ROARR - Rythm of a Road Rallies

10 years and seven rallies, each of which has been an immense pleasure for me and the team from ROARR. And every one of the rallies below has particular memories for me; from the people who have kindly trusted ROARR to bring their cars half way across the world, to the grand adventures and wonderful journeys. Thanks to you all and I look forward to many more rallies over the next 10 years.
 

1st Jewel of India 1999

The first Jewel of India was an epic journey covering 6,500 kilometres, taking a small but beautiful band of classic cars from Mumbai (Bombay) to Madras (Chennai) via Rajasthan. In Rajasthan we visited Udaipur, Jaipur, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. The Rally then headed east to Agra and the Taj Mahal before turning south to Kipling country and the jungle camp of Khana. Continuing south we visited Nagpur, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mysore, Ooty, Madurai, Trichinopolli and Pondicherry before crossing the finishing line.
 

2nd Jewel of India 2001

The 2nd Jewel of India was just as challenging as the first, with the cars starting and finishing in Udaipur. At the drop of the starters flag wielded by His Royal Highness Arvind Singh Mewar the cars headed east to Bhopal, Pachmarhi and Khana National Park before turning north to the holy of holy cities, Varanasi. The real fun started with the drive into Nepal and Kathmandu. Heading north the great Himalayan mountains grew taller and taller as we approached the border with Nepal. Leaving Nepal by its western border, the event took in some of the great hill stations of India, including Nainital, Shimla and Dharamsala. We even stopped at Rishikesh, the Beatles's city of enlightenment. Breaking out of the hills the event dropped onto the desert landscape of Rajasthan and the oasis of Gajner before moving on to the great and ancient desert city of Jaisalmer. The event finished in Udaipur 23 days after setting off from the same city, thereby completing a unique circle of India.
 

1st Himalayan Classic Car Rally 2006

The Himalaya Classic Rally 2006 was a grand journey from Islamabad in Pakistan to Calcutta in West Bengal, via Nepal.  The Rally crossed the IndoPak border at Wagah before driving to nearby Amritsar, the home of the Golden Temple. Stops at the old Raj hill stations of Dharamsala, Shimla, Mussoorie, and Nainital were supplemented with a night at Rishikesh, the old haunt of the Beatles in the 60's. Crossing into Nepal we visited Royal Bardia, Lumbini, beautiful Pokhara and Kathmandu. Once more in India the rally took in Darjeeling and Gangtok in Sikkim before heading for Calcutta via Siliguri, Malda and Murshidabad and a rousing welcome in Calcutta from people and press.
 

2nd Himalaya Classic Car Rally 2007

In 2007 the Himalaya Rally for classic cars started in our favourite town of Udaipur and headed through Rajasthan before stopping at Amritsar, home of the Golden Temple. From there it wound its way along the Himalayas through Nepal before visiting Bhutan where we were privelaged to be the first ever event of this type to be allowed into this ancient kingdom. Once again the finishing line was in Calcutta, the most fascinating of all the major Indian towns.
 

Great Arc of India for off road motor bikes 2007 & 2008

 An adventure of a very different kind, following the Great Arc of India Meridian line 77'' 41'' in an absolutely straight line between KanyaKumari to Hyderabad. All off road adventure in the spirit of the Dakar. Very little tarmac, plenty of challenging terrain, numerous rivers crossings, high mountain climbing with camping all along the route.   
 

1st Tiger Rally 2008

 The Tiger rally was a unique classic car adventure of 35 cars travelling through the most exotic lands of South East Asia. 7,500 km from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur to the historic capital of Vietnam Hanoi, via the vibrant city of Bangkok, the magnificent temples Angkor Wat and the capital of Cambodia Phnom Perth and the mountains of Laos .

Great Arc of India 2009

 Cochin to Mussoorie into the foothills of the Himalayas, experiencing rural India with unique adventures and 5* camping along the route. The camping was the 'greatest moving camp site in the world' inspired by the era of adventure, as Lampton & Everest would have travelled in the 1820s. The camping produced great camaraderie among this small band of travellers as they journeyed the length of India.