Vapi or Bust... mostly Bust
So the last few days have instilled a sort of non-routine routine. Â Typically, we start the day with a recap of what occurred the previous day, noting errors, pitfalls, and follies that need to be avoided going forward, and pick a spot some 300km in the distance that we can make assuming assuming we learn from past mistakes. Â We then spend the day making a collection of new errors, finding a bunch of new pitfalls, and creating a series of new follies that leaves us short of our goal. Â Today was no different.
We met for breakfast at 7:00 and were on the road by 7:40, poised to put some distance in to Vapi, or possibly Deman.  The day started with us getting lost on our way out of the city, killing some valuable time before the driving starts to get seriously crazy at around 10 am.  Soon, it was the Curry-ous on the sidelines, put out by a wonky carburetor (we don't know what that means, but it's what some authoritative-looking Indians told us).  After  few minutes cool down, it would start again, so we tried to carry on.  Unfortunately, the distances between the cool downs fell progressively (regressively?) from 10km to 30 feet.  We managed to limp in to Baruch, where we got directions to a mechanic who fixed us up, gave us some chai, and a refused our rupees.  In all seriousness, we have consistently been blown away by the generosity of Indians who view us as our guest, and this was simply the latest example.  It's easy to see how Westerners fall in love with this place and refuse to leave.  We managed to get 70km more in, and we end the night in a really nice place in Navsari.  About 190km in total, well below our hopes but still a little better that what we need to average to finish in two weeks.
We spent last night in Baroda, which was a great city to spend the night in. Â Our hotel backed up to a food bazaar, which provided a chance to debate with the locals which particular variety of ginger was finest and which stall had the best codfish fritters. (side note: We have some how collectively managed to avoid Delhi belly despite eating everything under the sun. Â I fear making this statement may anger the gods and encourage them to right this wrong, but figured it warranted noting that so far so good.) Â After that it was on to the Indian TGI-Fridays (or so it was decorated), where we actually had some amazing curry. Â Hard not to call the night a success. Â
First Day Finishes With a Bang
Please forgive the lateness of this post, it was originally slated for 2 Jan 2012
First day of driving was a late start. All rickshaw runners, most hungover from the shenanigans of the New Years Party, began arriving to the starting grounds around eleven for the planned noon start. Inevitably the noon start was an aggressive goal, with the Maharaja, the royalty of Jaisalmer who was to wave us off, showing up late himself. Within a few minutes our Stars and Stripes painted tuk-tuk, which we have lovingly dubbed 'Monica' when she's running well, was flying down the pot hole ridden roads of the city. Once we were passed the city limits, we got to cruising pretty steadily. With really only two directions to travel, towards the 160k away Barmer or the 260k away Jadhpur, we decided to take the shorter route to make sure we didn't have to do any night driving.
We went from bustling city to empty desert in under 5k. Views of the mostly flat, arid desert were spectacular. We drove in convoys of anywhere from 2-10 tuk-tuks at a time. With Chris behind the wheel for the first day of driving we passed most of the other teams due to our vehicle not having mechanical issues. Our day of driving, that we prematurely claimed went great, ended with us losing our companion team 'The Fast and The Curryious' within a few miles of our destination. After searching for them for some time, we finally got in contact with them to find out they were deep within the city. From here we proceeded to have the most nerve-wrecking drive of any of our lives. Twisting and turning in a foreign county, in a foreign car, without knowing the foreign language is not east. This is only magnified as the sun had now set and in two way roads that our single car had trouble fitting through, filled with others tuk-tuks, motorcycles and enormous bulls who most for no man. After meeting up the The Fast and The Curryious we began our search for a place to stay.
While waiting for The Fast and The Curryious to make it through a tiny alley we asked a 12 year old if he knew where a hotel was. He told us to follow him and hopped on a motorcycle with two other 12 year old looking kids and led us through the insane wild streets of Bahmer to a sanctuary of a hotel, which housed a courtyard for our vehicle. Without the kids we followed we would have been searching the city way into the night.
Cowboys and Indians take Jaisalmer by Storm… a slow moving drizzle of a storm, but a storm none the less.
Please forgive the lateness of this post, it was originally slated for 30 Dec 2011
Cowboys and Indians Ride Upon the Morrow
Well, this little adventure seems to have snuck up on the three of us rather unexpectedly.  Who knew December 27th was so close?  In hindsight, perhaps allowing a 24-hour post-Christmas window in which to get supplies, pack, finalize transport, and get to the point of departure was a tad ambitious… good to know for next time.
On the plus side, we have managed to figure out how to get to the start line… we think.  We fly out of JFK tomorrow evening (Dec 27) to Abu Dhabi (lovely this time of year, we hear) and then touching down in New Delhi on the morning of the 29th.  We currently have wait list tickets for an 19 hour train from Delhi to Jaisalmer, but the first leg is currently overbooked.  In the event that we don't get word we've made it on, we will fly out of Delhi to Jodhpur, where we will meet back up with the train for the remainder of the journey (6 hours) to Jaisalmer.  Either way, this looks to put us at the start line about 48hours before we're supposed to take off… we hope. Â
Our plan is to put as much milage as possible behind us for the first few days of the event, which will give us a little more flexibility towards the end of the race to linger in places we find exceptional. Â We've been pouring over maps and guidebooks and have identified roughly 4,553 places we'd like to see, so hopefully we can hit two or three of them. Â The less milage we have to the finish line, the more we can go a little out of our way to do so.Â
We hope to update this page every day or so (internet permitting), so we hope you'll all be following along with us. Â Drop us a message to wish us luck, laugh at our follies, or remind us of how ridiculous this is - we'd love to hear from you all. Â Also, we've made some great progress on our fundraising (thank you so much for everyone who has already contributed!!!!) but if you can spare a few minutes and dollars (or pounds sterling, as the case may be), Frank's Water really is an amazing cause. Â You can donate to our fundraiser at www.justgiving.com/mattern or read more about the great projects the charity supports at http://www.frankwater.com/about/. Â
Thanks everyone,The Young Matterns
