for the first time it never felt like that. My son quoted – “Dad I had a nice time during this trip. Even though all 15 families met for the first time. It never felt like that unknown faces meeting. It was like a family trip“
For this trip we had 11 jeeps from Chennai and 4 from Karnataka. Two Jeepers from Nellai joined and Dharmapuri also joined us.
All is well that ends well. On May 1st Jeepers decide to do something for the Mother Nature also. We thus planted saplings at GRT trails premises. A small give back to Mother Nature.
Special thanks to PSH and Hemanth for being with us and guiding us through the trials. We were surprised by their energy and knowledge.
Original Itinerary
29th April, 2018
0545 – 0600 hrs – Assemble near Sriperumbudur Toll plaza on NH 4.
0600 hrs – Leaving together as a convoy of 13 vehicles.
1130 – Pitstop for Photography on NH 44 near Thoppur (2 families from Bangalore will meet us during the journey).
1230 – 1300 hrs – Arrive at Cenneys Gateway Salem and have lunch.
1400 – Continue journey.
1500 – Arrive at GRT Great Trails Yercaud.
1600 hrs – Short trip to Pagoda view point and photoshoots.
1830 hrs – back to hotel.
1930 – 2000 hrs – assemble for dinner with campfire.
30th April, 2018
0730 – 0830 hrs – Breakfast.
0900 – 1700 Hrs – MJC Adventure thrilled off-roading in Yercaud consists a total distance of 10 km, dividing into 2 sessions (5 km each) with lunch in between. The Regional FCA Team will join MJC convoy with a support vehicle that will be equipped to deal with repairs, punctures and tow ropes. Now regarding the off-roading track and location, MJC has finalized on Grange resort Off Road adventures for providing us support with the trail track.
Hotel GRT Great Trails Yercaud is coordinating with FCA and Grange resort to make all the necessary arrangement, so that lunch can be planned at same location where off-roading is taking place. All the Jeep Compass participating in this event are 4×2 vehicles. We hope FCA along with Grange resort Off Road adventures can provide us trilling off-roading entertainment.
1730 hrs – Back to resort.
1830 hrs – 2030 hrs – Fun activities with dinner.
01st May, 2018
0730 – 0830 hrs – Breakfast
0900 – 1030 hrs – Fun Activities
1100 – 1200 hrs – Check out
1200 – 1330 hrs – Lunch followed by drive back to Chennai / Bangalore
Please feel free to mail or call us for any further clarification. The following people are the coordinator’s from MJC.1. Mr. Yogesh Gupta (9840255521, [email protected])2. Dr. Deepak Victor (9176684668, [email protected])3. Mr. Krupakaran (9444493464, [email protected])
