A Weekend Trip To The Hills

A friend vg wrote in with this succinct account of a recent trip to the hills:

This weekend went to a Lake in hills. Got lost and then found out an alternate and then had rally in hills exp. Steep climb, loose gravel road took me 2 hrs to drive 22 kms and at the end of the drive I had to drive the Innova thru a river bed. Was good fun except a cousin of my wife was crying when driving we encountered a Bolero coming up form other side and I had to back the car on a narrow road. While, coming back took the normal road from the lake, traveled 36 km in 1 hr.

I don't know about you but the first question I had on reading it was : why was the cousin crying? Was she ill or was it a bout of travel-sickness? Or was she scared stiff? So I wrote back to him asking for reasons and commending the Innova for taking it. And this is what he said:

Cousin was scared, a wrong move and we fall into a 100ft ditch. All others were silent for the first 20-30 minutes, nobody expected the kind of drive we had to go thru. The good or the bad part is once I was on the track there was no way to come back. So I had to go thru 22 kms.

Innova always showed immense control and predictability, probably because it is RWD unlike the sedans which are FWD except Merc and BMW.

I can imagine the initial hush in the car I would have given a lot to be there - and driving of course. But did the Innova slip at all?

No, it didn't slip.

At one point there was a minor hiccup , I had to switch off both the ACs, apply both hand brake and normal brake and quickly shift down to 1st gear before the car/van could climb up. There were 7 of us in the car and the climb was steep.

The learning is don't go by what the people in hills say. Before I went on this route I asked a policeman and local shopkeeper. Both of them said the climb is steep but your car can take it and even buses use the same track. While going towards the hills I saw a bus coming down, so I thought it will be a joyride. It was quite an exhilarating trip, my wife had 2 remarks at the end of it she will offer 50 bucks in local temple and her vacation needs for next 6 months are over. Which is fine, the next trip is in November to Mumbai from Delhi by road.

Smart work with the gears and brakes. As for going by what people in the hills say - I'd add people in the plains too. Finally all I can say is : I envy!

PS: Did you also wonder what "rally in hills exp." means? My vote is for "rally-in-hills experience".