Unbearable heat and rising temperatures in Delhi necessitated a temporary change of location for our office, as we decided to head for the hills in the Kia Carens.
Summer, so far, hasn’t been kind – in fact, it has been cruel, especially in Delhi, where the heat is brutal enough to melt your head and scramble your brains. Or at least, that’s how we felt. So, to unscramble our brains, we were desperately looking for a trip to the hills for some much-needed respite. The problem was that there were a bunch of launches lined up, and the closing of this month’s issue was also around the corner. In short, there was a ton of work to be done.
Mountains are Calling
After a lot of thinking, we decided to temporarily change the location of our office. Okay, let me explain. You see, the Kia Carens is part of our long-term fleet, and Kapil had been raving about how good it is for carrying a bunch of people. So, we – Shivank, Divyank, Karan, Kapil, and I – without wasting any time, piled into the Carens and headed off to Uttarakhand. The idea was to work while travelling.
Our first stop was Mussoorie. The road to Mussoorie is pretty straight all the way until Dehradun, and I wasn’t expecting too many complaints from my colleagues, except, perhaps, from Karan who is 5’11” and was in the third row. You see, I took the keys to the Carens, for I wanted to drive it quite a bit. Half an hour into the journey on the butter-smooth Meerut Expressway, I suddenly heard the sound of snoring. Turns out, most of the guys had dozed off. It was a good time to see what the Carens was capable of, without the risk of making my co-passengers nervy.
Without a full load, the Carens felt even more assured around corners
On the highway, the Carens, with a diesel mill and a six-speed torque converter automatic, proved to be an able companion. I could easily maintain highway speeds – the Carens was fully-loaded up by the way – and do regular overtakes without any pre-planning. The MID was showing that the car was returning more than 20km/l, which is pretty impressive. As we started our ascent to Mussoorie, my co-passengers started to wake up and were surprised that we had made good time.
After reaching our destination, we checked into our hotel, which was soon followed by a call from the office. We needed to send in our stories for the magazine, but nobody wanted to work from their rooms. So, we found a flat ground with mountains all around us, borrowed a table and a few chairs from the hotel, and began working. A couple of hours later, as the evening sun was about to disappear into the night, we wrapped up the work and headed back to the hotel to turn in for the night.
'The Carens had no trouble keeping up with highway speeds and overtaking required no planning. All of that and the M.I.D. showed 20km/l'
The next morning, we headed to Tehri Dam. It was a three-hour drive, and as everyone wanted to take in the views, I once again found myself in the driver’s seat of the Carens. I wanted to reach our destination as soon as possible so that we could catch some water sports activities there. So, I started hustling the Carens. Although we’d brimmed the Carens with people and luggage, it still felt nimble and agile around corners. As we reached Tehri dam, we checked into a hotel before heading to the water sports area. The path till there was rough, which meant a bit of off-roading, and given that the Carens was loaded up, I was a little worried about scraping its belly. Surprisingly, it didn’t, thanks to the great ground clearance.
Working out of the Carens proved easier than expected
We spent the next day working out of the boot of the Carens, by the side of Tehri Lake. It was now time to head back to Delhi. None of my colleagues pestered me for the keys to the car, as they were quite happy in their respective seats in the Carens. Divyank was our on-board DJ and had us humming some really good tunes. The music quality from the Bose speakers was simply excellent. Shivank and Karan were the navigators and were busy looking for nice spots, where we could park and work. And Kapil was busy clicking pictures from the third row.
Time to Head Back
The Carens truly had something to offer to everyone on the trip, and honestly, I couldn’t have been happier behind the wheel, as the driving experience was quite engaging. And I think the reason nobody wanted to take over the driving duties was that everyone was comfortable in their respective seats. After this excellent and much-needed trip, all I can think of now is to get the keys to the Carens again for one of my weekend adventures with my friends.
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