Julia Robinson

Julia Robinson
Of Rangeela Racers
On the The Rickshaw Run Autumn 2011
HIGHLIGHT ON MAP
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Varanasi, India

(Blog for 17/09) A 6.30am start; today we really were going to make it to Varanasi.  Roads improved and we stopped for a great breakfast of chola, squashed samosa covered in chana dhal...wow.  Made good progress all the way to Varanasi where the city traffic, whether motorised, human or animal, was sheer mayhem. There are no rules - just force your way forward (or backwards, or sideways or whichever way you want) and blast your horn as many times as you can.  Julia took this to extremes by running over a man's foot but he didn't seem too bothered - par for the course here.  James tried to entertain the other road users with some classic Bollywood moves in the middle of the street to music blaring from a nearby temple.  Mixed response – clapping from some and a perplexed glare from a lady on a cycle rickshaw! We checked in to a glorious hotel overlooking the Ganges, in a beautiful converted Maharajah's palace, built in 1866.  Hot showers and cold beers all round.  Headed off to explore the dense network of alleys and ghats and managed to buy a luminous green sticker of the elephant god Ganesh which should serve the dual purpose of bringing us luck whilst covering the white paint on Rangeela's sullied rear end. Caught up with team Habibi Babes and swapped stories of rickshaw mayhem.  Decided to have a day off tomorrow and enjoy some creature comforts and rest.

Julia Robinson
Of Rangeela Racers
On the The Rickshaw Run Autumn 2011
HIGHLIGHT ON MAP
MORE FROM

Meeting and greeting

Today we met our trusty steed who will transport us across India.  Pimp job looks great (just like pictures on here) and she drives like a dream, or will do once James has learnt the difference between the brake and the accelerator.  Julia's first test drive was rather longer than anticipated because she was unable to turn round.  Drive from Guwahati to Shillong yesterday gave us a taster of what we need to do in reverse on Sunday (well, hopefully in a forward gear...) - a pot-holed, windy mountain road, half of which is under construction, with a host of traffic to contend with - rickshaws, lorries, cows, goats and even a couple of elephants....