Varanasi -- The City of Light

I've given up on this primitive blogging system. We have moved everything [here](https://mymidlifecrisissite.wordpress.com/)

We will continue to make updates, but they will be at the wordpress location.

Feeling Lucky in Lucknow (Day 4, Thursday, April 7)

For the record, this primitive blogging system keeps scrambling the order of my posts and I know that, but there isn't much I can do about it. My apologies.

Last night we made the decision to put in a couple of long days in order to treat ourselves to a rest/sightseeing day in Varanasi a couple of days from now. So today we pushed Hillary 366km (227 miles) to Lucknow -- not the most direct route from Agra to Varanasi, but a far nicer place than other options along the way. The other logical option that several teams took was to stop over tonight in Kanpur. We passed through Kanpur en-route and the air is simply poison. The coal-burning brick kilns are going full blast, and smoke fills the air. Tomorrow (Friday) we will move on from Lucknow to Varanasi and stay until Sunday morning. That will give us a chance to have Hillary serviced, get some laundry done, and rest our very sore asses.

Jason has a touch of Delhi belly today, so I had to do a lot of driving. The only upside of his illness is that he does far less back-seat driving when he's asleep! He's feeling a bit better tonight, so we're optimistic he's going to be perky again when the alarm goes off at 5am. He's already fast asleep and I'm on my way to bed as well. Apologies for the short, un-witty post... I promise more when we get settled in Varanasi. For now, just know that everything is going fine and we are well ahead of schedule.


Oh, and a shout out to our friends at Pelagic bottle shop in Raleigh, NC... Jason took this snap of me while I was driving up NH25 to Lucknow.

Cheers, Jason and Brian

There was No Loss of Life Today...

...but Hillary's left wheel well has a bit of a bruise. As it turns out, navigating through the narrow, crowded streets of Agra's old city is more challenging even than the chaotic, but flowing traffic of Jaipur.

Once again we were out the door on schedule, and sucessfully avoided the morning rush. We made such great time on the road today that we were in Agra by 1:30pm, 242km away. Things started getting really interesting about 20km from our destination when the road narrowed to a single usable lane, packed with people, vehicles and cows. I have taken on the role of navigating in the cities while Jason drives... it isn't that I mind driving, but listening to Jason "coach" is more that I can take. Its just easier this way. Though we each played our role calmly, there really was no avoiding a couple of brush ups against other vehicles and having a mirror nearly dismout a lovely lady from a motorcycle. Unlike the situation back home, no one made the least amount of fuss over the encounters and we simply carried on. Seriously, if you see two white guys driving an auto-rickshaw it is in your best interest to give a wide berth.

After a recovery drink at our pad, the Taj Gateway Hotel, we made an excursion to see the Taj Mahal. Though not new to either of us, it never, ever ceases to amaze. We ran into a couple of other Rickshaw Run teams there, so at least a few of us are making good progress.


Based upon our unexpected progress so far, we are reworking our planned route tonight. We are thinking of pushing on to Lucknow tomorrow, 336km away. It will be our biggest day so far, but will actually put us two days ahead of "schedule". That will give us ample time to get to Varanasi, possibly with a rest day there for us and a "spa day" for Hillary. She will be needing her fluids changed by then.

Jason just had a swim in the pool. Now we're considering a bite of dinner and an early night. As we drive east daylight comes earlier and earlier, and Gods (there are supposedly 330 million of them in India) know we need to get out of Agra before the city comes alive!

Cheers, Brian and Jason

Off to the Races!!

Today was THE day. 70 pimped-out auto-rickshaws with novice drivers headed out of Jaisalmer for the open road. Logically enough, driving on the roads of India is vastly different than the the test track around the Maharaja's palace that we had previously experienced.


After about 100km, driving Hillary turned into a Zen experience...we were one with the road, the meandering cows (did someone say cheeseburger??), goats, dogs, camels and other vehicles both large and small. Horns are a necessity while driving in India...a form of communication that is accepted and expected. Driving in India can be compared to playing an exotic video game, the only problem is if you lose the game you die!


Departing slightly after 9am we headed due East on NH15 towards our intended first night in Phalodi. The roads were smooth and appeared to be newer tarmac. Once Hillary got warmed up she drove comfortably between 47-55 km/hr. We reached Phalodi relatively unscathed with only a few minor learning experiences along the way. When we reached Phalodi the directions took us through narrow passage ways that Hillary's 3foot hips would barely fit through...at times we had to negotiate passage with other bikes, Tuk-tuks, people and cars - it all just seemed to work out.


Arriving in Phalodi about 1:30pm we decided to push through to Nagaur, which was our scheduled second night's stop. The route to Nagaur took us on RJ SH19, a secondary road, also recently paved. Though much more narrow they were well-suited for Hillary's hips, camels, cows and another vehicle. This road brought us through various small villages and encounters with peacocks, dogs, and of course more cows.

We quickly learned that both entering and exiting these villages required going over spead bumps. The speed bumps were unmarked and only visible prior to arriving at them by the line of boulders next to them. Yet another lesson learned the hard way :-)

Along the route we stopped for Petrol and to let 'Ole Hillary cool for a bit -- something her age isn't meant to drive distances at these speed in 100 degree weather. Getting Petrol involved having ~ 4.5liters pumped into a plastic jerry can then adding ~150mL of 2stroke engine oil prior to pouring it into Hillary via a plastic funnel. We carry two 5-liter cans that contain mixed fuel for there is no gas gauge in our girl.


Each time we pulled into a Petrol station we were greeted -- surrounded by helpful service station employees, their families, friends and passersby -- all a friendly and inquisitive bunch. We stopped to feed Hillary and let her cool about every hour. This allowed us much needed time to stretch, have a cigerette and chai.

Arriving in Nagaur about 6:30pm we saw another auto-rickshaw parked in front of our hotel, the Hotel Shyam Palace (don't misinterpret Palace -- you get what you pay for for $20 per night!). This was recognizable due to the fact that the rickshaw had the same Jaisalmer - Shillong Rickshaw Run sticker on it.


The Hotel Shyam Palace is starkly different than the 1st Gate Home Fusion hotel where we had spent the previous four nights. Tonight's room is air conditioned and cost ~ $19/night for a room with one bed, two plastic chairs. The bathroom is our first encounter with a squatty potty with a spigot and bucket sitting next to it - no tiolet paper. The shower is cold water only and is supplied from a shower head in the wall right next to the Sqautty Potty....no shower stall and the water goes directly onto the bathroom floor and down a floor drain. One of us is more excited about the true India than the other - just part of the adventure.

Dinner was Paneer Tikka Masala, Potato peas, Vegtable Briyani, some tandoor bread, a bottle of water, a large bottle of pepsi and an orange soda. Excellent food, even the abundant flies felt the same. This meal cost just under $11 total.

Off to bed to dream of tomorrow's travels. Original plan was to head to Jaipur however that is being re-evauluated, we may push about 40km further if Hillary is game.

Cheers, Jason and Brian

City Driving is a WHOLE New Ball Game

Day two of our journey is complete! We were up for an early start and continued across the Rajasthani desert from Nagaur on to Jaipur, passing through tiny hamlets and giving Hillary her first hill-climbing workout. Mind you, the top speed we have managed is about 37mph downhill -- today's gentle uphill grades half that. She performed well, but we now have some idea of what we're in for when the going gets really uphill toward the tea country of Eastern India. We stopped for chai a couple of times so we could open up her boot and let her engine cool down.


I'm finding it interesting that in a country such as India where the completely unexpected happens every day that two white guys driving an auto-rickshaw is such a novelty... but it is, as we draw a crowd wherever we stop. To be honest, we haven't been in a situation yet where we felt the least bit threatened or uncomfortable... there are many places in the US that I would feel less comfortable.


Google maps has been a godsend. Only rarely have we been without cell coverage, so we've been able to navigate the most illogical of routes pretty easily. By far the most complicated thing that we've done has been driving into Jaipur -- the 10th largest city in India. Jason was cool as a cucumber, bobbing and weaving through traffic that simply cannot be described as I navigated him through at least a dozen six-lane roundabouts.

Tonight we are at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Jaipur. In contrast to last night's "palace", it is an international-class hotel. One of the highlights of the day was seeing the look on the doorman's face as we drove up. We get lots of strange looks, but I think we were the most absurd thing he had seen for a while. Other highlights include a bar and non-vegetarian food (last night was completely dry and food throughout has been almost strictly vegetarian).


So, we are alive and well and hope to be on the road to Agra by 5:30am... we are hoping that the streets are a little calmer at that hour as Jaipur traffic quickly takes a toll on one's underwear supply.

Cheers, Jason and Brian

Check-In and Training Time


Having figured out that the only really pleasant part of the day is from about 6:00-8:30am, I was up on the rooftop early to do a little writing while Jason caught a few extra zzz's. I realize how shocking that sounds to everyone who knows how much I appreciate mornings back home!

Around 10:30 we headed over to the [Jawahar Niwas Palace](http://jawaharniwaspalace.co.in/), the official host of the Rickshaw Run. It is an architecturally stunning yet shabbily maintained former Maharaja's Palace. As we entered the grounds, we got to see the lineup of rickshaws -- one for each of the 70 participating teams. It was quite an impressive sight!

It didn't take us long to track down Hillary -- the name we have christened our strong, very experienced (19,000km on the odometer) rickshaw -- who we are certain has the grit to get us going in the right direction. After a few minutes of doing the paperwork -- strikingly similar to renting a car in the US -- Mitzi gave us a crash course in driving, handed us the keys and sent us on our way. The organizers have set up a pretty wild test course spread out over the palace grounds. Driving the thing is a total rush, but as the reality of driving it 1,700 miles set in, so did a fresh round of stomach flutters.

In the afternoon, we attended the mandatory "mechanical talk" designed to help us diagnose the mechanical problems that we will certainly encounter, and approaches to fixing the more basic issues.

We have met several other teams at this point and enjoyed dinner with Theo and Chris, a couple of Germans. Poke around for their blog under the team name "Men of Track" (a play on Men in Black) if you want a different perspective of what's going on here.

Cheers, Brian & Jason

The Gateway to Hell Known as Jaisalmer


Apologies for the lagging blog entries... there was a glitch in the system that we hope has been fixed now.

After 18 hours on airplanes, an overnight layover in Delhi, and a five hour drive deep into the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, we have finally arrived in Jaisalmer, the starting point of the Rickshaw Run. Summer is in full swing here, which means every living creature is competing for very limited shade to fend off the 100 degree plus temperatures.

Having arrived a bit late in the day to complete our registration, we have spent the evening instead having drinks and admiring the view of the fort from the rooftop of our hotel, the amazing [First Gate Home Fusion Hotel](http://1stgate.in/).

We met three other teams today on the flight from Delhi to Jodhpur. Apparently Rickshaw Runners are the only white people coming to Rajasthan this time of year so we are rather easy to spot.

We are hoping for a good night's rest tonight and are looking forward to meeting our rickshaw tomorrow!

Cheers, Brian & Jason

Ground Control to Major Tom -- Somewhere over the Atlantic

Welcome to the first installment of our Rickshaw Run blog. After some tense last-minute packing and a ride to the airport from Jen, we are finally en route to India, but that doesn't mean the drama hasn't begun. High winds in New York meant that we would have missed our JFK to London connection. Thanks to some very cooperative folks at American, we were able to re-route on the direct RDU to London flight (thank you Glaxo for creating demand for that route) and Jason has finally been able to relax about the flights!

The flight crew from Raleigh was charming, and quickly figured out the way to keep us quiet was to keep us liquored up. Jason snored most of the way -- his flight worries gone -- and I watched the Oscar-winning Spotlight. If you haven't seen it, see it now.

We are nearing London and will have a few hours on the ground there before continuing on to Delhi.

Thanks to all who have donated to Cool Earth... We appreciate your support. For those of you who are reading who haven't donated, remember that karma thing I warned you about. Just sayin'.