Jeeps in the wilderness

Most people in Bangladesh refer to "Jeep" as SUVs or even Crossovers, what they don't know is that Jeep is an American automobile manufacturer that introduced SUVs to the world. 

The term SUV was first used in the brochure of the full-sized Jeep Cherokee SJ in 1974 but the first ever SUV is considered to be the 1984 Jeep Cherokee XJ, other than that Jeep vehicles were used by the U.S military during World War II. 

Last Friday, Jeep Bangladesh hosted an event which was more of a trip for forming a club for Jeep owners. The journey started with everyone gathering at 300 feet road in front of Australian International School around 6:30 am. We waited there for everyone to arrive and meanwhile we had a light breakfast since we were running behind schedule and it was a very long drive. 

At 7:30 am, everyone arrived and we set sail and started the journey. There was a roadside assistance car that escorted us and helped line up all the Jeeps. Soon enough we reached the first toll booth for entering the highway. Of course, Jeep Bangladesh had got us covered and we entered the highway. 

Upon entering the highway, after going a bit, we switched routes and opted for a shortcut through a village, the roads were very narrow and not in the best condition, it was almost like touge, with hairpin blind corners and cars coming from the opposite side, took us almost an hour to cross that area and go up to the highway again. 

We cruised along the highway till we reached Jannat Restaurant and Resort for a proper breakfast, it was a really short break and we got back to the road as soon as everyone finished. The next stop was around 1 pm for Friday prayers at the nearest mosque there and after that, we didn't stop anywhere else as we still had quite a bit to travel and the daylight was going away.

After 9 and a half hours of travelling, we finally reached our destination: Nazimgharh Wilderness Resort in Lalakhal, next to the Bangladesh-India border. Lunch was served right after we checked in and after we had lunch and rested for some time. 

Around 8 pm, the Jeep Nations Club launch event was in order which meant live music, BBQ and the showcase of all the Jeeps there. The live music by Blues Brothers and Soul Sisters started upon going to the spot and a few moments later the Jeeps started to fill up the spot. 

The first one to enter was also the oldest and most unique of the bunch, a Jeep Cherokee XJ, which has a 4-litre displacement, inline 6, 12 valve, petrol engine. Back then the big displacement was used to produce torque, so, even though it has just 176 horsepower, it produces about 301 nm torque which is great for off-roading. After that, slowly the new Jeep Wranglers started to enter. 

Most of them were Rubicons with 2.0-litre inline four turbocharged engines with SELEC-TRAC 4X4 system in them. The SELEC-TRAC 4X4 system automatically engages four-wheel drive when it is required for maximum traction, giving you the best experience for off-roading. There was a turbo Sahara variant as well, 2-door,4-door, hard top, and soft top, all the variants were there. All of them were parked pointing towards the live music stage. The bonfire started eight after the cars were parked, things that day wrapped up after the live music ended and it was time for dinner. 

The next day after breakfast we went off-roading towards zero point, displaying the off-roading capabilities of the cars and it was no surprise they handled it like a champ and wanted more. After an hour of sweaty and sandy off-roading, we headed back to the resort, freshened up and started to head back to Dhaka. 

On the way back we had lunch at Grand palace and made several other stops along the way, after another long 10 hours the journey had finally ended.