Day 12: After a latish start to the day we headed off south, with the aim to make it 150km closer to Kochi. Jayce being desperate for time away from the highway insisted on taking a back road towards a temple. On our way to the temple we were flagged down by some locals in a car. They insisted on taking us to the lake temple, where they showed us around and educated us on the local traditions. After seeing the temple they insisted we stay for the buffet lunch and dessert. While tasting beautiful, we could see the plates were still soaked in the water we have sworn against. Not wanting to be rude, we ate the lovely food and desert with the expectation of getting the shits. Now it was off to their house we're we chatted and tea before heading on our way.
Since we were now a few hours behind schedule we decided to punch it to make some kms. After running out of fuel directly in front of a hotel, we made the "highly educated" decision to keep driving. This not only got us lost, but also ensured we were driving at night. Being the amazing and highly talented individuals we are, we made it back to the main road right out front of a nice (and still cheap) hotel to stay at for the night.
Day 11: Managed to clock in some kms and make it just out of Mangalore. To our surprise 3 outher teams also managed to make it to the exact same hotel on the beach as we did. Spent the afternoon swimming in the ocean (where they were still doing construction). Then had dinner with the teams and finished off with drinks and chatting about anything that came to our heads.
Day 10: Not too eventful of a day, which was a nice change for us. Had a late start to the day, with a bit of a recovery swim. Made our way to the next town stopping for and to scope out a bridge over water to jump off (no success on the second one). Made it to our town with time to swim, eat and have a look at the amazing temple and statue located right next to the ocean!
Day 9: Probably had the most sleep we have had in the passed 4 days, with a sleep in till 7:30!! We went down stairs for a inclusive breakfast, to be greeted with a jam sandwich and some indian bread with a little bit of curry. It was lovely food, but just not quite enough to fill us up. Nevertheless, we said thank you and headed south for our pitstop party. After a very quick 2hrs of driving (nothing compared to what we have been doing), we had arrived in Palolem beach. The first we noticed here were all the foreigners, and how difficult it was to find an actual local to give us directions (reminded us very much of bali). If we're being quite honest we weren't fans of all the foreigners, simply because we no longer fealt special. No-one was treating us like rockstars, and that was a hard pill to swallow. We managed to find a place on the beach, and place to finally wash some clothes. After a swim and a few beers we were finally ready for the pitstop party. We should also mention that this was the first time we had seen other rickshaw runners in about 5 days, so we were pretty excited. The party was great, but the highlight had to be seeing some cows on the walk back to the hut and giving them a good ol' head scratch (although it got a bit dangerous as we weren't as strong of a scratching post as the cows thought).
Day 8: After 16hrs if rest for Susan, we thought it was time we actually put her to work again. She didn't like that, because no more than 5 minutes up the road she sputtered to a hault. Turns out it was our fault as we bought the wrong oil and were making her overheat like nobodies business. After a quick visit to another mechanic, she was sorted and ready to hit the road again. We took our time making it to Goa, stopping off to climb a water tower...and buy some very cheap alcohol. Once we got to Goa, we found a hotel grabbed some food and went to bed for some very much needed sleep.
Day 7: We started the day off with some site seeing in Mumbai, and a brekky in a Starbucks. We then headed out of that crazy city and set off to find a truck to put our Susan on. After a few failed attempts (and a everyone laughing in our face), we managed to find some chai and a bloke that would happily take us south (for a price). The first 2 hours were fun and exciting, but the next 14 hours...not so much. We managed to squeeze in some shut eye, despite the bumps and rock hard metal tray that Sawyer and Jayce slept in (Callum managed to snag the front seat). The 330km we managed to make up will allow us to properly enjoy India in all of its glory!
Day 6: Well that was a long one. Jayce and Sawyer managed to make it 300km to Thane, Maharashtra. Susan went the whole day without a breakdown, which is a first 🙌 she got a bit hot under the hood, but a few stop overs allowed her to cool and keep on tugging! Mumbai is a crazy city with even crazier drivers, but we survived and will hopefully make it out tomorrow!
Day 5: Yesterday was a crazy day in India. We had some issues with our equipment which required the BikieBoys to split up. Callum had to backtrack to a city we had been in, while Sawyer and Jayce trekked on forward. Susan sticking to her true self broke down late in the day, putting the boys even further behind. After spending a few hours trying to get a truck to gain back some time, the boys had to call her quits and rest for the night. Time for some more excitement on day 6.
Day 4: Susan was working beautifully and got us all the way to Ahmedabad! Unfortunately that was all she could push for, with a breakdown and quick visit to the mechanic, she needed rest for the night
Day 3: A very eventful day...took a back road out of our hotel and got a "little" lost. Luckily a boy on the way to school needed a lift and knew where to take us! From then on it was engine issue after engine issue. I think we stopped counting after 10 forced pauses due to engine issue. After the 3rd mechanic we are hopeful that an early start tomorrow will bring us on track and help us catch up a bit...
