Total km's

Oops, forgot to mention how many kilometers we finally did!

 

4351km!!!

 

Would have been a much more difficult task (and longer adventure) without the support (and toolkit) of Taj and Raj of Korma Chameleon fame. Thanks guys!!

 

As I sit here, writing this from my desk at work (yes work) I can't help feel slightly jealous of the Korma Chameleon and the remainder of Tuk Tuk On Fire crews who are whiling away the hours playing golf and drinking beer in Shillong, plus planning their adventures in Kolkata.

 

Namaste all!

Shillong time coming

So I'm now home in sunny but chilly London. Last few days were pretty manic, but here is a synopsis of the final days of the run. Saturday was another 4.30am start to try and cover the final 294km. Got out of town with only 1 or 2 wrong turns and we were on our way. We made it to Guwahati by 10am, managed to wind our way through the city and find the road to Shillong.... Then we hit the roadworks for the new Shillong Expressway.

We were jammed up in these for an hour or so, so when we saw the Welcome to Shillong sign at 1pm, we were pretty happy. From the sign to the finish line was a further 10km though and the traffic in Shillong was at a standstill. So despite Tex’s great work at carving through the stationary traffic, the point came, when we were stuck in traffic, on a hill, that the clouds that had been threatening for the last couple of hours decided to open the taps on us. When it rains in Shillong, it RAINS!! Bob was quick to realise the the novelty umbrellas we had bought in Darjiling could be used as rain shields out either side of the tuk, but even so it got pretty wet in the back seat. It was then that the tank of gas we had calculated would get us over the finish line... ran out. So Bob and I had to jump out and top off the tank with our jerry can, in the pouring rain, on a hill, in traffic. Just another day on the Rickshaw Run! Rain stopped, traffic cleared a bit, we managed to find our way into the centre of town. Finding the finish line however took a bit more work and after asking directions from a cop, then entering a 1 way system and deciding we wanted to go the other way (another helpful cop stopped traffic for us and let us reverse back to the turning) we made it across the finish line, on finish day, with our TukTuks, at 3pm. Much back slapping ensued, Korma Chameleon and Tuk Tuk On Fire signed the racers register (42nd and 43rd respectively), we retired to the hotel to make ready for the finishing party. A beer at the hotel, another at the finish line, plus a shot of whiskey with the boys from Keep Korma And Carry On, and I was almost ready for bed! We all piled into (or onto the roof of) the buses that were taking us to the party and then travelled 15km back out of town. A trip that took 2 hours!! (Mr Matt, couldn't the party be at the finish line next time?!?!) So we arrive at the party, drink our complimentary rice wine, buy some beers and wait for dinner to be served. This is a team of 5 men (I'm sure there were others in this boat) that had spent that last 10 days getting up at 4ameating dinner at 7pm and going to bed at 9pm! So when the food was served at 9:30pm the scrum that ensued was less than dignified. Bellies full, booze flowing, a good night was had by all. Got back to the hotel about midnight, I headed for bed as I had a car picking me up early to take me to the airport, and left the boys to head upstairs to the night club on the top floor. I'm guessing they had a good night as no one was awake at 9am when I left.

Great adventure, great country, great people. Would highly recommend that anyone who's keen, should definitley do the Rickshaw Run.

Adios, Baz

Leaving Darjiling

Friday we made a run for Guwahati from Darjiling. Started off at 4.45am, flying down the hills of Darjiling, but the brakes on Little Tuk weren't to last and after losing them twice on the way down the hill, we finally made it to a gas station and were able to bleed the brakes through.We pushed on, but as the light started to fade on the day, we were still 100km out of Guwahati after being confounded by yet more highway roadworks. We stopped for gas and the boss there recommended a hotel in the next town, Bongaigoan. As usual, the 12km to the turning ended up being about 20km and involved asking directions from about 6 police along the way.

Checked in and waiting for our orders in the restaurant, I went to check on the extra bed for our room, only to be told that we were paying 400rupee to have an extra Person, there was no extra bed available. After a heated discussion which involved calling in some hired muscle from Karma Chameleon, another bed was found and we all headed for bed.

The day before kick off!

The start is today!!

 Yesterday was a mad scramble to finish off the pimping and making ready of the Rickshaw.... everything was going well, right up until we filled up with gas. The lady at the gas station poured the oil in first, then the gas, then she decided for some reason to add another dose of oil. So we made it 100m before the engine realised it had twice as much oil as it needed and promptly stopped! Rickshaw driver tried to help, local guy tried to help, fetched a roadside mechanic while a kiwi bloke helped us try to push start it...... got there in the end!

Party on an island last night, in the gardens of a Dutch colonial estate. Few sore heads this morning... and once again it's HOT. LEt the adventure proper begin!!

We're here!!

First time on this blog thingy, but here we are in Cochin!

It's HOT and MUGGY, but it's a nice little town, everyone is very friendly and helpful. We're all checked in to the hostel, been upgraded to A/C even :-) First site of the Ricksahw today, test drive went well (although I got us lost on the back streets) and we've decided to get the professionals to paint it up for us, can't wait to see it!

Holiday for the locals here today, so we've not made much progress on getting the electrics sorted out, but some cabling and a bigger battery are on the cards for tomorrow.

Just waiting for the heat to go out of the sun, then we'll head back for some more fun in the Shaw, then it'll be time for curry and beers. The first of many :-)

 Ciao for now!