Team BabyTuk and Pappadom

david spenser
Of BabyTuk and Pappadom
On the The Rickshaw Run Autumn 09
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BIG update

So finally found somewwhere with an internet cafe. So far had a ball, and have made up good time lost due to a spectacualrly f****d tuk...

Baptism of fire driving over monsoon-ruined road over Western Ghats straight out of Goa - fantastic. All was well until our tuk - christened Cheerful Charlie by Hat - started to misbehave. no big deal we thought... hard to start, Then refused to start. For 100 kms or so we had a Little Miss Sunshine style tuk that would only jump start having reached about 20 mph. No problem we thought... we can always park it pointing downhill. "India's full of hills" we thought (ignoring the fact that we needed to get it up into the Himalayas...) Then dreadful noises and it conked out in Yargatti. 3 mechanics and 4 hours later it was just about going again but sounding v sorry for itself. It finally gave up the ghost; engine completely seized up outside the wonderfully-named Jamkandi.

Cheerful Charlie had morphed into Dead Fred

Those heroes The BombA-Team towed us for a while... first problem - what to attach the towrope to? If we loop it round the windscreen will the top pull off? We took the chance anyway and tied what seemed like a 4-foot length of knicker elastic between the 2 tuks (my underpants, actually, if you're wondering). Hattie, being marginally lighter than me, was voted the most appropriate driver. With some practice, using a Chuckle Brothers 'to me, to you' style it was possible to build up a head of steam, esp down the gradients. 

The upshot: we lost a day, but discovered the wonderful whispering (screaming) gallery in Gol Gumbaz tomb (if you're in the neighbourhood, highly recommended). Towed into town, new crankshaft, re-bored cylinder, new piston and rings re-assembly and delivery back to our hotel one day later for the grand total of 70 quid, including backhanders to speed things along. Not bad eh? Big thanks to mr Asif, GM hotel in Bijapur, our very own Mister Fixit.

Have kept the original piston as souvenir. It looks like something that's fallen to earth from orbit.

Since then (touch wood) Cheerful Charlie has returned in fine fettle.

david spenser

Load david

Harriet Spenser

Load Harriet

<pre><font color="#0000ff"><font size="7"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Welcome to BabyTuk and Pappadom's</font></font></font></pre><pre><font color="#0000ff"><font size="7"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Rickshaw Run</font></font></font> <br /></pre><pre>&nbsp;</pre><p><font size="3">We'll come clean with you: we didn't start out wondering &quot;now how on earth can we raise a serious amount of money for some truly deserving charities?&quot; In truth, we wanted a big adventure to embark on together. The opportunity to raise some serious cash for the charities is a fantastic bonus. </font></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><font size="3">This jaunt involves acquiring a tuk-tuk (a motorised, very ricketyshaw) from a very nice man in Goa, driving it 2000 miles or so cross-country to Pokhara, in the Nepalese Himalayas and giving it to another very nice man who (as long as it's vaguely in one piece when we get there) promises to give us the same amount of money we paid back in Goa. Tidy.</font></p><p><font size="3">So - we get to have a major adventure together and you get a nice warm feeling from making a donation to a very deserving cause. </font></p><p><font size="3">If you're not sure what a tuk-tuk is, we have pics of some fine examples (use our Gallery link to the top left)</font> </p><p><font size="3">We have pledged to raise at least &pound;1000 for 2 charites: Frank Water projects and Maiti Nepal. We hope you will help us to reach those targets - any amount is much-appreciated. ALL the money you donate goes directly to the charity - and if you are a UK taxpayer, the taxman adds an extra 28% to your donation. Which is nice. </font></p><p><font size="3">Please click on either of the two buttons to the left - each takes you through to a donation page for one of the charities. All you need to do is choose which one to support.</font></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><font size="3">If you're wondering about our team name search through the blog (below) for explanation </font></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><font size="2">Try as we might, we cannot get two fancy widget thingummybobbies to work on the same page, so here's a link to frank and maiti is on the 'charities' page - click through via menu top left. Thanks.</font></p><p><code class="code_main"></code></p><p>&nbsp; $parse[justgivingwidget_1973487]</p><p align="justify">&nbsp;</p><p align="justify">&nbsp;</p><font size="2"><em><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana"></span></em></font><font size="2"><em><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana"></span></em></font><font size="2"><em><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana"><div style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; padding: 1pt 4pt"><em><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana">Sustainable, affordable, clean water projects using the latest technology. Currently 1 billion people worldwide lack access to clean drinking water, 2.2 million people die every year from dirty water related disease affecting mainly under 5&rsquo;s. Over 20 World Health Organisations recognise water related diseases. 85% of hospital admissions in Andhra Pradesh are related to dirty water. Women and children walk miles and spend hours collecting dirty water. Old pumps, boreholes and wells are often contaminated. Frank Water is working in partnership with Water Health International (technologists) and Naandi (local NGO), funding and implementing community clean water projects across India. Money raised will go the capital costs of building the clean water facility. Villagers also contribute to build costs for commitment and ownership</span></em></div></span></em></font><font face="verdana,geneva" size="2"> </font><p align="justify"><font face="verdana,geneva" size="2"><a href="http://www.maitinepal.org/index.php"><img alt="Maiti Nepal Logo" border="0" class="logo" height="87" src="http://www.maitinepal.org/images/logo.gif" style="width: 142px; height: 67px" width="161" /></a></font></p><div style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; padding: 1pt 4pt"><font face="verdana,geneva" size="2"><em><u><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana">MAITI Nepal</span></u></em><em><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana"> was born out of a crusade to protect Nepali girls and women from crimes like domestic violence, trafficking for flesh trade, child prostitution, child labor and various forms of exploitation and torture. A group of socially committed professionals like teachers, journalists and social workers together formed Maiti Nepal in 1993 to fight against all the social evils inflicted upon our female populace. Most of all, its special focus has always been on preventing trafficking for forced prostitution, rescuing flesh trade victims and rehabilitating them. This social organisation also actively works to find justice for the victimized lot of girls and women by engaging in criminal investigation and waging legal battles against the criminals. It has highlighted the trafficking issue with its strong advocacy from the local to national and international levels.</span></em></font></div><pre>&nbsp;</pre>