The Moodie Davitt Roarport The Moodie Davitt Report is providing exclusive coverage of Wild Tiger’s Roar Trip, one of travel retail’s boldest CSR initiatives, via our special line extension, The Moodie Davitt Roarport. Via phone and social media, we are with Gautom Menon and Paul George Vedanayagam on every stretch of their epic 65-day road trip from Kerala to Cannes and be there to greet them on the French Riviera when they arrive on the eve of the TFWA World Exhibition. We are unlikely to be alone. Duty free retailers: If you’d like to meet Gautom and Paul along the way (see their destination course below) let us know at Martin@MoodieDavittReport.com. |
KYRGYZSTAN. The Wild Tiger tandem travellers have been roaring along the Kazakhstan leg of their epic journey – having driven from the Kyrgyzstan capital of Bishkek to Shymkent via the Korday border.
If you haven’t heard of Shymkent, then here’s some assistance from Lonely Planet. “Southern Kazakhstan’s most vibrant city, with bustling bazaars and a lively downtown, Shymkent has more of a Central Asian buzz on its leafy streets than anywhere else in the country. The Mongols razed a minor Silk Road stop here; the Kokand khanate built a frontier fort in the 19th century; Russia took it in 1864; and the whole place was rebuilt in Soviet times.”
But wait, there’s more. “Today Shymkent is a thriving trade centre that refines oil and brews two of Kazakhstan’s best beers, Shymkentskoe Pivo and the Bavarian-style microbrew Sigma.”
If they like refined liquids and great alcohol they’re going to love great refined rum, right? Wild Tiger is sure to roar here.
But before any rum-tastic moments were to be had, the Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan border had to be crossed – or ‘Skross-ed’ as Gautom puts it, in a bow to one of the Roartrip sponsors, Swiss company Skross, which specialises in travel adaptors and other mobile solutions for travellers.
“Border crossings are unique in this part of the world where the driver has to remain with the vehicle and other passengers need to cross by foot and meet the car on the other side,” Gautom tells The Moodie Davitt Roarport. “Once again, there were severe delays with Customs as they had to scan the TRiger car [a Tata Hexa].
“We are all well and roaring. Kazakhstan is quite a barren land and we are experiencing lengthy, lengthy drives.”
[Gautom walks across the road border bridge into Kazakhstan while Paul takes a TRiger]
The drive to Shymkent was lovely, Gautom notes. “We are pretty much following the ancient Silk Road by the looks of it. Roads in Kazakhstan are better and more organised than in Kyrgyzstan. Horses can be seen everywhere, just like cows are in India.
“We’ve lost count of how many people wave at us, wish us luck while the co-passengers are taking photos of our TRiger car as they pass us on highways and traffic intersections. Upon spotting us some of them start doing their Bhangra and Bollywood dance moves with wide smiles on their faces.”
Gautom and Paul, you’re putting smiles on plenty more faces. All around the travel retail world, in fact. Take good care and don’t go mixing too much Wild Tiger rum with that Shymkentskoe Pivo (right).
The Roar Trip continues.
AN EARLIER MESSAGE FROM GAUTOM MENON
Dear Martin,
It’s 41 days since we set out from Kerala to shed light on tiger conservation and prompt officials and global citizens to take action to save this big cat and the eco-system it helps to keep in balance.
The drive through China, from the food, the people to the contrast in the landscape has been worth undertaking. And we hit the 15,000 kms landmark in scenic Xinchang. Next, at Chengdu, we were joined by Terry Smith, founder of Bravo Fashion, and Roar Trip sponsor who not just joined us for a leg of the journey but commissioned a new range of glasses inspired by the tiger, pledging 10% of sales as a donation to the Roar Trip fund.
‘TRiger’, our tiger-striped vehicle has now completed 16,800 kms as we drive through Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. From police officers to young citizens and little children, every person we meet along the way helps us take the wild tiger’s message further. At Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, we had a fruitful discussion with the Indian ambassador at the embassy. We also met and discussed best practices with the team running the Snow Leopard Trust in the region and learn of the best practices during a conversation on wild cat conservation. The Ambassador flagged off our journey onwards, to 19 more countries, across 11,000 kms to complete our #KeralatoCannes mission for the tigers.
We have a long journey ahead of us as we muster forces to stand together and #RoarForOurTigers. Your support drives us on as we meet local influencers across 25 countries to take the conversation on tiger conservation further every day.
Help us spread the word and stay on the trail with us on www.roartrip.in.
Donate : www.roartrip.in/donation
Instagram – @roartrip2019
Facebook – @wildtigerfoundation
Twitter – @roartripwtf
Footnote: Our tigerishly tenacious co-pilots need your help to support the great cause of helping to save the tiger and its habitat. You can click here to donate (see below for more details) and have the opportunity to win a fantastic prize.
All those making a donation will be in with a chance of winning a two-night all-inclusive stay at any one of the Taj Safari’s luxurious lodges across India. The winner will be announced on 10 September on Wild Tiger’s social feed and winners will also be contacted by email. Click here for more details.
##RoarTrip, #Roarforourtigers, #KeralatoCannes, #WildTigerFoundation, #TigerConservation
HOW TO SUPPORT THE WILD TIGER ROARTRIP
Via the official website – www.roartrip.in
Or:
Account Name: Roar Trip WTF
Account No: 6766903189
Bank Name: Indian Bank
Branch: Sivananda Colony Branch, Coimbatore – 641 012,
Tamil Nadu, India
IFS Code : IDIB000S075 /SWIFT: IDIBINBBCBE
Please encourage your colleagues, friends and family to consider doing so.
En route to Cannes, the daring duo will be meeting up with other travel retailers. Those wishing to ‘meet and greet’ them are encouraged to make contact. Yes, Gautom will be checking his email: gautom@wildtiger.in
EARLIER ON THE WILD TIGER ROARTRIP…
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’: Stranded at the border but captivated by the view
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’: Goodbye China, hello Kyrgyzstan as epic journey passes halfway
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’: Mountains, deserts and the Great Wall of China
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’: Landslides, Hotpot and Terracotta Warriors
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’: New frontiers for The Roar Crew
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’: A tiger gets loose in Laos
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’ Days 13-15: Turning on the (King) Power in Bangkok
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’ Day 12: Crossing the Indo-Myanmar Friendship Bridge
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’ Days 9-11: “For their tomorrow, we gave our today”
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’ Days 7 & 8: The Tigers Who Came to Tea
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’ Days 5 & 6: Wild Tigers become Bengal Tigers
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’ Days 4 & 5: The team earn their stripes but not a tiger in sight
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’ Day 3: High times in Hyderabad
The Moodie Davitt ‘Roarport’ Day 2: Wild Tiger roars into Dufry Bengaluru
#RoarTrip, #Roarforourtigers, #KeralatoCannes, #WildTigerFoundation #TigerConservation
ABOUT WILD TIGER RUM: Kerala-based Wild Tiger is India’s first rum to be produced from a blend of molasses and cane spirit. The rum’s velvet tiger print stripe packaging reflects the fact that no two tigers share the same stripe pattern – so the stripe design of the sleeve has been designed and cut to ensure that no two bottles are alike.Wild Tiger made its Indian travel retail debut in February 2016 and is now available in 53 countries.
ABOUT WILD TIGER FOUNDATION (WTF): Wild Tiger Foundation is a CSR initiative by Wild Tiger Rum, which contributes 10% of its profits to the cause. It is a registered non-profit organisation headquartered in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India that focuses on the conservation of the tiger and its habitat by raising funds and creating awareness. It was founded in 2015 by drinks entrepreneur Gautom Menon and Coimbatore-based businessman Suprej Venkat.
The primary focus is the conservation of tigers and their habitats within the state of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, specifically Parambikulam Tiger Reserve in Kerala and Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu. Wild Tiger Foundation acts as an influencer and an enabler.India had around 100,000 tigers in the mid-19th century. Today it has around 2,200, underlining the urgency of the conservation cause.
