New town, new friends

Finally got the beast fixed ... turned out to be the piston (which we had told the bloody garage when we took it in on Monday morning!) ... On the road at 5:30 and after being very gentle on her for the first few hours and 150km, we tested to see what she could now do ... managed to get her up to 70kph before quickly going back to be gentle.

Nice to be on the road again. Sylv drove for a while after I started nodding off at the wheel ... She's already asleep now so I think the same will happen tomorrow!

Today was a little bitter sweet ... had the usual wonderful sights and weather to savour, the waves and smiles from people we passed and who passed us, but also saw a little tragedy along the way. A couple of truck and bus smashes which left little to the imagination and the bizarre and truly tragic sight of a man's body in the road after apparently being run over, but the traffic continued to move around him. I was stunned by the sight and I was a long way down the road before I thought that I should have stopped and asked for help to move him off the road and cover him over at the very least. There was no commotion, no panic - just acceptance.

That's the bitter bit of the blog out of the way - sorry for the morbid paragraph, but this blog is supposed to be warts and all!

 

And on to the sweet - After a long drive from Srikakulam to Bhubaneswar, we pulled into car-park of hotel we'd highlighted in guide book and were greeted by a small group of very friendly students who said they had read about the Rickshaw Run on the internet amd wanted us to share a drink with them. We soon found ourselves as invited guests at a birthday celebration meal and were made to feel very, very welcome. We spent a few happy hours having a laugh, a drink and a meal - not forgetting of course birthday cake - for which our hosts (who were by this stage a larger group) ... would not let us pay for our share [I knew I should have had the lobster! ... only joking!]. Not only that but they also managed to get us a reservation at another hotel (the one we were drinking at was full), and negotiated a huge discount for us ... We were and are very grateful for everything, they could not have been more friendly. They made sure we found the hotel (after giving us a push start ... bloody rickshaw), and came in to make sure the price was right. Fantastic.

I can go on and on about how helpful and friendly the Indian people are on here but unless you've experienced their welcome, you will not understand the strength of it ... I'm sure Steve T will back me up on that.

Well - Another very early start tomorrow - alarm set for 4:30 ... onwards and upwards! 

Stalled in AP

Well ... what to start with ...

We left Vijayawada on 2nd April, fairly early ... we quickly developed a few engine problems, power dropping after every few kilometers, eventually getting worse until it got to the stage that the engine was cutting out every two kilometers, requiring us to pull over and restart the thing.

Due to the lack of progress we arrived in Visak much later than hoped for and struggled to find a hotel ... we didn't know which of the seedy characters to ask for advice at 3:30am ... we ended up in the wrong part of town at the wrong time of night!

We therefore decided to get out of dodge and see how far we could get ... after driving for a little over 24 hours we found ourselves in Srikakulam and found a hotel ... meeting Ben & Katy for a brief chat.

Although it was Easter Sunday, the hotel managed to get us a mechanic who came out to look at our vehicle ... he replaced a clutch plate and we tried it ... still cutting out and lacking power. He stayed working on vehicle all day but unable to sort it ... he then said it was the cylinder and he couldn't do anything until morning. He never came back the following morning.

We were then put in the hands of a specialist Bajaj dealership ... they identified a few things and changed a few parts ... still the original problem remains! After spending all day yesterday having the deadline moved further and further back, we were told it was going to be today 09:00am ... now we're told it's goinf to be after 10:30 ...

It is starting to reach the point where we are soon having to make a decision on whether we push on or whether we put the useless heap of tin on a truck to Gangtok - not something I want to do. Tuesday today, only half the journey completed and the very latest we can arrive (and leave) Gangtok is Monday. If it is repaired today and we're lucky ... it can (just) still end happily ... but I'm beginning to doubt it.

People have still been amazing (with possible exception of mechanics! Boo-Hiss!) ... and that has been the one thing keeping our spirits up ... along with communication from other teams and people back home.

Logging off now to go pester the garage! Wish us luck ... we need it.

 

P.S. Our problems started when we were left a black and white scarf in our rickshaw. Just wait until I get to Gangtok!

First near-death experience out of the way

Well, got the first bit of dicing with death out of the way ... It's my way of breaking the ice. 

Out on a rather nice test drive, through a slightly darker part of Fort Kochi, when we found a low hanging power cable which we would have ripped from it's place if I hadn't saw it in time and stopped before my roof-rack grabbed it. After trying to remove it with my bare hands, a local did the more sensible thing and held it up with a stick to enable me to drive under it. I've got it on video and will post it on here as soon as possible.

Rickshaw is delicately pimped but Sylv thinks it's too subtle, so we shall seeks a few flags, streamers etc to dress it further. We've filled the fuel tank (now my keyboard spells of petrol - not that that's a bad thing of course) and we're pretty much ready to go ...

Cricket match is set for 15:00 local time - although not sure about the state of the pitch after last nights torrent (and a slightly brick-strewn surface).

Then tonight the party at Bolgatty Palace (on it's own island) - and then we're all set to go tomorrow.

Ben (Too Many Chiefs), found a Rickshaw graveyard earlier ... let's just hope our brightly coloured beasties don't end up on there before we're out of Kochi! 

Here in India at last

Well, we're in the country ... now just got to negotiate the 5 hour wait between flights ...

Thought I might as well keep you updated ... saying as Samosa shop is still not open - it's half two in the morning here.

 Enough for now ... watch this space...