Both teams started off this morning with a big send off by the hotel staff, they wished us luck on our last few kilometers.
Our route took us on a ferry to the finish, we bypassed several teams to the front of the line cause it’s India and you can do that. Given we are Merchant Mariners the captain invited us up to the air conditioned wheelhouse for the ride.
Actually every time we rode the ferry we got to ride in the wheelhouse, I guess birds of a feather flock together.
Making it to the finish Nature’s Way and Pirates Look at 60 placed a respectable 12th and 13th. We were met with much fanfare and our national anthem.
After the finish we walked around Fort Kochi for a bit and took in the sites.
Last night the Adventurists gave the teams that arrived early a spot for dinner and beers. All the teams had some great stories of the road, it’s endless entertainment.
Here are the two guys that passed us going plaid, we had no chance once their slingshot was engaged.
We met two Scots Neal and Linda last night over a few beers. They have retired and enjoy traveling the globe. They made a pack not to visit any country more than once, except India, that should tell you something. If it was up to Linda they might be living here.
Here is a brief video explaining the operation and performance of our ride, it’s really amazing this tiny vehicle took us as far as it has. By the way our odometer reads over 80000 kilometers.
So that’s it our Minnie Winnie is forever gone to be stripped of the personality we gave her and prepped for another lucky team and a lifetime of memories. They, like us, will start out anxious, excited, nervously going into the unknown. After a day or two with the people of India they will know they are in a great place full of charm and acceptance, everyone here is willing to help. If they come into this feeling good with respect and an honest smile they will get everything we did and possibly a totally new outlook on life and definitely a different feeling on the beauties of mankind.
Here’s our teams link to our Cool Earth Page, join the fun and be apart of the big picture. From Nature’s Way and Pirates Look at 60 we wish all the best from India. Thanks for coming along for the ride. Tommy, Ryan, Kenny, Rick, and David.
Both teams started off this morning with a big send off by the hotel staff, they wished us luck on our last few kilometers.
Our route took us on a ferry to the finish, we bypassed several teams to the front of the line cause it’s India and you can do that. Given we are Merchant Mariners the captain invited us up to the air conditioned wheelhouse for the ride.
Actually every time we rode the ferry we got to ride in the wheelhouse, I guess birds of a feather flock together.
Making it to the finish Nature’s Way and Pirates Look at 60 placed a respectable 12th and 13th. We were met with much fanfare and our national anthem.
After the finish we walked around Fort Kochi for a bit and took in the sites.
Last night the Adventurists gave the teams that arrived early a spot for dinner and beers. All the teams had some great stories of the road, it’s endless entertainment.
Here are the two guys that passed us going plaid, we had no chance once their slingshot was engaged.
We met two Scots Neal and Linda last night over a few beers. They have retired and enjoy traveling the globe. They made a pack not to visit any country more than once, except India, that should tell you something. If it was up to Linda they might be living here.
Here is a brief video explaining the operation and performance of our ride, it’s really amazing this tiny vehicle took us as far as it has. By the way our odometer reads over 80000 kilometers.
So that’s it our Minnie Winnie is forever gone to be stripped of the personality we gave her and prepped for another lucky team and a lifetime of memories. They, like us, will start out anxious, excited, nervously going into the unknown. After a day or two with the people of India they will know they are in a great place full of charm and acceptance, everyone here is willing to help. If they come into this feeling good with respect and an honest smile they will get everything we did and possibly a totally new outlook on life and definitely a different feeling on the beauties of mankind.
Here’s our teams link to our Cool Earth Page, join the fun and be apart of the big picture. From Nature’s Way and Pirates Look at 60 we wish all the best from India. Thanks for coming along for the ride. Tommy, Ryan, Kenny, Rick, and David.
Yesterday started out with one new teammate and 176 miles ahead of us. Our new member was Tatiana Nunez a young lady from Columbia that has been traveling around India since January. The teams met Tatiana last night at our little hotel on the beach. Conversation came up we are headed to Kochi, she was going that way so why not hitch a ride in the least likely most uncomfortable vehicle with no guarantee to actually make it. Her personality is as big as her smile, she added a lot of laughs to the day, you couldn’t ask for better crew. She writes about her travels here.
We must be comfortable with the roads if Ryan and Tommy are snoozing. Imagine riding along on incredibly rough roads at the highest speed attainable (about 40mph) passing buses who then pass you back only to brake hard directly in front of you (often without brake lights). The constant sound of horns, motorcycles weaving in and out making the Isle of Man look like a trip to the grocery. Brake, horn, accelerate, weave, brake, horn, pass, for hours on end in a tiny vehicle completely made of stamped steel buzzing away in your ears.
I hate to say it but today was just a really long hot drive, no issues with our Tuk Tuks just a 11 hour drive down the coast. We stopped for lunch and to stretch let our rides cool for a bit, this was our last leg, it couldn’t have gone better. The only exciting thing was being passed up by the Wonder Bread Rickshaw, they must have a top notch program cause they flew past us. Might have to flag them for inspection.
We made it to Kochi, Tatiana went on her way, we found some suitable accommodations for a much needed shower and a beer or two.
We are almost to the finish line which is Saturday the 27th. You may think we have it in the bag but with five miles to go India and a well used Tuk Tuk doesn’t make for a guarantee. I will be posting our experiences in more detail till then.
I have added a link to our teams Cool Earth donation page. We couldn’t just do all this craziness without a cause, that’s no fun. The team has been responsible for our cost so 100 percent of donations go to Cool Earth under our teams name. If your following Nature’s Way please take a few moments to familiarize yourself with Cool Earth. Thanks for all the involvement and support only two days to go.
Stuck in Udipi yesterday morning due to a failed clutch, we got about 1000 hard kilometers out of the last one. How do you find a Tuk Tuk mechanic? You ask the pros at the closest Tuk Tuk stand. A tailor who owned a shop close to our hotel closed his doors and took us to a mechanic, with some extra baggage on his bike, super guy, he translated our issue to the mech. One clutch pulled, hammered back into shape, reinstalled with all cables adjusted, 50 rupees.
Two Pirates Look at 60 went on south to Thotadda about 127 kilometers from last nights hotel. They had their first mechanical issue, a broken clutch cable. By the time we caught up they already had accommodations ready, a quaint little sea side hotel. We are down to the short ropes, only 178 kilometers ahead of us, if we can squeeze one more day out of Minnie Winnie we’re golden.
I’ll start out saying beach locals are the same on every beach, at least all the beaches I’ve visited and lived on. This isn’t a bad thing it’s just an observation. It was wonderful waking up to the sound of the waves on Agondo beach, I could do that every morning. We wanted to stay another day here, or a lifetime, Goa is a paradise, at least in the off season.
Nature’s Way and Two Pirates Look at 60 covered 162 miles today down the coast. The roads and terrain is beautiful running in and out along the beaches, bays, and rivers. Our rides performed well cruising comfortably at around 45 to 50 kph. We had a nice conversation with a kid who is in his tenth year of school and studying English at level 7. He gave us a history lesson of the area and a heads up on road conditions. Ryan wanted to ride like the locals on top, given the stability issues this created we had to lean into corners. We are taking a break at a roadside convenience store.
We stopped for lunch in a beach town, Murudeshwara, that unknown to us had a huge statue of Lord Shiva, second largest in the world, so there’s one bigger to stumble upon. Lots going on in this little beach town.
We made it to Udupi around 1830 to get cleaned up and have dinner. Only about 300 miles left, hope our rides keep on Tukin.
Everyone we meet from curious onlookers while getting gas to a group of fun loving medical students has been so much fun to talk too.
Today was super day, we have been averaging around 10 hours a day in our Tuk Tuk. We fueled up bright and early for a drive to Goa. I was fascinated with this bands tour bus. The whole concert is self contained in their bus.
The drive over the mountains was slow going but brought some incredible scenery.
We dropped down into a small village for a much needed break. We have to stop often to give the tiny 150cc engine a rest.
Finally made it to the beach, we had lunch then another 60 kilometers south.
Found some suitable lodging for the evening. A couple of us were stoked to swim in the Indian Ocean, only two more to go and we will have taken a dip in all the oceans of the world. It’s nuts to see cows, packs of dogs, and a fellow riding his horse in full stride on the beach. The sunset was a beautiful ending to the day. I have some videos of the day I will upload when we find a place with suitable bandwidth.
Last couple days we have been popular with the police, in good way for once. We have had to show our paper work a few times, was told we needed to pay a (fine), a couple liters of ice cold water was sufficient enough. The scenery has changed from dry desert to some greenery and palm trees. We have traveled through a lot of elevation changes trying to stay out of the way of the trucks and buses. We will be on the coast tomorrow in Goa.
Had some issues with our gear box, found a strip mall of mechanics. One pulled the head, cleaned out the combustion chamber, serviced the gear box and had us back on the road for the equivalent of 72 cents US.
Our teams mandatory bridge shot. We had the feeling we were being watched.
Local motorcyclist, one wanted to jump from the bike to our Rickshaw, on the highway. Speaking of motorcycle clubs we are not even sorry we stopped here. Turns out Harley’s are the first bikes in India.
We have gotten a lot of us out of ours maps, remember those, they are made of paper. Actually it was difficult to find really good road maps of India. I found our National Geographic maps on Amazon.
I have posted several random video clips on my YouTube page. A few road clips, a couple local Tuk Tuks, etc, etc. You can follow the link below. I’ll post where we have been staying at the end, it’s all over the board from no stars to 5 plus.
We are over halfway there, thanks for the support. Collectively the team has been to around 130 countries and not one has the hospitality and kindness we have experienced in India. This country is full of beautiful people that go well beyond anywhere any of us has been before.
Today’s adventure began with the police wanting a few pics., this happens often.
A slow ride up through the mountains, our Mini Winnie was running fine just did not have the power some other Rickshaws have. Given the OD clocks in at 80000 Kilometers we had a complete rebuild including new cylinder head, piston, connecting rod, clutch etc, etc, basically everything new but the bottom end. This took exactly a half hour to be installed at a cost of $26 USD. Now she pulls full afterburner without the reoccurring issue of over beating around 2pm every day.
We were approached by some fellows in a government truck who invited us into there facility. They are heading up a program that uses local labor and goods to be processed and made locally, sold locally, all in the same villages, basically like (Buy Local) in the US. Turns out one was a four star general that invited us to stay at the officers retreat for the state of Gujarat. As much as we wanted to accept the offer we had to push on.
Had to have a tire repaired, while waiting discovered Mango Cream they are outstanding especially given the cream part is made from goat milk.
Made it to a super shady motel, team For Tuks Sake showed up so we enjoyed another surprisingly good dinner with them. After mentioning to the hotel staff a beer would be nice (Gujarat is a dry state) we were told by a guy who knew a guy that there was a bar we could go to so we headed out. Down a long bumpy dark road, though a fence or two we came to a large happening spot probably a hundred people there, had a beer or two and headed back. First time we had driven at night, here’s a run down. Tuk Tuks aren’t known for strong electrics so the lights work to about 15 feet ahead. The roads have no street lights, no lines, no reflectors, no traffic signs that anyone pays attention to, doesn't seem to matter if you have working tail lights, there are random unmarked speed bumps that could take the suspension out on a Sherman Tank. Needless to say in a smaller city it’s a challenge to say the least.
