The Great Driving Challenge | User Application

Saurabh Uttam & Divya Uttam

Total Vote(s) : 312 | Total Testimonial(s) : 26

We are the Uttams- Saurab & Divya. We share the same thought school for a few beliefs like- no movie is complete without popcorn, no life is complete without exploring and no traveling without driving. We both are into social media marketing. Divya works with 20:20 Media, as their senior digital pr executive. She runs a community of over 3500+ people at http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/community/Fame/ and is very active networker in linkedIn, facebook, and twitter. Her connections include some of the famous Social Media personalities, and is personally known and followed by a large fan following for her blog. Recently, she played a big part in the marketing of social media event by her company. We consider "Great Driving Challenge" as a good platform to launch our very own http://www.secret.travel website, which will cover destinations distilled to their cores- from cultures to cuisines, from roads to rides and from scenery to the secrets attractions, from the view of a true traveler . Internet is our bread and butter. Coming to food, we are total foodies,(he a hard core non-vegetarian and she does not eat animals(dead or alive)). JBL’s & rockford fosgate enthusiasts, you will find loads of CDs in the glove compartment of our car. Travelling on straight expressways with a heart throbbing speed of 150KMPH to narrow trails of Goa in the late night hours, arguing on which next turn to take or restaurant to try, which sometimes turns into the lone dhaba we crossed for next 100 kms, we have similar adventure questions, yet points of settlement so different. We, the unplanned travellers, unleash the scenic beauty, meeting local people of country villages, feeding their stray dogs or trying their food and sometimes looking for accommodation to spend that dark stormy night and all driving our josh machine. Driving for us means being a predator and ruling roads with our passion of adventure. We love long drives into the late night, weekend night haults in never heard of place, dancing in the lone beaches, pondering under stars, bonfire in winter and cool bear bottles in summer with grilled delicacies and aroma of charcoal is what make us just say GO..!

We are the best candidates because...

We are better than the rest! Period Driving, exploring, meeting people online or offline are things we do all the time. You will find us either on Internet, or exploring the universe in our reach. And when it comes to social media we among the most active couple online. “The Great Driving Challenge” is not just driving and crunching more kilometres but also making people aware of our adventure and findings. Seems very interesting and good way to start my soon to be launched travel site Secret.Travel :) To make it a complete package, we will cover mountains, beaches, monuments, villages, the urban, and the deserted. We live to explore. If you don’t believe us... TRY US.

Our Travel Plan

Mumbai - Sillod(Ajanta Caves)- Pachmarhi - Jabalpur - Burla, Sambalpur District(leaning tower of Huma, Hirakund Dam) - Bhabaneshwar(Chilka Lake) - Puri - Vishakapatnam - Vijayawada - Kurnool-Goa - Mumbai POINT TO ENDORSE- Maps are good for reaching the destinations but ideal for finding what lies in between. Our objective is to explore the vast panorama that India offers - the hills, the beaches, the cities, the villages, the wildlife, the temples, the lakes, the Dams, the highways... to capture its essence, and as is said in the intro we intent to cover from cultures to cuisines, from roads to rides(Cedia) and from scenery to the secrets attractions, from the view of a true traveler. A true traveler is a person who explores things with an amateur outlook taking in whatever he can, and experiencing every destination first hand. He just does not sit on the bus and watches the local people. He mingles and becomes a part of them. We believe every destination has its own story to tell and with this we have segregated our focus on what we are best at- Saurabh concentrates on Driving and taking Divya to heard-off yet not truly explored and does photography. While both of us will mix with localites, get the inside scoop, unearth the legends and stories, Divya will bundle it on Social Media platforms, and on to http://Secret.Travel (which at that time will be specifically dedicated to Great Driving Challenge). She is also responsible for live tweetting, blogging, updating her profile and spreading the word. POINT TO RE-ENDORSE- Maps are good for reaching the destinations but ideal for finding what lies in between. And with this we will gear up the Mistubishi Cedia and first make port at Ajanta Caves. Our intent is to unearth the local stories which may have passed over generations and meet the monks there. Ajanta was originally carved out of volcanic rock by Buddhist monks, were only rediscovered in 1819. The oldest off about thirty caves date from before the birth of Christ. Next are the set of locations we will touch and might anchor the Cedia to. Pachmarhi- Apart from the local british monuments we will cover the Satpura National Park. We hope for a chance to watch some beasts - bison, tigers, leopards and four-horned deer. Jabalpur – The name comes from the Arabic word Jabal= Mountain. It has a beautiful collection of Marble Rocks called Bhedaghat bordering the holy Narmada River. We will cover the Duandhar Falls, Marble Rocks, and the Chausath Yogini temple. Burla(Sambalpur District)- Burla is situated on the banks of river Mahanadi and is surrounded by mountains and verdant forests making the town very picturesque and green. The Kachcha Market of Burla is out from the ‘Malgudi Days’. We will be covering Hirakund Dam and leaning Temple of Huma, at Sambalpur. Bhubaneshwar- Konark - Puri- The picturesque triangle is famous for their architecture and ancient temples, including Jaganath Temple, Black Pagoda, Lingaraj Temple, and the quiet beauty of the Vishwa Shanti Stupa. We look forward to discover more than what it shows on surface here. Chilka Lake- Coming here how can we miss the world’s second largest lagoon in the world. Vishakapatnam- Viajayawada - Chirala Known for its unspoilt beaches, Vishakhapatnam is naturally locked with sea and mountains. Nearby lies the scenic Araku Valley and Borra caves, the 11th-century Simhachalam temple and ancient Buddhist sites like Thotlakonda and Bavikonda. Vijayawada is bounded by scenic Araku Valley and Borra caves, the 11th-century Simhachalam temple and ancient Buddhist sites like Thotlakonda and Bavikonda spread across the area. Kurnool- Kurnool lies on the banks of the Tungabhadra River. The Handry and Neeva rivers also flow through the city. It exists for more than 2000 yrs, we are sure to find some great legends here. Goa- The name says it all. With its majestic beaches, churches and mast night out. Picture this- Cedia with the background of Beach, and an arial shot of Cedia on the beach from when we paraglide. Awesome I know. An Enthralling Expedition. Back to Mumbai to be announced the winner! Thank you for your applaud.

Our Travelogue

We have been traveling across India and some destinations abroad (Read that only India). Together- 1) Hyderabad- Saurabh loved the Chicken Biryani there :) and Divya hated the Paani Puri. One funny incident that reoccurred with us was when we asked for directions. Remember whenever you ask a Hyderabad Local, never go with the right or left he says, but with the right or left he points out, because they always say turn right and point towards left. So who-so-ever is reading this know where to take a turn now. 2) Goa- Saurabh loved the prawns and the beer and Divya the beaches and fruit salads. You can find lovely sandy beaches in both south and north Goa. But life seems to be living in North, and tranquility in South. Don't forget to visit Palolem Beach. Its awesome! 3) Pune- Visited Pune for the Blogging Bar Camp. Beware of the auto rates. They will charge you Rs. 100 for the next street. Yes, we spent a fortune on them, poor us did not take our car here. Restaurants are jam packed, almost always. Divya always cribs of the sweet sambhar she had to eat whenever she has South Indian now 4) Jammu Kashmir- Indian Switzerland as they call it, a place where we got snow sick. A seven day trip in our friend's zen, got his car snow logged. Check the pick in our flickr account. 5) Kullu Manali- What an experience with white water rafting. Enjoyed it on the water and in the water. Saurabh fell of the raft before we even started. He He. Another cool place to visit is Hidimba Temple, there. You can actually find Animal Skulls hanging outside the temple. 6) Vijayawada- Had a nice river cruise in Krishna with local troop show on board. It was the Friendships day, and for us a Romantic Getaway from home. Divya just got nostalgic. Ok, the list can go on and on, with our experiences in Lucknow, Mathura-Brindawan, Jaipur, Mumbai and Bangalore, Chirala, Machlipatnam. Alone Divya has almost covered all north Indian Hill Stations including Musoorie, Nainital, Shimla, Dalhousie. She has traveled from Jodhpur in the West to Burma Border in the east. She remembers her trip to Imphal the most. But, she met with a tragedy again. Her camera was lost while coming back. Poor girl lost all her pictures, now wishes to visit the EAST once again. JIm Corbett is another of her favorites. Alone Saurabh has Safaried a lot. Kanha Kaisly, Rewa forests, Gomarda reserve forest, Bandhavgarh are his favorites. He is a big time Bhakt of Vaishnodevi. He has visited Dams like Nagarjuna and Bakhra nangal. Other places he visited are Pachmarhi, Shivkohri, Amritsar, Jamshedpur and Calcutta.

13th July 2009

Testimonials

Tarun

Saurabh is nice guy little kamina n hard core fan of chiken (no matter alive or dead)he can have both.at last but not least he is C.com also ;)only he know what it means...cheers Divya as name signifies very pretty, charming n of mixing nature..i enjoyed their company lot. Tc both of U.. :) :)

Mukul

They are cray roddies, driving car from hyderabad to Delhi.....loads of fun...All the best for new thril...

Sonal Sinha

All the Best!!!

Ambra

You guys are always rockin! All the best for next venture

Ankit Anand

hey Guys, keep up your driving spirit. I remember our trip to Pachmari with our Fiat car years back. I think I am late to participate but I hope you will carry our Fun, All the best buddies

tashvi

Hey gr8 yaar, would really want to be part of it, but gaurav say its too late to strat. any ways yaar you guys keep our spirit alive. Enjoy and all the best

Pankaj Sinha

enjoyed your flickr stream. my best wishes for the contest and hope its helping your numerous cause

Parul

I voted for you as promised. It took while to vote as I was not gettin confirmation email. Divya your pics are pretty dashing. Hmmm... you guys win sure

Avinash Rana

They are very passionaite travellers, I am confident that they will win the "The Great Driving Challenge%u201D my all blessings are with you...

Madhu Verma

You are great couple! I still remember the great times we on our Goa trip! Thanks for insisting to go by road. Best of luck. You will win I know.

Martha Fenzel

Divya is always for something new. they are good for the job. Good networking skills and always looking forward for new assignments.

Martha Fenzel

Divya is always for something new. they are good for the job. Good networking skills and always looking forward for new assignments.

R Lakhani

Divya so great blogger you are and i know you guys are coming up with travel site. great guns keep going enjoy the journey

Preety Khanna

Hey guys, all the best

Jackie

Hey dudes, aish kero and jeeto. flickr pics are bindaas

Tanya

NICE! great driving

Sumit

any thing for you darling! wishing best to you

Sonal Singhal

They are the best couple...which everyone who knows them would agree upon. If I have to describe them they are 2 opposite poles which creates a close bond between them. Their passion for work and craze to move ahead in life is amazing. I look forward for them to win and wish them All the Best !!

merry

all the best!

Kurvinder

Oye baadshao, Ki gal hai inne kam vote... twade chaahan wale kiththe gaye. Divya nu dasso thoda jalwa shalwa dikhaye. Chalo jee all the best hai. You guys go rock the road.

Shristi Khandelwal

aab shadi kai bad i cant accompany you. have gala time and you are rocking

Minal

hey what is this all about, people are getting votes like anything. you guys are behind but i hope you will make it happen

rakhi

best wishes to you guys. looks interesting

Jasreen

Hello All, I rember our bike cruises, saurabh you were amazing with your karizma. Saurabh is amazing when comes to roller coster car driving. cant forget thoes fun days. this will be as fun guess and adventure

Archana Acharya

We all from Aajtak wishes you very best. We hope we will cover you once you start rallying there

H.S.Virdi

Saurabh is very taleted and nice boy. I know him the day he born. I have witnessed his childhood. He is working hard to establish himself and achieve certain goal in life. His wedlock with talented Divya has multiplied the intensity of passion. I wish him all the best for the future ahead of couple. God bless.

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