For the longest time, Bobby had been nurturing with the idea of ‘bringing Nascar to the streets’, not quite the racing part of it, of course, but rather the spectacle of seeing vibrantly-liveried ‘racing cars’ on the open road to be admired by the public.

Working on that line of thought, we made racing liveries a theme of Enduro this year, and participants responded enthusiastically, many turning up on the morning of flag-off with gorgeously-dressed cars. Sunway’s famed sticker specialists Motorsport Playground had their hands full with our participants during the two-week period before our trip.

Evo Enduro 2019 didn’t just have cars; there were ‘racing teams’, with sponsors, and they made for a spectacular sight on the highway.

MEMORIES TO LAST A THOUSAND MILES

One by one… the cars trickled in, and before daylight even broke, a healthy crowd was amassing at The Linc KL parking lot. The participants of Evo Enduro were ready to hit the road!

We had some pretty esteemed company in too. Official representatives from Aston Martin, Bentley, Bufori, Ferrari, Maserati, and Rolls-Royce came over to give us a grand send-off!

Our first night was spent at Satun. Because of the distance, as well as documentation issues at the border, it was well into midnight when we reached the hotel.

We settled in for a good night’s sleep and recharged our batteries for the days of adventure still to come.

As usual, the challenge every year with organizing Enduro is how to make the coming one better than the last? Through our constant interaction with previous year participants, we quickly formed a few ideas. It quickly became clear that this year’s Enduro would be less about the destination and more about the journey as well as the friendships we can forge along the way.

There was to be no mad rush to the border from the wee hours of morning, only to be a madder dash through darkness once inside Thailand. We decided that everybody will take a full two days of driving to reach Phuket with plenty of stops along the way – one overnight at Satun – to smell the roses and mingle with each other.

A gentle purr of the engine and the wheels begin to turn. The white Lotus rolls along leisurely out of the border checkpoint. A couple of onlookers turned their heads; if only they knew the story of its epic adventure. After eleven days on his own foraging every hidden corner of Thailand, Suresh has come home.

With the end of every adventure, begins the thinking and planning of the next one. Suresh’s check-in message in the official event chat group confirmed that all participants had safely made it home. Evo Enduro 2018 had officially come to a close, and the countdown immediately began for 2019.

After stretching ourselves pushing to Hua Hin in 2018, Evo Enduro returns to Phuket in 2019 with a renewed purpose on enjoying the journey and each other’s company.

As with previous years, the journey home takes on a more low key mood. The cars each departed at their own time and pace, strolling their way home at leisurely pace. The Evo team departed in group, but our convoy too ended up spreading far and wide along the 500km journey to the border.

We reconvened at Sadao just before the Bukit Kayu Hitam checkpoint. The sun had already set, but there was still time for one last McDonald's munch before we lined ourselves up to complete the border crossing paperwork. The team put up a night at Juru, and there was even time for breakfast at our northern clubhouse #dropthetop before we completed the final leg homeward.

Like all good things, Evo Enduro 2019 came to its inevitable end. As we do every year, we made new friends, and shared memorable moments together. This year, we learned to appreciate the journey a little better, and that made the experience that little bit richer.

We'll be back for more, but for now, we'll satisfy ourselves by cherishing the memories of the previous one, eagerly anticipating the next.

Oh, and Suresh came home with us this time.