November 5th – Chiplun to Mumbai - the end of the Grand Tour of India

As we might have expected there is always a sting in the tail! Our last day of driving took us the final 250 kms from Chiplun more or less due north to the finish at the Gateway of India, Mumbai. Because we were delivering the car to the docks this afternoon, immediately after the finishing ceremony, we had to leave early. We set off at 6 am just before dawn. There was mist and low cloud for the first half an hour of driving as we wound our way through the Western Ghats for the last time. I will miss these mountains with their beautiful green scenery. They were the first mountains of the trip and now they are the last.

I haven't posted many pictures of the painted trucks. They have all sorts of multi-coloured decorations and signs on them. This one says it all,'India is Great and 'I love India'!

Everything was going fine for the first 100 kms and then I heard the first warning signs of my front disc pads wearing out. A scraping sound came as each time I braked. It steadily got worse over the next 50 kms. By now we were only a couple of hours out from Mumbai and I decided that it was possible to make the rest of the journey by braking very gently and nurse the car home. Being an automatic trying to use the engine for braking is not that easy but we managed it. By the time we reaching the Taj Mahal Hotel in down town Mumbai the noise from the brakes was terrible. It is funny to think that we have driven over 7,500 kms, just under 5,000 miles, and the brake pads finally gave up on us a mere 150 kms from the end.

We rapidly unpacked our bags and waited for the finishing ceremony in front of the Gateway of India. When we went down to the lobby of the hotel, who should we see but Suzanne, who had only been able to do the first third of the tour as she had to return for her young family. She had made a second journey to India to be there for the finish with her co-drivers, Carol & Wendy. Here's a photo of all three just before the finishing ceremony started.

At 2 o'clock precisely we all lined up in number order and were waved across the finishing line by John Brown, whilst a group of Indian dancers performed in front of a giant banner of The Grand Tour of India.

Here are a few of the photos we took as the cars went across the finishing line.

















Now, a special thank you to my wife and fantastic navigator for all her wonderful photos. Ninety percent of the photos I've posted to the blog have been taken by her. Many were taken when we were driving, and with my driving, that's no mean feat!

A great adventure had come to an end. A trip around a continent that has brought us so many surprises and happy memories. I'll sum up the trip with a final posting after we return to the UK.

Once the ceremony was over we had to drive, with seven other cars, straight to the docks to deliver the cars for shipping. As usual with Indian bureaucracy the place we were directed to would only deal with imports, so we had to drive in convoy through the Mumbai traffic to the export area of the docks, some 8 kms away. Once again we had to drive past some of the terrible slum areas of Mumbai. It certainly brought home to us how lucky we are and how terrible the living conditions are for so many Indians. With my brakes sounding worse and worse we finally arrived at the container base and I said goodbye to my trusty vehicle.

We all took taxis back to the hotel to get ready for the final dinner at a waterfront restaurant in Mumbai. It was a chance for everyone to celebrate a truly amazing trip around India. We all feel very lucky and privileged to have done the tour. As we left the dinner many were talking about the plans to do a south-eastern Asia tour in 2009. I for one can't wait!