November 17th
Since various deer were the only animals we saw in the jungle on the safari and the night drive, we decided to book ourself a ride for a safari in the core area of the jungle. However, to get to the core area, it is imperative to get all the documentation signed and ready before 5AM, yes, that’s even before the good ol’ sun makes an entry on to the scene. Our friend Ninad did not sleep the whole night thinking about the man eater. In fact he was so consumed by the thought that he got ready early in the morning and drive down to the jungle safari office to book a ride into the core area. Probably this one of the very few government funded offices in India that work even at 4AM. However, Ninad couldn’t get what we wanted. Since the access to the core area was limited, more so because of the man eater probability, we couldn’t get a seat on the safari. However, it kind of confirmed the man eater story. Frustrated, Ninad came back to the room and went off to sleep. Later in the day we all met up for lunch and discussed what we had heard about the man eaters. By now, the word was spreading across the resorts and some people were even cancelling their bookings due to the fear. We had no clue of what we could do for the remainder of the day. Our friendly waiter suggested we make a quick trip to Nainital. Sounded like a good idea. We had heard that the roads to Nainital are amazing and the place in itself is a beautiful hill station to visit. And we decided to head to Nainital. By the time everyone was ready to move out, it was 3:45PM…
The road to Nainital is indeed a beautiful one with a lot of twists and turns. There is oncoming traffic too but it’s quite scarce. Since we were to drive on this beautiful road, we took both the vehicles – the Endeavour as well as the Palio. I was at the wheel of the Endeavour throughout the twisties. However, about 10 kilometres before the end of the ghats, one of the wheels on the Endeavour started emitting a metallic sound. I pulled over to inspect it and what we had was a large bolt sticking its neck out of the rear left tyre. We parked both the cars to the side of the road to put the spare wheel on. But after removing the deceased tyre and then bring out the spare wheel from its housing, we realised that even the spare wheel was flat! Without wasting a minute, we bolted the punctured wheel back on the vehicle since it still had a tad bit of life left in it. Our aim was to reach Nainital before sunset and get both the gyres fixed. However, as fate would have it, 3 kms shy of Nainital, the tyre gave up and lost air completely. I some how tried to pull the car off the road but couldn’t manage it. A meter more and the tyre could come off the wheel. We had two wheels off the road and two wheels on it. The battle wasn’t lost yet. Kiran and I decided to take the spare wheel to Nainital, get it fixed and put it onto the Endeavour to make it drivable.
We removed the spare wheel and entered Nainital. At the entrance you need to pay a sum of Rs. 100, and you need to keep repaying it every time you enter, the same ticket ain’t valid again. Right after the entrance was a petrol pump which was shut already (7PM) and bang opposite the pump was a mechanic who too had shut shop for the day. This was just a hint of things to come. We entered the city and asked around for puncture repair shops. But after a lot of asking around, the only answer we got was, ‘Aaj Eid hai saab, sab mechanic aur pumture wali dukane band hai (today is Eid so all service centres and puncture repair shops are closed). Like most puncture repair shops in the western region of India are owned by Annas, the same shops in Nanital are owned by Muslims. We tried calling a few friends for help, but in vain. When the shops themselves were closed, what could our friends do anyway. Finally, with no other option in hand, we called up the Ford 24-hour helpline. I explained the whole situation to the guy on the call to which he agreed to help. A few minute later he called me back and told me that help would arrive but would take time since the closest Ford dealership was in Haldwani – an industrial town that was 50 kilometres away from where we were stuck. By the time all this jazz happened, it was already 9 PM. We headed back to where the Endeavour was stranded and waited for the Ford guys to arrive. A couple of hours later, the support vehicle arrived. Without wasting any time, our friend Trilok from Ford got the punctured wheel off the vehicle and put in another spare wheel that his team had brought along. Within minutes the Endeavour was back on four wheels that had somewhat similar air pressures. We were set to move and it was decided that we would head back for Corbett and chuck the Nainital plans altogether. But while the Palio eagerly cranked up, the Ford Endeavour posed was reluctant!
Since we had two wheels off the roads and two wheels on the road, we were switching on the hazard lights every time we would see a vehicle approaching. These lights had led to the battery draining out significantly and now the Endeavour wouldn’t start. Though not advisable, a normal car would still be push started in such a scenario. But the same can’t be achieved with an automatic transmission. So we had a new problem on our hands now. The guys from Ford got out their tools yet again and tried to give the battery a boost with the Figo’s battery. But the huge Endeavour engine needs an equally big battery to draw enough power from and hence the Figo’s unit wasn’t enough. By now all of us were frustrated, hungry and tired. But there were limited options. The Ford team even went to Nainital to look for help, but there was nothing to be found at 11:30 in the night. The whole valley was fast asleep already. We asked to Ford guys to go home since there was nothing that could be done until the next day morning. We spent the night sleeping in the cars again. As the day was about to break, we were woken up by the chatter of monkeys who had gathered around our vehicles. We managed to shoo them away without much drama and headed for Nainital again. The pump and the mechanic was still shut, obviously. We headed into town and spoke to a few truckers about our problem. They were eager to help but it was time for them to deliver their goods to various Market places and only agreed to come back later in the day. We didn’t know what to do, so we started heading back to the petrol pump and wait for the pump or the mechanic to open shop. Once we were there, we took a shot at our luck and called up the mobile no. that was scribbled on the shutter of the workshop. The person who picked up apparently ran a motor driving school in the morning hours and ran the service station during the day. Fortunately for us, he was close by and came around immediately to render help. Since we had explained him the situation, he brought along a Tempo Traxx to make the job easier. Within no time, the vehicle was fixed. After handing him a 500 rupee note, we started our return journey to Corbett.
Once back at Ramnagar, we got the spare wheel fixed, headed to the resort, packed our bags and started our return journey to Pune. It seemed like all the inconveniences were finally over. The roads were empty, no traffic jams whatsoever. Since I had to return the spare wheel at Haldwani and collect my repaired one, I had to take an alternative route which totally eliminated the bad patch of road we had experienced earlier. By night, we were already in Delhi. The next day we left early in the morning at hit Udaipur by nightfall. We halted at the same place where we had stayed at earlier. Himmat Singh treated us to a sumptuous dinner. After a brief sleep worth five hours we were rolling again. At Gujarat, we experienced some heavy rainfall which only lasted a few minutes, after which it was business as usual. After crossing the usual Mumbai traffic, we reached Pune by 11:30 at night. Next day morning we washed the Endeavour and returned in back to Bhavana Ford in Mumbai to conclude the trip.
Overall, we travelled more than 5,000 kms on this trip. Rarely do we get a chance to test a vehicle for such a long distance, across varying conditions. If we go to look at it, if the spare wheel was in proper shape we wouldn’t have encountered the chain of problems that we experienced in Nainital. The Endeavour delivered what was expected out of it and more. Overall, the Ford returned us a fuel efficiency between 8-10 kmpl which is slightly on the lower side, but we blame the auto box for it. But the same auto box extracts the power from the 3.0-litre engine in a very smooth manner and the combo has the ability to turn the objects in your rear view mirror to a mere spec in no time. In spite of driving around for the hours at a stretch, none of us experienced any sort of back or knee pain. The driver/passenger as well as the second row seating has phenomenal comfort and justifies the price tag. The third row seating is only good enough for kids, but in our case, it was folded away to make space for luggage. Enough has been said and written about the Endeavour by many experts already. But it can only be experienced once you spend some quality time with the vehicle like we did. After letting the Endeavour loose in all sorts of environment, like an obedient child, it highlights the facts as to what makes Ford an expert with SUVs the world over. We can’t wait to see what the new Endeavour will have in store for us with a lot of new creature comforts, better performance and all new styling which will present the new face of the Ford Motor Co.
Out heartfelt thanks to Ford India for giving us this fab vehicle for more than a week, and for helping us out when we were stuck at Nainital.
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