Saturday 14th (Pallivisar – Kochi)

Left Pallivasar just after 7am driving through sun dappled roads twisting down the hillside. By 10am we had descended over 1000 metres and it was positively warm – even with the breeze from driving. The roads were fairly good most of the way but the last 20km was tough just with the volume of traffic; finding the Fort Kochi area was fairly difficult with narrow streets blocked by trucks unloading goods. Eventually we found the homestay we   had booked and emptied the rickshaw of belongings before herading off to the finish line at the Parade Ground arriving about 1pm. We were surprised to see that out of the 67 teams that took part, we were only the 26th team to check in although quite a few more arrived that afternoon.

There was a cricket match organised for 2pm against some locals. So eventually we cobbled together enough people to make a team. In sweltering heat, Dave was in quite a long time with the bat scoring 10, his bowling figures were 2 wickets for 8 runs but his bowling enthusiasm lead to a cricket injury so he'll be looking for lots of sympathy when he gets back. Overall the Adventurists scored a historic victory winning against a local team for the first time ever. In the evening, we  were ferried over to Bolgatty Palace where a rather raucous party was in full swing and we celebrated with a long overdue beer.

The end.

Whew!

Monday 9th January (Tumkur – Mysore)

Paid hotel bill – almost £9 for last night – and set off at 7 – getting out of town was easy. Today feels so much better than yesterday – it's amazing the difference a night's sleep makes. We only have a short distance to cover to get to Mysore. The countryside is lush and green with loads of palm plantations and lots of other crops as well. The towns we go through are much less poor and have more houses rather than shacks.

Arriving in Mysore was the usual chaos. Had to stop quite a few times for directions to a hotel and arrived just before noon. Luckily they had a room free. Bit of luxury today - so we sat in a shady courtyard, chilling with a drink and had only the second lunch of our trip. What a difference from yesterday. After a bath (yes, really) I feel so much better and have managed to get most of the dirt out from under my nails.

Went for a wander around Mysore markets – swarms of people trying to sell to tourists, colourful sari shops, fruit stalls, one alley selling nothing but bananas and so noisy – like most places in India. Then returned to the sanctity of the hotel for a G&T before the evening meal, how civilised.

Sunday 8th January ( Hampi – Tumkur)

Packed up and went down to look at river views. It is a lovely area with paddy fields, banana plantations and the odd palm tree dotted about. The landscape is littered with huge boulder formations

The route was very rural going through lots of dusty villages and seeing village life. There were odd areas where people had some kind of crop spread over the road, I think the idea was that the large trucks would drive over it and break it down – I'd love to know what it was. Also woman with large bowls of grain shaking it on to the ground to separate the grain from the chaff,I suppose. When you see the communal village pump and woman walking along the road with water carriers on their heads, it made me realise how much we take for granted - the fact that we will check into a hotel each evening and expect to have hot running water. The Frank Water total for this Rickshaw Run for all teams is around £80,000 – it's not too late to donate! The aim is to get to over £100,000.

We then came to a steep descent where the going was painfully slow then came to a complete halt while there was a stand-off between buses blocking the road. Not much further on there was another traffic jam at level crossing until the train passed. Around 1pm we were starting to flag and so was Tiger so we had a chai stop. We stopped an hour later since Tiger was losing power going up hill, waited another half hour for the engine to cool down and set off again but it was still not right. The next town was Sira where we found a mechanic. The brakes were binding causing the engine to overheat and lose oil. Pretty much all the oil that was changed yesterday had gone. Being a late Sunday afternoon, it took a while to source the replacement oil we needed.

The sun was beginning to go down as we set off from the mechanic and it was 60km to the next big town but it should be all motorway. The last stretch of motorway was scary.- the headlights from oncoming vehicles are blinding but it's the cars coming up so fast from behind that terrify. I stuck behind a truck that was going at a good speed in the outside lane and let everything go around us. Dave took over when we came into town and we found a tuktuk driver to take us to a hotel in town. The hotel had a very grand lobby but that was all. After a quick shower to get rid of the day's grime we went downstairs to eat in the 'family room', although neither of us really had much of an appetite, not helped by the fact the mushroom massala was mega hot (by my standards). After that we walked round the corner to an internet cafe to try to find a hotel for the following night but it was going slow and we were too tired to think so headed off to bed.

Saturday 7th January ( Bid – Hampi)

We're planning a long day today (over 500km at an average of an underwhelming 40km/hour), so we set off in the dark before the roads get busy. It should be highway most of the way but it's a rather vague definition really. The good thing is there are a lot of new roads with bypasses around the main town so we made good progress for the first 6 hours. Then Tiger lost power so Dave figured the engine had overheated so we stopped under the shade of a tree for half an hour. After that Tiger was back to normal but we still had a fair distance to go.

It was dark by the time we came off the motorway with (we thought) 20km still to go. It was tough driving along the road in the dark. The headlights aren't great and there is a lot of smoke about making it even more difficult to see. At last we turned off the main road – only another 4km to go, but when we stopped to ask directions we were told it was another 20km down the road. We went through a horribly busy town where everyone was out on a Saturday night and wandering down the middle of the road. Eventually we arrived in Hampi about 8pm absolutely shattered. The accommodation was overpriced but we were too tired to argue. Quick beer, food, showered (with ants) and bed.

We are definitely not driving in the dark again!

Friday 6th January (Ellora - Bid)

Walked up the road to the Ellora Caves  - a fantastic array of caves and temples (Hindu, Jain & Buddhist) which were carved from the rocks, the largest of which was built in 760 and is a truly remarkable engineering feat. It was very warm walking around in the early morning, we've travelled over 800kms in the last 2 days and it certainly shows in the temperature change. Packed the fleeces away don't think we'll be needing them again.

 

We set off by 10am and made good progress for the first hour but then we hit the outskirts of Aurangabad and got a wee bit lost in the centre. An hour(ish) later we emerged unscathed on the other side however the rattles from Tiger started to increase so we stopped in Shahgadh to get it checked out. We spent the afternoon changing brake shoe lining; changing the oil; packing out the squeaking battery and adjusting the clutch. For once we were off the main road and it was rather relaxing, someone brought us plastic chairs, then chai and we had almost no hassle.  We drove for another 10 minutes and realised our gaffered frame was making a lot more noise so we stopped again to get it welded. After the welding was complete and Tiger reloaded it was another 5 minutes before the photo taking was finished and we could go. Tiger still squeaks and rattles but hopefully we pre-empted a major failure at some point. The roads are filled with large sugar cane carts which are pulled by oxen. This holds up the all the traffic since the large trucks and buses struggle to go around whereas little Tig can zip off road and undertake. We arrived in Bid around 5pm and decided to call it a night there although it took a further hour of driving through traffic before we found a hotel.

Thursday 5th January (Meheshwar – Ellora)

Walked through temple near the hotel and down  to the river, people were bathing and washing clothes in it. It also seemed to be the place to walk the dog and take some exercise . Watched  the sunrise  then had coffee back at the hotel and set off 9:15. Had problems getting cash at  4  different banks – worrying.  The thrashing Tiger had yesterday going over all the bumps broke the exhaust mounting bolt so we stopped in Dhule where a tuktuk driver took us to a mechanic and we paid 20p to have it fixed. Fairly good roads all day – lots of dual carriage way in the morning. Roads were a bit tougher mid afternoon with lots of trucks that own the road although it was a car that ran me off the road.

Going up onto the Ghats was an experience, lots of lorries struggling to pass each other, Tiger coped well. Arrived at destination 6pm. A shower with hot water never felt so good!

 

Wednesday 4th January (Udaipur – Meheshwar)

Up, packed the rickshaw and on the road by 6am. We made it out of town and followed a large Tata truck for an hour or so up the highway.  It was bitterly cold for the first few hours, even huddled in the blanket,  but the tarmac was smooth and the traffic light so we made good progress. Fairly rural scenery – saw peacocks; a large monkey which ran across the road in front of us and then vaulted over a motorbike coming in the opposite direction; an elephant; in 2 separate villages we saw a young girl on a tightrope12 feet in the air. Took a wrong turning on the road to Ratlam and a chap we'd previously asked directions from, followed us to tell us we'd gone wrong. He then escorted us to Ratlam – which was where he was going. We stopped a couple of times with him for chai and spicy nibbles. The roads were really bad and we broke the frame of the rickshaw – plenty gaffer tape applied to hold it together. We were 20km from Dhur and phoned a hotel to book a room for night around 4:30. We thought it would take us a couple of hours but the roads were shocking and the light was fading fast. Ran out of fuel in the dark on a mountain road so refilled from the jerry can. Eventually arrived at hotel 9pm after 15 hours on the road – absolutely exhausted. Food. Bed.

Tuesday 3rd January (Ranakpur to Udaipur)

Set off just after 9am, it was cold driving but the scenery was fabulous as was the road. This is obviously a tourist route to Ranakpur so the roads were very well maintained. The views were green and lush, we passed lots of children on their way to school, going through the small, colourful villages. There were lots of women balancing loads on their heads looking very elegant in their saris. After an hour or so we headed downhill and came to a new road with a toll. After a bit of discussion, where we thought they were saying tuktuks weren't allowed , they eventuallly let us through and we continued on very empty and smooth tarmac – bliss.

Arriving in Udaipur was chaotic and we didn't really have a sense of where we were, so when we saw some rickshaw drivers we asked them to take us to one of the hotels overlooking the lake. We checked in dumped our bags and went out for a wander. Within 5 minutes we passed Rupert & Tanner's rickshaw so we joined them in their hotel for lunch. The afternoon was spent resting and taking in the sights since tomorrow is going to be a long day.

Met a few teams in the evening at a restaurant overlooking Lake Pichola where we had great views of both the City & Lake Palaces.

Monday 2nd January (Jodhpur to Ranakpur)

Up early for breakfast at 7:30. Discussed options of what to do today with Tanner & Rupert.   The plan is to get to the fort for 9am, then back to hotel for 11 and set off for Jain temples & hotel in the jungle with possible leopard sightings. Packed up bags and took a rickshaw (not ours) to the Meherangarh Fort overlooking Jodhpur. What an amazing place.... Huge towering walls rise up skywards, Inside the fort we took an audio tour. The architecture was magnificent with huge amounts of lattice work covering the outside of the building. The inside if the building was stunning.

Returned to hotel and packed up the rickshaw and arranged to meet Tanner & Rupert at the hotel that night. We set off looking for a petrol station, before we found one, we spluttered to a halt. After trying the reserve tank which didn't appear to work, we refilled using our jerrycan and funnel. The road out of Jodhpur was busy but we made good progress to Pali. After that the roads deteriorated with lots of potholes making it quite a bouncy ride.

We stopped for more fuel (our tank only holds 7 litres which lasts about 175 kms) the petrol station didn't have the 2 stroke oil & petrol mix but did have the oil sachets. We added the oil and topped with fuel. Just around the corner the engine spluttered and cut out. It started ok but when I went into first gear, it cut out again. This happened a couple of times so Dave took over and revved the engine for the next 5-10 minutes to burn off the oil. Learning point - next time we fill up we need to intersperse the sachets with the fuel.

We were stopped in Falna at a level crossing, waiting on a train as usual we were surrounded fairly quickly by people begging. When the train passed I managed about a foot before I stalled it...rather a lot of tooting ensued. Further on in the town chaos when a school bus decided to travel down the wrong side of the road effectively causing a traffic jam. I'm feeling much more relaxed today driving down a road with another car driving towards me.

We reached the turn off for Ranakpur and had a text from Rupert - they've gone past the turn off we were planning to take. We stopped to ask directions a couple of times since none of the signposts were in English. Eventually we reached the Jain temple in Ranakpur but it was closing time – bugger. We continued onto our destination for the evening heading up into the hills passing lots of black-faced monkeys on the way. The engine was  struggling as we climbed up and up, but eventually we reached our destination. After a quick shower to get rid of the grime and dust, we had some food and jumped into bed – the only place to get warm on a cold Rajasthani night.

Have we really only been driving for two days? It feels like we've been on the road for ages.

Sunday 1st January (Jaisalmer – Jodhpur)

Breakfast, packed up and said goodbye to the chaps at the Pleasant Havelli who had looked after us so well. We headed down to the grounds and saw Matt rushing around giving orders and also John who had hoped to be away early. He was still waiting on paperwork. Soon after 10, we both had our stickers, paperwork and good luck garland so we were ready to go. Filled up with fuel, bought a blanket for the cold and set off. Woohoo.

Dave drove us out of town safely. Although the sun was shining the wind was cold in the back seat. It was much warmer when you were driving as there is more protection from the wind. It was a good straight road and we continued taking turns at driving for an hour each since it is quite tiring. We passed team Cochin Express and stopped for a chat. We got lots of waves from people we passed and more worryingly, people driving along side us on the wrong side of the road waving to us. One car insisted we stop so they could take photos of us and the rickshaw. Going through the desert was cold and the wind was blowing. Apart from that it was comfy in the back with all our cushions and blanket and we both managed to take naps while the other was driving. Along the way we saw quite a few camels.

As the sun was going down we arrived in Jodhpur in rush hour traffic. Utter bedlam! Dave was an absolute hero and drove through town like he'd been driving a rickshaw around these parts for years. We stopped a couple of times to ask directions and with that and Dave's inbuilt Dave-nav we found the hotel within an hour. Jodhpur is a big city to get lost in.

The hotel was an oasis of calm with lovely gardens. We had a quick shower and the wrapped up to go for food. Nowhere in Rajahstan has heating, so night times are perishing. I'm writing this wrapped up in three blankets with hands like blocks of ice. As we finished another team arrived  - -so we sat and discussed the day's events and plans for the following day. We finished off doing internet research on hotels and planning for tomorrow.