Border of Bihar
Finally heading out of Bihar and towards Shiligori, Darjeeling and the mountains. Recovering from last night's antics which involved
Varanasi
With 1414 kms and half of North India behind us we've all decided to splash some cash (£30pp) on a 5* hotel with a pool for a couple nights and get our tuk tuks a cheeky service. Chillaxing today and Ganges tomorrow. Could get used to this...
130 km from Varanasi
Bombing it down the main roads 6 tuk tuks strong! Bring on the Ganges and a pool party! (not at the same time)
Nearly fell in...
bridge was out over a small mostly dried up river so we all had to drive round through some massive bumps and sand. Our tuk tuk slid sideways as we were driving back up to the road and was inches from toppling in a muddy little pool. Managed to leap out and pull it to stop it and the group helped us drag the little thing back on course. Nearly crapped ourselve's, which really isn't hard here.
Taj Mahal Time
Set off from Jaipur this morning (5 30 again) and headed for Agra and the Taj Mahal. Had a couple mini break downs on the way. A fuel problem which fixed itself after we took some stuff apart and bodged it back together again and a half melted spark lead but nothing to cry about. Some awesome roadside chai, chapattis and pakoras more than made up for it! Ridiculously manic roads through Agra. Small streets + massive over population x horns = stress. Still great fun weaving through it all in a tuk tuk though. Taj Mahal was as splendid as you'd expect x10. Check some pics on instagram @ sarahattree. Sharing some beers and a cracking view of the Taj with some monkeys from a roof top at the hotel. Sunsets not half bad either.
Jaipur
having a well deserved beer and some kaju curry after a not so troublesome 6 hours driving through spectacular indian countryside and butt clenching traffic. We reckon indian driving tests require you to be able to press your horn, then a head waggle, then your off.
A reeeeeeeeeally long day
A much more relaxed start todays adventures. We woke at 5 to set off with the sunrise and a small possy, four tuk tuks strong. Driving at this time is calm and lorryless (anyone who's been on a road in India will know that lorry drivers A. love to drive at you and B. have the loudest horns in existence.) Not much could be offered in any of the dusty little villages we passed through except for more laughing, curious locals who surrounded out tuk tuks at every turn. It turns out if you ask how to get to Shilong in this part of India you get one of two answers "Go straight" and "Not possible". Both valid answers. After losing one of our friends to a break down the rest of us powered on to Kuchaman City. With the sun down over Kuchaman cities old fort and one hotel in sight we've pulled in through a gate and parked up. Miiiistaaaake. So far we've been ripped off horribly by a group of 9 men helping 'run' the hotel, told we cant leave for food we can't leave until 8am as they wont open the gates and HAVE to have to eat breakfast with them. We've also seen a guy get beaten up by a small mob in the hotel grounds. Oh yeah and the food here's pretty good. Local Indian mafia maybe? Keep your fingers crossed for us! Jaipur tomorrow! Hopefully...
the ceremony and the sandstorm
The opening ceremony and all the tiny tuk tuks were lined up and looking ridiculously awesome! After a million pictures and a few litres of fuel we set off into the unknown, praying to all of indias 10000 God's for a trouble free day. Trouble in Indian, it turns out, hits really hard and really fast. Just 7 kilometres outside of Jaisalmer one of biggest sandstorms to hit the area for an age hit us. We took what little shelter we could in an open sided tuk tuk and coughed, squinted and shrugged at each other for half an hour before it past and gave way to an epic downpour. The rest of the day was spent chugging across long desert roads being surrounded by laughing, disbelieving locals round every 30th bend. With the sun going down and half a days driving behind us we settled down in the little roadside town of Pokrahm. No food tonight due to powerful Delhi bellie from the night before. Nice. Hotel has a bed and a shower and minimal sand and lizards on the floor though so 5* on trip advisor for Pokrahm Hotel Stay from us!
oliver
Sarah
On the Rickshaw Run we’re fully expecting beautiful scenery, one or two (or three) jaw dropping experiences, spiritual enlightenment (if we’re lucky), bat-shit crazy roads and extremely numb bums! Our lives have kind of been thrown in the direction of the Rickshaw Run since we won it as a competition prize from a bottle of Ophir Gin (turns out booze isn't a bad thing at all!)
The Jigsaw Trust
The Jigsaw School is an independent day school for children and young people with an autism spectrum disorder.
Opihr Gin
Like those explorers of old, we have ventured far to seek out the exotic spices and botanicals to create Opihr Oriental Spiced Gin. Join us on that journey.