chennai the next time a long weekend stares in your face flying out for a three nightsfour days trip to southeast asia or simply relaxing in a coffee estate in karnataka may not be the most attractive option increasingly welltravelled indians are looking to discover the country by road frequent soaring of air fares and difficulty in obtaining train tickets for short destinations like chennai to bangalore are also propelling many to hit the road the arrival of bigger make vehicles suvs sports utility vehicles and muvs multi utility vehicles is another factor many indians are looking at greater freedom and comfort like a stopover while travelling while doing a road journey from mumbai to delhi was unthinkable a decade ago today its possible to do that in three to five days today thanks to better roads restaurants and hotels along national highways sakshi vij executive director carzonrent said the car rental company which launched its self drive brand christened myles six months ago now has a 250 selfdrive fleet spread across 10 cities the company is looking to add another 1000 vehicles to the myles portfolio by the end of fy15 our car utilization in the selfdrive segment has moved up from six days six months ago to over 25 days every month now vij said cost is another important factor driving people to the roads for instance self drive of a swift car model would be rs 1300 per day for a fourday tour for a family of four this would translate to rs 5200 which in many cases would be the cost of a single air ticket delhibased cougar motorsport which started operations in 2009 has been organising a himalayan dash ladakh and a desert safari in rajasthan every year since inception of late there is a growing interest amongst many indians to travel to ladakh by car in fact most of our queries for this originate outside of north india ashish gupta co founder cougar motorsport said cougar offers guided motor tour expeditions wherein travelers can try their hand at the wheels in inhospitable terrains the package includes a car mechanic accommodation food and other permits emergency services that include first aid and oxygen masks cougar charges around rs 75000 per person for a 11night trip to leh similarly twoyearold adventures overland journeysbyroadcom has seen tremendous increase in interest for road trips earlier travelers were scared to take risks now people want offbeat experiences and are willing to pay the additional price tushar agarwal founder of the company said adventures overland offers packages for expeditions to places like ladakh bhutan rann of kutch or lahaulspiti since all addons and emergency services are taken care of agarwal finds single women senior citizens and families with small children and nris amongst his customers young boys usually just take their vehicles and drive off but single women or older people would be comfortable with some support he said a 12day expedition to bhutan will cost roughly rs 50000 through