Day 08 Chill
Today was a day to calm our nerves and indulge in some rest and food. It was an early start though as we got up at 5 to get a boat ride along the ganjes to see all the ghats and locals washing themselves in the river. Joe had a go at rowing but with the holiday taking its toll already the guns were looking pretty pathetic at this stage. It was a beautiful morning though as we saw the sun rising and added a high to some of the lows of the past few days. It was back to bed after then we found a mechanic who took away our rickshaw to fix. It wasn't ready until late that day so we spent another night here but weren't complaining. Once returned it seemed fine and we headed out for some food to prepare to carry on with the journey.
Day 07 Tow
With the start of the day unclear as to when it started as we were awake all night we decided to break out of the roadside abode at 3.30 as we couldn't take it any longer. We waved off our hosts that appeared not to sleep either and were up allnight cooking. We nursed our rickshaw 80 km up the road with an uneasy feeling of its reliability. We saw a mechanic there who had a quick look and vouched for its reliability so we moved on only to break down 10 km down the road where a local ran for a mechanic and we waited surrounded by new friends. Once on our way again it was another 20km made before another breakdown, this time luckily outside a mechanics shop. On the way again with 100km to varanesi to go we had a sinking feeling that was proved right when we broke down another time 65km from varenasi, this time with no locals around to help. The heat started to beat down and I made a trek to find water from a local pump to quench the thirst. With an hour passing and only a taxi stopping to warn us of the dangers we hung in there. To distract us from the monotiny grainne would occassionally lose pieces of paper with emergency numbers down the dual carriageway being swept by the wind and Joe anxiously ran after them with one flip flop on towards oncoming trucks, I think the boredom would have been too much otherwise. After a couple of hours a jeep stopped for us and what seemed to be the first genuine smile of the day offered us a tow. Grainne was left in the rickshaw with his wife while he took joe, now barefoot from all the running up and down the dual carriageway, to a local town where he bought some rope. On return the ladies were loaded into the jeep and joe sat in the rickshaw on the end of a rope being flung around the roads. He took us to his home where we were seperated into men and women. Grainne was in a room with the women who offered her food covered in flys that she tried to politly refuse but didn't go down very well. Joe with the men felt important liking this new shovonistic lifestyle where he was king with other men. Once in this mans home he realised the situation had soon been reduced to money. He now called for grainne who really wore the trousers, to enter into the bartering war with a nice hotel in varenasi at stake. It was soon done and the two were back on the road for 13 pounds for the last 50km. Joe once again being hurled from side to side around trucks as grainne opinted and laughed from the comfort of the jeep. Once there the hardships of the day slipped behind us as the view of the ganjes greeted us along with some other rickshaw teams not to mention a nice hotel room with minimal jungle life.
Day 06 Buddha
After lots of early starts today we had a lie in and spent half the day giving our rickshaw a new lease of life. Feeling refreshed we headed to bud gaya, the birth place of budhism, to find ourselves. Once we found each other we were greeted by some local kids who offered to show us around. We were shown around the temple and birth place of budha, very spiritual. After lunch it was back on the road aiming for varenesi. All the previous good karma was now yanged with some bad as we broke down in the middle of nowhere. As the engine went silent and smoke came off the engine our situation showed across our faces. It was a walk around the local road town to find a mechanic and a wait to get it going. It was brought back to life but felt like its new life was hanging by a thread. We decided not to drive into the night and found a highway roadside stop to eat and sleep. It was a cold welcome and an erie atmosphere. A couple of young lads joined us at dinner to make us feel welcome and we enjoyed some good conversation and food. Then we saw our room, it was very basic with a straw roof and stone walls and a cow was walked past our room and we were locked in. Every noise spooked us that night as the room turned into a jungle with fireflys and big bugs jumping over us and truckers continuosly pulled in.
Day 05 Police Escort
Our early start planned for the day was delayed firstly from ignoring the alarm for an hour then by a dead rickshaw. We wheeled it down the road where a befriended local poked the local mechanic to wake him for his new duties. The speed with which the problem was fixed made joe feel distintly inadequate about machinery. Once on the road it seemed plane sailing with empty dual carriageways and a finely tined beastie. The locals in this area seemed a little less friendly than previously met but directions were still aquired and progress still made. We even had time to pick up some taxi fares, on the house of course. We bumped into another four teams today which really lifted our spirits having some comrades for a while. We met a very nice pair of men who went further than giving us great directions but one actually got in to guide us on the right path, his reasoning being that for him a guest is a god and he was our host that day. Once on the right track again we decided go our seperate way as night was drawing in and we had a lot of ground to cover. As we headed south we saw the sun set to our right which gave us big smiles. As night drew in our smiles soon dissappeared as we were now in the country with 70km still to go. With our minds playing tricks in the dark we pulled along side a car waiting for a train to pase and saw what turned out to be an angel. He told us to follow him and he would guide us to the next town, the friendlyness really warmed us up for the rest of the night. Once in his town we were invited in to meet his family, all of them as there was his daughters wedding the next day. We sat as the whole family leant over us giving us drinks and food. We then went on our way to our hotle for the night but the man insisted we get a police escort and took us to the police station where he arranged one promptly. We were then sat behind a jeep full of armed police officers taking us to our hotel.
Day 02 Cracking On
With memories of the previous day surfacing as we awoke we had an insight into what might lay ahead. After refuelling with petrol and food it was a trip down the mountains to the river. We gave our rickshaw some punishment as we hurtled over rocks and dusty lanes. The herd was now reduced to us and one other rickshaw who decided to keep each other company for now. Once we hit the tarmac we almost covered a days driving in the mountains in a couple of hours. The trucks were big down here and we were like a midge buzzing through the traffic. With the pace wanting to be kept up we decided to do some night driving but not for long as pedestrians soon became invisible and trucks even bigger. We stopped in a small backwater town looking for rest and food. We found a room inhabited by many species of biting insects for 120 pence between four of us. We ventured to the high street to find food and decided to be well mannered and abide to the local customs. This didn't go to plan as Steve from the accompanying team had a freak nose bleed and bled over his dinner. This was immediately followed with grainne running out of the restaurant to make convulsing movements. We quickly made our excuses and left feeling alienated. When we returned we were soon disturbed a local gang of teenagers all waving cameras at us. It turned out we were the local attraction that night and invited to families homes for chai and gifts were accepted and our early night became a late on after visiting the entire town it seemed.
Day 01 Launch Day
The launch was at miday so we decided to cut the day short with one of the few available lie ins. There was just time for a bit of breakfast after this then it was on to the point of no return, the start line. There was an amazing array of brightly coloured rickshaws and a great sense of anticpation. A local dignitry came down to give a great speech to send us off. Before we knew it we were in our seats escorted through the town, the parade was soon reduced to a herd of rickshaws looking for the nearest exit. As we passed through high fives were gathered off local kids as we held our hands out, passers by wished us well and it was very exciting. the first problem came when all rickshaws piled into a petrol station and cleared it out leaving us with no petrol. Once on our way we decided to head west through the hills with a small tear away squadron of rickshaws, within this we found great friends and comrades to see us through the first day. We winded around hills and stopped in awe at the occasional sight. The facade of fun soon died down when night fell and the road became rocky. We guided our spuddy through squinted eyes until we reached one of the larger towns in the area, nongstoin. All rickshaws made it but left with no food and shelter the locals helped and opened up a local school for us to sleep in. The children gathered around shaking hands and taking pictures as if we were celebrities. Grainne seemed to draw a particular crowd and made many new friends and penpals
