Bhubaneshwar

We got up early and set off for Visakhpatnam for lunch. We’d made the decision to try and get a train to Calcutta there, as there was a big chance we wouldn’t make the finishing line in time. As we had – perhaps foolishly- booked our flights for the day after (back in Calcutta!), not making it to Shillong by the 30th could leave us stuck in India – perhaps for ever. while we could probably just about make it driving if it went well, a breakdown or two could seriously scupper us. Our thinking was a train to Calcutta – about 800k – would save us 2 days driving.

We drove the 200k to Visakhpatnam without incident, apart from seeing another team on the highway. Not sure what team they were , we lost them again shortly afterwards.

A couple of minutes after entering Visakhpatnam we saw the ‘Pizza Cafe’. Food that wasn’t curry!! We went straight in and ordered. Apparently they weren’t cooking large pizzas today… regular it was then. Turns our they did taste a little like curry, but they weren’t too bad. We headed to the train station, and after being sent back and forth a few times between the different entrances, we mae it to the parcel office. Apparently we could get it on a train, but not to Calcutta. Instead we could get it to Bhubaneshwar – 400k away. We just had to be quick deciding as it left in half an hour. Bhubaneshwar would still hopefully save us a day, so we decided to go for it. This turned out to be a mostly bad decision. It turned out there were no classes on this train – just standard. We’d been warned beforehand to try and avoid standard class at all cost, as they’re packed like a sardine tin. Looking around at the other trains already at the platform, this seemed to be about right. 6 hours in one of these carriage wasn’t too appealing. It was, at least, cheap, costing about 5 pounds each for us and the rickshaw. The station hands wheeled the rickshaw to the platform – the same platform as the rest of the passengers. It’s fair to say we got some strange looks.

As the train pulled in there was a mad rush for the carriages. There were scrummages 10 deep at the doors. We decided to duck into the disabled carriage, which seemed a bit less cramped. Making our way into the corner, we quickly noticed a woman shouting,beckoning down to the other carriages. Miked pointed to a couple of operation scars on his leg and she seemed to nod as if to say ‘ Yep, fair enough’. We’d gotten away with it, but looking around it seemed there were quite a few others pulling the same on. One had just stuck a plaster on his face, and most looked perfectly fine. The air stank (and almost tasted) of wee, and we began the journey sat on the floor with our bags. It did empty a bit after a few stops and we got our seats eventually, but it was a pretty boring way to spend 6 hours (probably more like 8 hours in the end).

Arriving at Bhubaneshwar shortly after Kane was chatted up by an Indian Ladyboy called Keema, the fun began as it was time to unload the rickshaw. We watched as the packers scratched their heads for 10 minutes, trying to work out how to get this tuk-tuk out of a door that definitely did not seem wide enough. They decided to go for the lift technique and got her half out, under the supervision of a manager barking orders like an army commander. As they lowered the 2nd half it turned out the doors weren’t wide enough after all, and Kate now has some seriously dented wheel arches. A few minutes later though we were outisde the station ready to find a hotel – it was nearing midnight by now and we’d been on the go since 6. However, it turned out we weren’t actually at bhubeaneshwar, but about 20 k away in a different town. Shattered, we were also conscious of running out of petrol as we’d had to give up our reserve jerry can before boarding the train. It took us about an hour to find a hotel, and checking in we were charged 20 pounds for the privilege. Double what we normally pay – stung! So 600k traveled today. A very long haul but we probably saved ourselves just under a day, so in the long run maybe just about worth it – especially the roads up around Bangladesh are as bad as they’re cracked up to be.

Rajamundry

Aiming for Rajamundry, we were looking to cover about 330k today. Another early start, the morning started well enough... then we saw the clouds up ahead and we knew what was coming! The rain lasted for about 3 hours and succeeded in drenching us all, as well as Mike & Kane's bags on the roof. It was absolutely freezing and miserable, and an hour long detour in Gunter didn't help. One wrong turn at a diversion took us into the city, and once in the lack of any signposts made leaving nigh on impossible. Stuck inside of Gunter with the India blues again. Eventually we paid a rickshaw driver to lead us out and we got on our way again. Still raining, we headed to Vijawada. India can be like another planet. Half is familiar and half is unreal. Cars and rickshaws vie to overtake ox-driven carts on town streets. City traffic grinds to standstill as cows cross the road. ut of the towns, the picture postcard views are accompanied by locals squatting behind bushes. Mud huts are clustered in the shadows of electricity pylons taking power to the towns. These people don't have much, but they always have a smile and a wave when we pass by in our stupid rickshaw. By the time we reached Vijawada, soaked to the bone, we were ready to call it a day after covering just 100k. However, as we looked for a hotel it seemed to brighten up - a sign from the rickshaw gods? - and we swung Kate into a restaurant car park. We looked a mess, but the customary army of waiters didn't seem to mind and we ate another ridiculously big meal. A decent drive in the afternoon and we reached Rajamundry just after dark. Getting on the internet, it seems other teams aren't too far away. Perhaps there will be another sighting tomorrow? We checked on a team who are doing the run without a map. They don't seem to be doing too well.

Rajamundy

Staying in Rajamundy today. Decent day's driving but got dominated by a 3 hour long rainstorm in the morning... thought this was meant to be the hot season?! Hopefully get another big distance tomorrow, not too many days left! Blogs are up at www.4inashaw.co.uk

Day 3

Lesser men would call this the day from Hell. We’ll just call it a bad day at the office. Maybe an awful day.

It started off fine, waking up to our last day in Kochi with a slight hangover but high spirits. All the rickshaws were driven round to the Parade Ground where the launch party was to take place. We were interviewed by a local TV crew – not sure we’ll make the final cut though!

We said our goodbyes to the teams we’d met over the last couple of days, and were sent off by the local police chief, politician and an emotional Matt (organiser). Apparently our run has raised in excess of 80,000 pounds which is great.

The 70 tuk-tuks roared off to cheers, camera flashes and the sound of dozens of stalling engines. It seemed the 70 teams went in about 70 different directions from the start, but somehow we made it out of Kochi first time – more luck than judgement! Mike took the first leg after taking to the shaw like a duck to water. A slightly retarded duck perhaps, but better than the rest of us.

Outside of Kochi we met up with a few other teams and made good time driving North. One minor hiccup was where about 7 teams were queueing up to get onto what we thoguh was a bridge – but turned out to be a Navy Base! Unsurprisingly we didn’t get past the gate, and continued North. So far, so good.

After abotu 100k we decided to take a break and followed a sign to ‘Baby Beach’. We drove down, then decided to go off road and carried on over the sand. With hindsight this was probably a bad move, as after spending a few minutes on the amazing beach, Kate refused to start. Breakdown 1! A passer by took interested and rang his mate, who in turn rang another mate who went and woke up a local mechanic from his mid-day siesta. Wiping the sleep from his eyes he took a look and told us in broken English something was broken and we would have to ‘push start’ until we could get it to a garage. It being Sunday, this would have to wait until tomorrow.  [The next day we found out we had smashed a piston - we *think* there's two pistons so this meant we spent the rest of the day with just half power - 3.5 HP!]

We got back on the road and were doing fine for for a while, until we broke down again. This is probably the start of the worst five hours of our lives! Breakdown followed breakdown as we traveled at snails pace towards our intended destination of Collicut. Kate could not handle the hilly terrain and kept overheating (we think) which in conjunction with the earlier damaged ruined our afternoon’s driving. The people out here are incredibly helpful but within seconds of stopping (or breaking down in our case) there is a crowd about 5 deep surrounding us, which can be quite daunting.

The last breakdown came about 55km (clicks!) from Collicut, just as the sun was setting, and there was no fixing Kate. Knackered, starving, and sweltingly hot in the pitch black darkness, we ended up being towed by another rickshaw to the closest town, where we tried to get a room for the night. No-can-do we were told, as we needed a police letter allowing us to stay!? Tow rope back on and we headed to another town (via an unexplained stop at the local police station/shed for Nick and Kane) where we did get a room and reflected on the day’s events. The consensus was that it was an absolute nightmare. But things can only get better, right?!

**Distance Traveled – **150km

**Near Death Experiences – **1 Narrowly avoided collision via giant pothole

**Breakdowns – **5?6?

**Delhi Bellies – **0 – Every cloud has a silver lining?

Stuck in .... somewhere??

Day started off well enough but breakdown after breakdown meant we conked out for good about 50k short of Collicot! Stayed over night in a town that we don't know the name of and are currently getting the Shaw fixed up - two hour ETA! Frustrating!