Back Home in Canada

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I've spent the last few days savouring the clean, fresh air of Canada.   Looking back, I'd describe the trip as a really absorbing experience from start to finish -- the culture shock of India as a whole mixed with our way of travelling (including navigating, accommodation and food, language, auto management) and the continuous visual stimulation.  We had some adventures, but nothing scary or intimidating. We didn't make it to Shillong in time for the cricket game, arriving the next day.  That's because we took a day to travel up to Darjeeling which was one of the highlights of the trip for me.  We could see the Himalayas !  After travelling about 3600 km in the auto rickshaw without incident, I got wickedly car sick on the ride from Shillong to the airport in Guhawati -- a 3hr. drive with an indian driver at the wheel of our hired car.  I haven't been sick in so many public places since high school !  I didn't enjoy the journey home too much.  I still don't feel completely right, and Patty has a bad cold -- but that's the worst that happened to us. Today I'll update our web sites and post some pictures....along with getting Barack Obama inaugurated.  That's a measure of how unsettled I still feel -- I don't even wish I was in Washington -- nothing that **moves** for me for a bit.

Wow ! 10 days since last update

Sorry about the delay in updates -- but we haven't been near internet access for almost 10 days.  It is now day 13 of the Rickshaw Run, and we are in Cochbihar (aka koch bihar) and heading for Ghuwati tomorrow.  We've been advised to avoid a number of towns as we leave the state of West Bengal for the state of Assam and to be sure to be off the road by 4:00 pm.  Reasons  for the warnings vary -- with rumours of bandits and/or terrorists.  In any case, it's not a pleasant experience to arrive in an Indian city in the dark, so 4:00 works just fine for us.  Our tuk-tuk companions of about 8 days now, David and Peter from All Tuk'd Tup are getting very good at early morning starts, so we're in the habit of getting off to an early start and avoiding a bit of the traffic madness as we leave a city.  Tomorrow we hope to do 350 km to Ghuwati.  That may be a bit ambitious given the varying states of the roads.

I'll come back and fill in the gaps by day, but for now let me list a few highlights.

Day Four -- We found our way to the village where the Frank Water project is underway.  Unfortunately we couldn't be there the same day as the project manager, so I'm sure we didn't get the full picture.  It was very interesting and the villagers and the Nandii NGO staffer couldn't have been more welcoming.  We ended up having a problem with the rickshaw and ended up spending  the night as the guest of the village chief (who is also the pastor).  We were honoured to eat in his home and sleep in accommodation he arranged. 

Day Five - Drove a long way to end in the dark in a town where David and Peter from All Tuk'd Tup  were staying and they guided us in to the hotel via text messages. Vishnapattnem.

 Day Six -- Spent a few hours in a town getting the auto serviced.  This meant we had a long drive to get to our next stop...including 30km in the dark on absolutely horrible roads.  Our Valerie drove fast and confidently and we arrived safe and sound in Golaper-on-Sea, to a charming hotel and a much needed meal and drink.

 Day Seven -- Today's drive was through a very industrial area that featured lots of cement factories and brick-making operations creating cloud of dust over everything. We saw many women doing this work -- carrying heavy loads on their heads and breaking rock.

 Day Eight -- Due to the last few days of rough road, we had to start the day at the mechanics shop.  This always attracts a crowd of onlookers and advisors who want to know where we are going, where our driver is and much more.  This meant another nighttime arrival into Mendipur which was very quiet as we drove in.  We later found out this was due to the town being under a curfew after a 'tussle' between hindu and muslim residents earlier in the day.  When we finally located the hotel with assistance from the police / soldiers, they hustled us into the lobby and slammed the door.  It was a little unsettling !  This time, we were able to help David and Peter who were one town away, unable to find a hotel.  They came rushing in about an hour later and we were glad to be together.

Day Nine -- We left town to reports of a nationwide petrol strike.  We found gas in all the stations we looked at, so the problem seemed to be centred much closer to Kolkata.  We spent the night in Barddhammon after an especially riotous bout of Indian traffic.  Patty was at the wheel and had to pull a U turn in front of a bus -- she gritted her teeth !!  We had dinner in our room, very relieved to be out of the line of fire.

 Day 10 -- We had to make up some mileage and tried out a 'local knowledge' route.  It was fabulous and we made very good time for most of the day -- the exception being when we got caught in some brutal traffic with trucks and were very nearly axphysiated before it cleared.  Valerie got a little too close to a truck's door and so our canopy had been slightly re-designed.  Nothing a little duct tape couldn't handle. We have used an awful lot of it on this trip !  We crossed the Ganges and were scolded by border service soldiers on the other end for taking pictures.  They made us delete the photos.  We managed 300 km to Malda.

 Day 11 -- Our goal today was Siliguri and we made it easily. We have rigged up plastic curtains for the back seat and they do a great job at cutting the wind.  It is quite cold in the mornings and we bundle up as much as we can.  Spent the night in luxury at Sinclair's hotel -- still, no hot showers but good to be here.  There are several teams here now and it is great to see them and compare stories.

Day 12 -- Day trip to Darjeeling in a hired jeep.  Priceless !

 

 

Day Three -- In the Book !

All's well with team CanadaWHOA as we end day three at a very nice hotel in Andra Pradesh province in the town of Vijayawada.  We're tired and dirty and looking forward to a shower and a good meal, some internet access and a bank machine that takes our cards !

We've seen some amazing scenes:  oxen pulling very heavily-laden cards sharing the national highway N5 with monster trucks all decorated like christmas trees.  I'll probably never drive again once I get home -- luckily Patty and Valerie are awesome.  Sorry for the brief report...off for a shower!

Made it to Pondicherry -- the starting point !

Just to let you know we're in Pondicherry, India after two long but uneventful flights on Jet Airways (my new favourite airline).  We met a nice young american woman, Katherine Dixon, who teaches english in Chennai, where we landed. She kindly invited us to crash at her apartment for a few hours after we landed -- saving us from dealing with an Indian bus station in the middle of the night.  It was a pleasant way to ease into the Indian experience.  We left her great apartment this am around 7, and got on a bus for the 2-hour trip to south to Pondicherrry.  It wasn't the TTC -- but great people-watching and it cost each of uf 49 rupees (about $1.50) for a 150 Km trip.  We're walking around absorbing the place, the people and the traffic.  Looks like all our worries about traffic will come to pass.  There don't seem to be any rules of the road, except the smaller vehicle loses !  We've met some fellow Rickshaw Run folks and will get to see our own rickshaw tomorrow.  We're debating about getting a phone that will work here.