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Two Hong Kong policemen are preparing to embrace a “karmic experience” in India, which involves driving a 37-horsepower Ambassador through some of the most challenging terrain in the Western Ghats, braving the chaos of city roads and perhaps an occasional tiger or an elephant in a reserve forest!

Adventure junkies Tim Worrall and John Morgan are embarking on this mind-blowing journey to join 50 teams from around the world in a car rally that will raise money in charity for projects in south India and Britain. The Karma Enduro Rally, which gets under way in mid-October, is an annual event that brings together plucky participants looking for some adrenaline rush while also doing a bit of good.

The rally will begin in Mobor beach in Goa, wind its way through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and end in Kochi in Kerala after two weeks. There are no prizes, although just getting back in one piece would be a reward in itself. “We’re doing this for the charity effort — we’ve raised HK$150,000 (about Rs 8 lakh) — and to see a special part of India,” says Worrall. He and Morgan have undertaken similar adventures in Vietnam, Sri Lanka and the Persian Gulf, but have never travelled in India.

“We know it’s going to be quite an adventure out there,” says Worrall. They don’t speak any Hindi, so they’re going to have to depend on hand-signals to communicate, “but I think we’ll do okay if we smile and be nice to people.”

It isn’t merely the thrill of hurtling through high mountains in a 1950s-era jalopy that’s enticing visitors from Hong Kong to India. At a seminar last fortnight, Hong Kong businessmen gathered in force to listen to first-hand experiences of their peers who have ventured to do business in India. The event was hosted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Standard Chartered Bank, which is celebrating its 150th year in India. Going by the bullish response of the assembled businessmen, it appears that many more of them will be undertaking an (ad)venture in India.