and Third Place Goes To???????

US!!!!!

 

We have finally finished. At 12.40 on the 29 April Lairds of the Rickshaw crossed the finish line thrid, along with their fellow teams Tuk it up the Kabadi Company and Mo Jo Tika Tuk Tuk.

 

We have never been so relived and excited in our entire lives.

We arrived with hardly a gearbox left, the exhaust half fallen off and our heads held high, knowing that we drove every single kilometre and didnt put it on a train like a lot of teams have (who are yet to arrive)

 

We have seen some really amazing places and some not so amazing places. Orrisa was horrible, especially considering I (kat) had my luggage stolen while we were fixing the car. so i have been borrowing everyones clothes.

IF you get a chance you have to come to West Bengal, it really is the most beautiful place we have seen, so so beautiful and the people are just amazing. so friendly.

 

So on the this journey we have:

Fought with the traffic police

had countless fights with hotliers

had countless near misses with trucks and buses

seen the most horrendous car accidents including a fatal one (same day my luggage was stole that was the worst day here)

seen an elephant

seen the beauty that india has to offer

slept in flith

gone to the loo in flith....actually some places were so bad squatting behind a building was cleaner

seen hundreds of men pissing and pooing on the side of the road....hilarious....once you get used to it

and just soooo much more that words couldn't even describe.

We have learnt so much on this journey about ourselves and the way we react in situations of huge stress, how we communicate and how we work as a team.

This has been the most wonderful adventure and despite almost quitting i'm glad i tukked on and we finished. I am so proud of us.

 

Love to all

Kat and Matt

we are alive

WE ARE ALIVE.

 

Internet has been very rare. sorry havent been able to update. a really quick summary of what has been going on:

 lots of fun and planning

random accommodation some good others absolute shit holes ( Well one mainly bed bugs ended up sleeping three in a bed with another team)

amazing scenery

unbelieveable help

friendly people (aprat from orissa horrible place avoid at all costs)

some fun moments and some scarey moments

can't wait for the finish line in about 5 days.

 

just wanted to let all know we are alive.

 

good bye for now.

Planning is well and truely underway

The Visa have been approved, we are being stabbed like a pin cushion while battling with the Dr for the Vaccinations we want, Accommodation booked, travel items bought (coolmax sleeping bag liners, 2 stroke engine book, steripen etc etc) and being shipped, and now we have a possible starting street in Fort Kochi. - Princess St...which is kind of hilarious for those who know me....Yes i can be a bit of a princess when i want to be....

I have solved the problem i had with the Driving Permit, being aussie, everything is bloody difficult, with the permit stamp telling me i can only drive a car i was possibly looking at having to fork out big $$$ for a bike licence, but with batting of the eyelids, a nice smile i walked into the Drivers Licence office and begged for an offical looking letter with stamps and signatures saying that my car licence allows me to drive a 3 wheeled behicle. YAYYYY!!!! 1 to me.

Fantastic guess work on the accommodation thanks to Matt.  (Well Done Baby!!)

Point 1 - Our Hotel Point B - Start point, meeting/gathering/drinking/learning how to drive this thing point....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starting Location

We have finally found out our starting position.

We start this challenge in the Fort of Cochin, a beautiful spot right on the coast of India, surrounding by back waters and bays.

Now we can start to look at accommodation as we will be arriving a few days before the start of the race, 17th April.

Yayyy.

 Let the count down begin. Only 50 days to go!