slept in past 6 today!!!
We made it to the finish line...right into the finish line actually. We smashed into the arch in fine style, pulled the tuk out of the mangled arch and took our place on the podium, 6th place. Johdpur was a neat place and walter 'the tuk ninja' took us on a wild ride to the fort through roads that were no wider than a highway. Old moose developed an evil shake on the last night so we investigated and found that the muffler was falling off. I borrowed a hose retainer and belt it around the exhaust mount and dave got creatove with zip ties, good as new! Tonight we cruise the the jaislmer fort. One of the feature presentations of this fort, should be good. I know how to desccribe the driving now. If you play mario kart this is moonview highway mixed with moo moo meadows, and a whole pile of everything else! Its awesome. And everyone arrived safely, only dave wears a mark from head buttting t
slept in past 6 today!!!
We made it to the finish line...right into the finish line actually. We smashed into the arch in fine style, pulled the tuk out of the mangled arch and took our place on the podium, 6th place. Johdpur was a neat place and walter 'the tuk ninja' took us on a wild ride to the fort through roads that were no wider than a highway. Old moose developed an evil shake on the last night so we investigated and found that the muffler was falling off. I borrowed a hose retainer and belt it around the exhaust mount and dave got creatove with zip ties, good as new! Tonight we cruise the the jaislmer fort. One of the feature presentations of this fort, should be good. I know how to desccribe the driving now. If you play mario kart this is moonview highway mixed with moo moo meadows, and a whole pile of everything else! Its awesome. And everyone arrived safely, only dave wears a mark from head buttting t
Finish Line
Arrived at the finish line around 4 pm. We arrived in full Canadian style including hitting the finish hate and almost knocking it over. It took two tries to convince the drivers to put both Tuks in the ramp. Finally we had our picture taken. Over all we placed 6th. To celebrate our finish we decided to have a drag race in field. After 3000km and only minor scrapes Walter decided we would win at all cost and rammed my Tuk breaking a mirror off. The coordinator of the event could only stand in disbelief and was quoted saying "the Canadians have arrived"!
Day of the Monkey
On the way to Jodhpur we discovered a valley packed with Monkeys.![Uploading file...]()![Uploading file...]()
Udaipur! Finally arrived
We arrived in Udaipur today. The crazy traffic was less than we expected, however, finding the hotel in all these winding twisting streets was a real treat! 
THe local buses with all those people on top are something else
Another 300 km
300km is not fun to drive in a Tuk Tuk. It's even less thrilling to do it on an expressway! In order to get closer to Udaipur we decided to take the main highway. Long periods of mind numbing drone of a two stroke engine while being suffocated by the smog. Mingle that with the odd traffic jam and periods of dodging through heavy commercial vehicles at 50 km/h. Our most exciting moment was being diverted to a single lane bridge and watching the expansion joints move up and down. There must be something seriously wrong with a bridge when you can see the expansion joints moving 1-2" up and down. Needless to say we flew over the bridge in record time.
350 km but only when north 190 km
Crazy day. We started before sunrise with the goal of traveling around Mumbai. Traveling in the dark is an experience that I would not suggest. The Tuks are working well and we managed to hold a steady 45-50 km/h. Typical day on the roads of India. After lunch we crossed the expressway and started to go around Mumbai. The smog started to thicken and at one point we had to pull out the filter masks. You could not only taste the pollution, you almost had to cut out a chunk of air in order to breath. Driving over 2 hours the air started to clear. We all decided it was time to stop for lunch so we consulted the GPS for directions to the nearest restaurant. This resulted in a excursion through a huge city during rush hour traffic. Intense is the best word to describe driving in full traffic In a large Indian city. Stef and Walter navigated through the crowds like pros. The video we took can never give it true justice. Chad took over the navigation and with the help of google maps we stumbled upon a remote village and a nearly impassible road. After a kilometre or two we had to turn around. The villagers kept waving at us to keep going. With potholes bigger than the Tuk we all felt it was a bad idea. We picked another route. The was a road designated SH. We all now know what SH stands for SHIT!!! This was a paved road at one time. Walter turned off the GPS and after one hour we ended up in front of a unmarked military base. Quick punch of the break, turn around, and turn on the GPS. Apparently we had been driving through a lake. After retracing
Our tracks we found where we had made a wrong turn. The remainder of the SH road lived up to its name. Total shit... 15 km took us over an hour and a half to drive. We finally ended up in Wada. Found hotel that didn't have windows. We all decided that windows shouldn't be an option and driving at night would be better for our health. Driving at night is always interesting. Stef too a speed bump at a full 50km/h and managed to have all the wheels leave the ground. 1/2 hour past dusk we found the Silent Hill East resort. We sent in the negotiator saved enough money to pay for our dinner.
AC, gods gift to India
3 days and we finally have AC and wifi. We stopped for the night at a really nice Indian hotel. Both Tuks are running well and we even managed to make 200 km with our late start. Everyone is getting a shower and then we will check out the pool. I'm sure that will be interesting. With the exception of the typical only in India sitings that can never be described, it was an average day on the Rickshaw Run
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A Tuk for everything
Note to self, driving at night is shitty.
Note to self #2, just because trip advisor says there is a hotel, there may not be one.
Arrived at Ratnagiri well after dark and discovered that driving at night does not require lights. Interestingly buses seem to be the worst offenders! Another reason to hate buses. We drove to the hotel navigating with a near dead cell and a flashlight only to find that the hotel must be in another paralel dimention. Decided to find a hotel the old fashion way by looking. Walter quickly spotted the Siarra. It looked nice from the outside in the dark. Booked the rooms. No wifi, no AC, ants and various other critters. Fell on the bed and almost broke a hip! Needless to say the bed was basically a sheet of plywood. Chad discovered something on his cigarette burned bed sheet that looked like blood. Out came the sleeping tents. We decided to get something to eat. We were the only ones in the restaurant. They seemed overly happy to have someone there. The food was good but covered in fresh uncooked garnishes. Let's see what the morning brings.
The Moose
The problems with the clutch continue. Since its repair in Goa, the moose has been crusing well. Unfortunately, the clutch keeps slipping on hills. We decided that in order to help with the load, 4 of the heavier Canuktuks should squeeze into the working Tuk. Just like traveling economy on Air Canada. Hopefully the clutch will last until after Mumbai.
