Day 11 - Final day on the road!

**22nd October**

It was a perfect start to the final day, waking up by a flowing river in a beautiful Himalayan Valley, mountains ascending up either side and eagles flying over head. Simon however promptly ruined the atmosphere by chucking up yesterday's campfire meal in front of the rickshaws. Over the top bathing in the river might not have helped ... or it could have just been the dodgey tinned mushrooms!

Either way we were keen to start moving and get to Pokhara and the finish line by early afternoon. We'd been warned the road wasn't fit for rickshaws but apart from the steep inclines this was the best road of the whole trip! The scenery was breathtaking, the locals kind and always happy to see us (no bribing and touting going on here!) and the buses actually showed curtosy on the road! We were in shock when one truck driver actully flashed us through! Nepal was already warming to our hearts and it was a welcome change to the mayhem of India.

The roads were also incredibly fun to drive on. We knew we were on the last stretch so the well being of the rickshaw was starting to be disregarded slightly! As a result we were sliding round corners on the edge of cliffs (which caused a few hair raising moments) and aiming for the biggest pot holes we could find to wake up any snoozers in the back!

Not wanting the road to end, we eventually got in to Pokhara  around 13.00 and made our way to Lakeside. Doing the unmanly thing after a short drive down the stretch we asked for directions ... and realised we were parked right outside the finish line!! So slightly anticlimatically we revved in to the finish line cheering and whooping.

 We'd done it! Despite the rickshaw, the roads, Indian beurachracy and the weather doing it's best to slow us down we'd made it 2 days before the finish party and we were the 4th team to arrive!! We were actually slightly gutted about this because whilst we were messing about in the mountains and filming corners we were over taken by another team on a mission and we could have got 3rd! O well, we didn't do it to win, we did it for the experience and we certaintly got that!

Pokhara is a beautiful town. Flanked by snow capped mountains and wrapped around Phewa Tal lake it's the perfect place to relax our battered bodies. It's so much nicer than anywhere we stayed in India so we're not going to be heading back in too much of a hurry!

Since we've arrived we've got even more stories to tell but we hope you've enjoyed this blog and we'll keep adding to it in the coming weeks with forgotton tales and anything else we fancy wittering about.

Day 9

**September 21st**

We never actually planned to go to Varenasi but we realised we were never going to be able to make it across to Agra in time so we dutifly followed the convoy to the holy Ganges. As a result we hadn't really done much research on the region so it was good to head down in the morning and get a boat tour around the burning ghats.

For those who don't know the Ganges is where Indians come to burn their dead and throw the ashes into the Mothe Lake. Unofrtunately this creates quite a smell and a mess. Also not everyone is burnt and thrown in after. Children under 12, Leppers and (curiously) people bitten by cobras all can't be burnt but must be floated down the river.

A ghat is like a jetty and so after floating a flower down the river we were taken to the one of the cremation ghats (burning ghat) and given an incredibly hot tour. We just missed a body being burnt but saw one being prepared. Around the ghat is a number of lodgings for people waiting to die. They can stay here free but pay a fortune for the privilage of being burnt here. It was an interesting tour ... if not quite smelly ... but it was good to get away. Tuk Duk went on a later tour and saw someone drown! Lesson: DON'T SWIM IN THE GANGES

Getting back to our hotel we found the most pimped rickshaw in India to give us a ride. Decked out in pink sponge there was at least 10 speakers and a massive sub woofer blasting out Venga Boys for the whole street to hear. We had a great time! We showed him our rickshaws and he suitably turned his nose up at them.

We met back up with Tuk DUk and the convoy of 3 again headed to Gorakhpur near the Nepalese border. There's a distinct lack of English signs after Varenasi and so we relied on hindi guess work and the sun to somehow find the roads we needed! Today we saw our first elephant! It wasn't massive to be fair, probably only a few years old but it was good for the boys who have never seen one before. It seemed particlualrly interested in Jonnys crotch so we all stood back and let him have his fun.

Hotel booking in Gorakhpur turned in to a farse. After being nicely shown around hotel presidente which is one of the only decent hotels in quite a drab little city and a quick bit of bartering the guy discovered we were English. He started asking us all for passports, insurance and driving liscences. THese were shown to his obvious surprise so he demanded to see our medical passes. India does not require medical permits and he kept saying "No English, swine flu" So we got thoroughly pissed off and went to a cheaper hotel round the corner who didn't really have standards so it was all good! Floppy giraffe turned up 5 minutes later (Americans) and we gladly accepted to Hotel Presidente, no questions asked. They discovered we were staying next door though and kindly sacrificed their nice AC rooms to come join us in our lodgings :)

After a good dinner at 'Bobi's' we hit the hay ready to hit the nepal border tomorrow! All very excited and can't wait to get out of India. It's an incredibly difficult and taxing country to drive through. We just hope Nepal will be a little more laid back.

Day 5 & 6

**Day 5**

Well camping went without a hitch thankfully, we got the shaws off the road and slept surprisingly well. Felt pretty dirty in the morning though and Simon's broken his razor so can't shave! The battery fell off again in the morning so refix number 3 was issued with 10 more cable ties. It's not moving anywhere now!

The road we are on is basically half built. They're trying to build 1 big highway through the middle of the country but at the moment we keep having to switch sides to avoid all the potholes. It's a bit of a boring road and it would be nice to be able to go off the beaten track a bit but we need to get to Nepal! The boring road does mean we get to mess about on the drive though and we performed our first live driver change :p Saw about 3 lorry crashes today, 1 where they had somehow managed to mount the whole truck on the central reservation!

We had our first police check today just before arriving in the beautiful village of Ramtek. Our convoy of 3 dutifly pulled over and Tuk Duk decided to dummy and carried on up the road. After careful consideration of the extremely angry police reaction to this we decided it was best not to follow this lead and handed ourselves over. After a police chase, tuk duk were dragged back but we all managed to get away scott free without any bribes!

A quick note regarding driving in India: It's impossible. The roads are generally terrible. They fork with absolutely no road signs to indicate which fork you should take and the rubbish by the road side is pretty discusting. It's still fun driving through the villages and getting screaming kids clambering around the rickshaw tho :) Also guide books don't really cater for rickshaw drivers. Every time we get somewhere everything's in relation to the train or bus stations so we end up travelling round randomly trying to find somewhere half decent!

We did find an amazing lodge in Ramtek though. The views on the hill looking out over the plains were spectacular and we went up to the monkey temples at sunset with incredibly humbling views. On our way back from town in the evening we spotted a religious rave heading round the lake. We quickly gathered everyoine from the hotel and we ushered vigorously by the locals to join in. It was insane. Red and green powder was flying everywhere and the kids wouldn't let us stop dancing! It was a great experience and some photos will be up soon. We got back to the hotel quite late, woke all the staff up and demanded (nicely) some grub and beer and were dutifly served.

Best day so far. Also saw a shop in the back of a car. The entrepreneurial ability of Indians can be seen around every corner. Everyone seems to know some one who can sort anything out for you, whatever the request.

**Day 6**

The day started pretty badly for our rickshaw. A quick drive down the road resulted in a massive loss of power and smoke emenating from the engine. We somehow got it back to the hotel, arranged a mechanic to come up and have a look and discovered we'd blown a gasket! There are now 3 nice sixed holes in the engine casing. Simon got a lift to town on the back of the mechanic's scooter to get new parts and on route was dragged in to a temple by a local who explained all the different god statues and demanded 200 rupees. This was quickly haggled down to 10 and he was back on his way. One of the most annoying things about India is their fixation with money. It's very poor and as soon as white people show up they want money. Its sad that very few people simply want to chat with you but when they do the people can be fantastic. Our exhaust is also falling off quite dramatically so we got a bolt for this ... which lasted 2 km so we've just given up on it :)

The whole fix cost 300 rupees and we were on our way again. Stopped off in town for water and snacks. Here we saw a brand new rickshaw (new model of ours) with only 200km on it! It was wonderful. You know when you've been in a rickshaw too long when you start admiring the different models! Simon tried to buy his hubcaps (footballs ...they looked awesome) but he wasn't having it!

Really nice drive today through the jungle with a couple of tiger reserves dotted along the route. Our eyes were peeled  but no tiger was spotted :( We managed to lose our fuel cap somewhere along the trip so efficeiency has started to drop!

Stayed in another stunning location in India: Marble Rocks. We'll upload the photos to show you what I mean. We swam in the lake with the local kids and hopefully didn't pick up too many diseases!

Safely in Goa!

Well we've somehow made it to Goa and have been in Longuinos hotel since wednesday. Last night has left us all a bit sensitive this morning but we'll get on to that.

Firstly our trip down from Harrogate to Heathrow started with a tearful farewell from the mothers but it's nice to know they care :) The megabus is amazing. 3 quid all the way to London is silly money and the worst bit was the underground to Hetahrow! Honestly I don't know how people can live like that stuck in like sardines on the way home from work everyday. Give me the yorkshire dales any day of the week.

Anyway, enough of the UK. Simon and Ben met Jonny at the airport in Mumbai when we got off our seperate flights. Simon was then robbed of his puncture repair kit (most sensible thing to pack ever) because apparently gas cannisters aren't allowed kuh ... not sure hoe it made it all the way to Mumbai but there you go. We were then told that our flight was cancelled and found out this was because 2 Jet airways planes had clipped wings mid air, the 2 pilots were sacked and as a result all the other pilots went on strike. As a result there was lots of press about which made things even more hectic. We were trnasferred to a different flight so no problems there but were then fleeced by a rickshaw driver taking us about 100 yards to to the right terminal. This was our 1st real experience of India so we were chucked in at the deep end and failed miserably. O well, lesson learnt.

Eventually got to Goa ... far nicer than Mumbai ... and got a cheap Taxi with Chris who we met from another team to the hotel. Lovely drive through a forest of palm trees that covers south Goa and becuase we'd been travelling for 30 hours we promptly fell asleep after dinner on the beach.

Next day we hired scooters and got our first taste od frivingthe indian roads. Really good fun! Simon is scared to let anybody but himself drive the rickshaw now though. Headed up to Panjim and Angua in the north. All very pretty and scenic. By the time we got back a few more teams had arrived so drinking ensued (and lime squeezing in the eye... not clever!) and we headed to a bar who showed the England Croatia game. Good times

And now we're having a relaxing day to recover. Lots of other stories we could talk about but we'll save them for now!

2 days until Departure!

Well none of us can believe just how quickly this has come around. We signed up without any money or any idea what we were letting ourselves in for and we've somehow managed to raise over £1000 for our charities (thanks very much to everyone who has donated so far) and got ourselves some flights! ... although we still don't know how we're gonna get back from Nepal ... I'm sure something will work out :) Simon does have an international driving permit that somehow allows him to drive a bus in India so he could always get a job as a bus driver and take us all back to Mumbai!

So we set off on the trusty Megabus at midday (£3 from Harrogate to London! ... bargain), and then travel on the tube in rush hour for 1 hour with all our bags to Heathrow. We'll be sweaty even before we get on the plane to India! Then we're staying in Longuinis beach resort for 5 days to chill out and see the sights in Goa. Although apparantly it's thunderstorms out there at the minute so that will be fun!

We've finally got a map so we can start to work out where we're going to go. If you look at our Route page you'll see what we're thinking at the moment. Goa - Hydrebad - up the middle - Agra - Pokhara. Foolproof... sort of

Keep following this blog over the next few weeks as we'll try to keep you all updated on all our mis-adventures and tales of far away lands.

We still need to raise about £50 for Maiti Nepal so if you're feeling generous do head over to our charities page to donate.

 Stay safe people.

 Simon, Ben, Jonny - Hey Ho Let's Goa!

£500 raised for Frank Water Projects!

Thanks to an annonymous donation (legend whoever you are) we've managed to reach our £500 fundraising target for Frank Water Projects. A huge thankyou goes out to all that have donated to this excellent cause.

We still have a fair way to go to reach the £500 target for Maiti Nepal as well so please visit the charities page on the menu and give anything you can spare. Thankyou.

We're signed up!

Well, thanks to The Adventurists and their kind heartedness for giving us the time to get the sign up money together by the 28th of Feb, we've somehow managed to stump up the money (cheers Dad  ) and we're signed up!

So far it's just me and Ben but hopefully John will be joining us shortly.

We have set upa justgiving page for Frank Water Projects, so please go to the charities page (menu on the left) and donate! It's an excellent charity so please give anything you can.

If you would also like to donate to Maiti Nepal, please contact myself or Ben directly as we are unable to set one up on justgiving at the moment in time

Bye for now!