Bought a chicken. A whole one. Alive.

Last night (right before bed) we decided to bail on the early morning safari, sleep in, and attempt to find a coffee plantation tour since we were in the heart of coffee, tea, and black pepper world.

So we wake up, do morning stuff and hit the road. Austin has had this idea of buying a chicken for a few days now. Now that we are in south India and around more Christianity, chickens (and chicken entrees) are much more common. Well we pass a few chicken stands (they just sell live chickens) and Austin brings it up again that he would love to buy a chicken and call it Will (our friend who broke his neck).

Obviously, I'm all for this idea.

So the next sign we see with a chicken and some scribbly writing that says things only hindi speaking people know, Austin pulls over. 170 rupees ($2.5) and a semi awkward transaction later...we are now proud owners of a female chicken named Will.

Now what.

We start driving and just start laughing our ass off as Austin sits in the back seat holding a chicken. We take some selfies and continue on.

We finally find this Coffee Acres resort place to tour. They have a ton of Robusta coffee bean trees. It's freaking sexy inside their resort. They had a treehouse suite that we got a tour of also. It's so sad how little money they get for their coffee out there. They sell the 119 pound bags of coffee beans for like 60 US dollars to resellers. They gave us some french pressed coffee (free of charge). We took some selfies (Yes, Will the female chicken was in them) and hit the road again.

Will sat fairly quietly in the back of the rickshaw the rest of the day. We have him (her) some water from time to time. She was sleepy.

We get to our hotel and Start unloading our stuff. I look in the back. Damn, we have a chicken in our trunk. I put my bags down, grab Will, and start walking out into the city. This was pretty awkward. A white boy walking around with an unhappy chicken making unhappy noises. I first ask a man at a shoe store if he knows where I can take him. I forget they don't speak English. He tries to find me a box. A shoe box? I'm not sure. Whatever he was looking for he didn't find. I continue on. I'm now walking down an alley. I really had no idea what the Hell to do with this chicken. It's wrapped in some orange scarf thing we found on the side of the road a few days back. At this point I've decided it's probably a good idea to jus like...let it be free. Let it's find it's own destiny in this city 150 kilometers away from his old world. Let him have a new start. A new beginning. And then the boy with a popsicle walks into my life. He looks at me confused (as any person should). I smile, say namaste, and jester to hand him this female chicken named Will. He looks at me awkwardly, takes the popsicle out of his mouth and shakes his head no. I jester again like hey man, you have this guy. He steps towards me. I attempt to put the chicken under his left arm while shaking my head yes and smile. Trying to show him it's ok. He accepts and holds onto the chicken!! I give him a thumbs up trying to let him know it's ok! He still looks confused like he doesn't know what's going on. I wish I could just tell him we bought this to replace our friend who broke his neck and isn't here and are not allowed to take him into the hotel...but I don't speak Hindi.

He has the chicken and I start walking away, trying to show him like 'hey man, I don't want that thing!' This is when his face lights up! He has now become the happiest kid in this little town! I give him one more thumbs up, attempting to say 'good' in Hindi.

He goes his way, I go mine. I look back and see this boy holding his popsicle in his right hand and a chicken in his left hand smiling while he is looking to his left at two shop owners who just witness this random chicken giveaway.

Then we tried to see the temple in this city and they told us we can't because we are Christian.

Also, random story: The restaurant hilarity continues. Remember how I said you order and just hope you get something good? Yes. So Today Martyn ordered two CHEESE omelets for breakfast. Two. We are all brought our food and they set one omelet down in front of Martyn. He goes, excuse me, I ordered two! So the guy says oh oh ok, two more omelets. So I guess he will get 2 more now? Also Add in the fact that no silverware was provided for his one omelet. Well, they bring him his second omelet about 5 minutes later. Just one. Not two. Martyn has 2 bites left of this second omelet (eating with his hands) and they put down a huge plate of cheese on the table (and with two forks on top)!

F' It. Close your eyes, I'm going.

First, I'd like to tell a random story. Austin has fallen asleep twice on the road in the rickshaw. Well one time he was asleep in the back and these two kids on one motor bike came up next to me driving. The boy driving reached out his hand pointing at Austin asleep in the back. As he pointed he squinted his eyes just confused. I took my fingers and put them in the shape of a hand gun, put the fake gun over my shoulder, and pretended to shoot! The boys instsntly got serious. I laughed out loud. Anyway, last night we made it Mangalore. It was our biggest mileage day yet! We left Goa at 7am and hit 400 kilometers in a day. The drive was really nice and down a lot of the western coastline of India. The drive was pretty exhausting and we almost died twice. We found a place in Managalore, got kingfishers, selfies, and dinner. We left mangalore and headed east into the Jungle. Our plan was to do a Tiger/Elephant safari at the Nagarhole National Forest. This drive was incredible. Apparently the forest land has been farmed with coffee trees and palm trees. It was so amazing to drive through straight jungle with huge palm trees surrounded by coffee farms and huge mountains. We made it to the safari place in just enough time for Austin and Martyn to go grab lunch and us to get on the tour. We Saw a whole bunch of elephants! Some deer. This crazy monitor lizard. Then this other kind of animal, and then some other kind. No Tigers tho.

After the safari we were aiming at this resort we were told about earlier. It's called Wildlife Resort. It's freaking gorgeous. There are little guest houses randomly placed in the middle of this jungle, surrounded by massive green trees and palm trees, and other jungle stuff. Tomorrow morning we are gonna do an early morning Jeep safari tour then head to Kochi (which is about 300 kilometers away). That is really a little bit too much ground for us to cover, but we have high Hopes.

We don't understand their construction logic

Heading west from Pune, we took a small side road that led down to a hugeeee lake. It was so freaking gorgeous. I remember heading back up and I heard, through the trees 'namaste!!' So I yelled namaste back! Then they said it again! So I yelled it again! Namaste, namaste, namaste!!! It didn't make sense. But it was amazing. They love us. As we are driving past some tree. Then we continue in into the mountains. Oh the mountains. This mountain range is freaking stunning. We stopped and hiked 30 minutes to the top of this knob to get a 360 view of the entire range. Some of the largest landscapes Weve ever seen! And, the hike was super scary. At one point, we were rock climbing straight up. I was legitimately scared. That was at the top of the mountain peaks and then we started heading down. These mountains were out of this world with massive cliff sides and chai stops every 5 minutes.

We ended up grabbing a room for the night in a hotel. 4 beds one room. Saved us massive cash. No ac tho which has been perfectly fine this entire time...until last night. No ac is fine, but he didn't have to turn on the heater. The beds were also the hardest we've ever slept on. But it was ok and def one of the nicer places we have stayed at. And the owner had his worker open the restaurant an hour early for us.

The journey that next day consisted of a bunch of break downs. Which is expected at this point. BUT, it was hotter than a camels ass (I don't know if that's a saying? But it sounds right). We have been having some trouble with that transmission cable that broke a few days back. It's not the actual cable, but the part it connects to inside the car. Or lack there of. So it pops off a lot and then we can't shift gears. Then Dave and Martyn started having trouble with their spark plug. The wire kept falling off. Then our tuk tuk started overheating as we were climbing massive hills. We finally had to stop and take a proper cool down. Today we also decided to skip seeing the city of Ratnagiri in order to make it to Goa 1 night early so that we can chill in the state of Goa for an entire day.

We land in Goa and head to a restaurant on the beach. It was so amazing and such a change of pace. We are now in a tropical paradise with beaches, palm trees, English speaking people, and readily available alcohol . Leaving the restaurant on our first night, we ran into police! So far on this trip the police have been our friends and just want selfies like everyone else. Until now. They were actually more sketchy than we were, just hanging out in an alley talking. Austin asked for their credentials right away. Then he started searching us and it because a comedy show. I mean hilarious. We are traveling across the country and just have the most random stuff in our pockets. Sun tan lotion, bottle caps, headphones, lip balm, a knife, rope, screw drivers, and keys with cute little tassels on them! We were dying laughing cause we all have cargo shorts on and so many pockets for him to search. He kept feeling each pocket and saying 'what's in here!' And now that I think about it, they did nothing with Martyn. He didn't even have an iD on him.

The next day was super chill tho. We were staying in Calangute which is a little beach town and we're taking the day off. In the morning Martyn and I went for a run on the beach while Dave and Austin did something else. Not sure what.

We then took our tuk tuks to a loca mechanic who was recommended by other rickshaw runners. A full tune up AND an engine mount replacement (since Dave doesn't believe in speed bumps) cost 600 rupees. Which is like...9 US dollars. Dave and Martyns rickshaw is batman themed. At the shop, in broken English, the mechanic pointed at their rickshaw and said 'Batman is dirty'

From there Dave, Martyn, and Austin went to the beach while I took our rickshaw and went into the capital city of Goa: Panjim. I saw some Fort that overlooked the water and then did other city stuff. They drank beers and probably talked about politics.

Going to dinner that night, Dave and Austin were low on cash. Austin asked the restaurant if they accept cards. 'Of course they do' the door man says. Everything is possible. Wrong. We get our bill and the waiter says no, sorry, no international cards. What the hell man. Then comes in Dave and the reason I like this man. Dave is able to raise his voice and cause a fuss all without actually being angry. He realizes they messed up, realizes it isn't a big deal, but is able to stir the pot. Usually causing a scene makes me uncomfortable but I now know Dave well enough to know he is just playing a game. It's fun.

Side note. At this point we have fully understood India time. Sometimes you order a chai and it takes 30 seconds. Sometimes...25 minutes. And When you order stuff, you never actually know if it's going to come or not. And when you ask, everything is yes, yes. So, you just have to be on India time and wait for it to show up. But honestly, our stuff usually comes. And we are usually delighted by the portion sizes, which is also a mystery each time. You just kinda get what you get, ya know? But I do have to say, that none of us. Not a single one of us...has had a meal or dish that tasted or was bad. Every single thing you eat is amazing. You may have no idea what you ordered or if you're actually eating chicken, but when you put it in your mouth, it doesn't even matter! Nothing matters. That whole mystery thing? Out the window. India makes the best food.

I also love how you can just stop and pee on the side of the road. Everyone does it. I do it. It's glorious. It's freedom at its finest.

Final notes and stuff: Right now we are trekking south out of Goa through the jungle. Our plan is to cover massive ground today and tomorrow in order to go on a proper tiger/elephant safari tour on Friday. We are on Route 66 and have seen at least 10 other teams today on this road.

Monkeys, Eggs, and Beer. Everything possible

We changed our plans last minute to goto Ellora Caves instead of Ajanta. The main reason was because Ellora was much easier to get to and we wanted to gain time. What an amazing idea First off, getting to Ellora you have to climb this MASSIVE mountain! And I don't know if you remember rule number two about dont drive at night, But we drove up this insane mountain and all these switch backs in the pitch dark. 2290 altitude gain. I'm talking Switch backs with no guard rails and trucks flipped upside down and over the side on parts of it. That was an adrenaline rush for sure! I'm hanging out the side of the rickshaw pointing my flash light (or torch as the brits call it) at all the corners and turns so Austin can see what the hell is going on. And to show us where the edge of the road is since there are no guard rails on most of it. This is the stuff We live for!

Then, in the morning while getting, ready Monkeys came into our room! It started with just one brave soul. He wondered up slowly to test the water, then just sat down right inside the door. And then his friend tagged along. They sniffed out all our stuff and jus sat down on the table. We look outside and the whole damn family is out there! Ok, enough is enough, we can't have an entire family of monkeys inside! So we scare them off. Martin ends up throwing a water bottle near them so they get scared and run sweat. And of course, once they get outside they start having weird animal sex right in front of our door. No courtesy, I swear. Thankfully they're cute. After taking monkey porno pics, we went to Ellora Caves. Omg They are gorgeous. I've never seen anything like it. These people carved these massive structures and monasteries into the mountains. They just picked up a hammer and started carving this stuff. And it's all done by hand. They carved Caves into the mountains and then lived/worshiped in. One day someone was like hey, let's start digging here on this mountain and make a fortress. This place should be a wonder of the world. It blows the Taj Mahal out of the water. If anyone ever goes to India, don't goto the Taj, goto Ellora Caves.

There is a saying here in India: "Everything is possible." And it could not be more true. You can literally get anything you want, all you have to do is ask for it. And plus, as long as you don't mess with their cows or temples, you can basically get away with anything. So We went to a restaurant without eggs (pure Vegetarian) Dave asked them for an omelet. No omelets, but they can make it happen. So they sent a boy to the market and got us eggs. Also in the same town you cannot have alcohol within 500meters of the state highway. Dave found a guy who would drive 100 kilometers and get us beer!

After the beer and Caves, We hit the road in the morning. About an hour in stopped for chai and decided to go off the highway some cause the highway is boring. We ended up in a remote town and a little kid mention this temple that is near by. So we decided to go check it out. You could see the huge temple way up on the hill, but Right before the temple was a small town called Kolhar. As we get into the town, little kids start running after us with the most excitement! Like we were Brad Pit.One small boy hopped in our rickshaw and took us to the temple "Follow me, follow me" he kept saying. Up at he temple we had red ash rubbed on our head and did the Hindu things. Then the boy took us back down and to his grandparents house which lays on his families farm. He showed us his cows, ox, and goats. Then we walked to his onion field. Right after he had us try unripe mangos from his mango tree, Martin and I took turns riding his brothers motorcycle around the farm! I had been wanting to ride a motorcycle there for a while and this was the perfect chance. After that, a whole bunch of people showed up from the farm and we took mad selfies. After selfie time we hopped in the rickshaws and headed back into town. The little boy insisted we go and meet his mom and dad. We get to his house and are jus bombarded with people. We eventually just tell him we have to leave because the fame is just too much to handle at times (that's sarcasm).

Over the back roads, we head for the highway with the intent to land in Pune, India. We get close to the city and stop at a hotel off the highway. It was just a cluster. First the lady says 3000 rupee a night. Then another guy starts saying 3500. Well which is it! And online it shows cheaper than both of those so we can just book online! At this point we have stayed in every type of hotel and guest house across India so we have an idea of what a room costs and what you get with it. 3500 rupees plus taxes is around $65 US dollars and this is around the max you should pay all across India for a nicer hotel that isn't a resort. I mean Seriously. We leave and search for another room, which was an amazing idea cause Dave and I got side swiped by a bus! I was riding in Dave's Tuk-Tuk and While trying to squeeze between the truck and barrier, the truck knocked off his mirror and pushed us into a ditch! It was hilarious. Then a police officer came over asking us what the heck we are doing. We told him riding from Jaislemer to kochi in this rickshaw. He gave us this look like we were some kind of weird aliens and sent us on our way.

Anyway, now we are in Pune, India. Small world, when we were checking in, there was another rickshaw run team here. This city is actually massive and we had no idea. Huge change of pace. This country and trip just keeps on giving. The scenery and lifestyles and events are just so vast. Today we went to a mall here and it blew away mall I have ever been too. And it was so freaking clean.

Tomorrow we plan to wake up pretty early and head for the coast. There is a large mountain range separating us from the coast, so we are excited to pass over that and get a nice scenery change.

Why does driving up the middle white line between two cars feel normal now

New post:

Started the morning pretty early yesterday. Dave picked up a lady who needed a taxi. Then we picked up a boy going to school. About 10 minutes after picking him up, we slowed down and snap! Our transmission shifter cable broke! I get in the engine compartment and set it to 4th gear. We push onward (still with the school boy). We get into town and it becomes extremely difficult to drive over speed bumps without being able to switch gears. So we pull over.

We asked a local man standing around when the dealer we stopped at would be open. and he called someone and said he coming. So we ordered Chai and hung out. The school boy was so excited about my camera and was taking pictures of us the entire time (and selfies of course). It got pretty weird for a while cause we didn't really know what to do with the boy. We were trying to ask him where his school is but he didn't understand. He eventually just walked off. We then spent some time trying to rig something up to fix our machine cause we don't really know what is happening with the guy that is coming. An hour later someone showed up and it was a mechanic! Not the dealer owner. This guy hooked us up! $3 usd later and we are on our way with a new cable and an adjusted clutch.

About an hour later we run into two other rickshaw runners!! We are seriously in the middle of no where. I'm talking google maps doesn't even show this as a road. We thought we were far far away from the other runners. And on top of that, we run into them on a dirt road that was designed for motorcycles only. It's so insane how the universe just put us on the same path. It was pretty exciting to see these guys.

From there we pressed on. They took the highway and we turned left down a back road which led us into these amazing villages. I mean built with bamboo and mud. We also climbed a massive mountain and had the most gorgeous views! This landscape was pretty dry though. Still gorgeous. No chai on this route.

After traveling for 5 hours through these amazing villages we come to the conclusion as a team that we will not be able to make it on time (to basically anywhere). So we get some samosa's and head for a highway.

Dave says 'You have that American worry.'

Almost to Dhar, We missed a turn and needed to go back. Intersections are few and far between, so Dave decides lets cross that median! (It's raised about curb height high and 20 foot wide). Dave and Martin go first and get up over the first curb. But then going down the other side they flipped their rickshaw in the middle of the highway!!! I'm talking rickshaw laid over with a semi flashing his lights at them to get the heck up! Martin is inside the rickshaw and Dave becomes superman and flips the thing back over just as the bus is passing honking its horn!! I so wish I got a photo of this. Our median crossing was uneventful.

Pause the story.

Small tid bit of thought:

After a few days of driving here the roads no longer seem insane. They actually have an amazing system, it's just different than what we know. Everyone here is a great driver and everyone drives with extreme confidence. So when someone is making a move, action, turn, or going to pass, you can predict exactly where and what they are doing and move your vehicle accordingly. Things are different and there technically are no rules BUT everyone is paying attention and uses common sense. That's why you can get away with the craziness that it looks like on the surface. Oh, one more thing about driving. On several occasions we have pulled out and gone to And crossing the road on foot we keep forgetting that we have to look the other way to see if cars are coming because the traffic is backwards. This is really dangerous but it's such a habit to look to the right when when you need to look to the left!

Ok, back to the story:

Last night we finally landed in Dhar, India and stayed at a four star hotel. It was like, I dunno, $22 for a room? We went out on a beer search which took an hour AND was unsuccessful. We get back to the hotel and the owner says beer? I'll take you. We have two beers and some whiskey while talking about the differences across the world and then passed out.

Today we are trying to cover some serious ground and are sticking to freeways as much as possible. The morning was pretty rough for us as we are becoming pretty exhausted and since the last few days have been in remote areas, haven't ate full meals.

Our plan as of right now is to arrive to Ajanta Caves tomorrow morningish, explore that for the day, then get some real rest.

We got that police escort

Currently in route to udaipur from a small guest house, about 40 kilometers out hoping to god our basically super glued head gasket makes it there in order for us to get a mechanic. Yesterday was a day to remember. One of the best. We took a right instead of going straight on the highway to be adventurous. Oh my gaud. We ended up on this one lane, sometimes asphalt, sometimes dirt, sometimes rock, road. This is by far the most secluded area we have been to and we saw a whole another side of India. Our road through the Hill Forest mountain range followed a river. And along this river bank was the most gorgeous scenery. I'm talking 40-50 Palm trees. And crystal clear water. And the greenest grass we had seen. And then we saw the real Indian farm land. Everything was stock photo worthy. But....this route turned out to be wayyyy longer than we expected. Thankfully we had ran into a British team and met Dave and Martin. They followed us on that right...instead of straight. We started getting off path and we stopped to warn them: hey, we don't know what the hell were doing and this is a really far away around. Funny enough, they were more chill about it then we were!! So, everything was Marvelous....until we started hearing and exhaust leak. About 20 kilometers...taco finally died. We are in what we think is the middle of no where. So we start checking it out and come to find out, it's not an exhaust leak; the head gasket is blown :( about 5 minutes after I pull the head off (and just before we are about to walk back to the nearest village, the police show up. They stop, see us, and instantly say 'YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE! NOT SAFE! VERY BAD'

Oh snap.

We are still in the mountains and he explains that we should not be traveling through here at nice because they will steal everything.

These police were so amazing tho. Next thing you know, we are taking selfies with one police officer while the other leaves to get the part and or mechanic at a local market. We are exchanging stories, I'm on the phone with his brother, and then he is showing me how to properly tie my turban. Finally the mechanic shows up (it's 10pm now).

He gets out and starts glueing our old head gasket on! Vrumm vrummm, Taco is back alive!

The police escort out of the mountain village and about 20 kilometers up the road until he informs us we are in a safe area now. We stop at the first place we can find and crash for the night. Wake up for chai and on the road with Taco in hopes the glue holds up!

Next plan is to meet back up with the British bolks this evening and attempt to head to

Also realized from a local child that I had bought ladies pants. No wonder they have been laughing at me.

Do you need a camel? Yea kinda

Austin had caffeine this morning is so happy. He's singing by himself driving...as if our head gasket wasn't super glued.

Money Talks

I planned to write about our past two days but there's so many stories it's impossible to keep up! Our amazing hotel, the launch party, walking back to the hotel drunk with a deflated male sex doll on my shoulder, buying the security guards beer, playing a game of cricket with the Indians, and then all of the other stuff I simply can't put here.

But he Rickshaw run has begun!! Within the first hour I was already paying someone off (500 rupees) for something I did. I'm laughing and crying all at the same time. We make our first stop in a really small village about 2 hours in and it was so shocking because instead of wanting our money...they wanted selfies. Lost of people have broke down and I have made the biggest mistake of the trip so far: I lost my Chapstick.

Austin has been doing most of the driving today. For one, if you know me at all, you can probably guess why me driving here isn't a great idea. Two, I've already paid someone off to stay out of trouble. And three, austin just seems more responsible in general than me.

I might be four beers in, but a camel ride through the desert sounds awesome

The train ride after my last post was fairly uneventful. Minus the usage of the squatting toilet. Not sure what it's actually called. Probably doesn't have a name, just a hole in the ground. Or in this case, a hole in the train floor. There was a point when I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t sleep, so i went and opened the train door and just stared at the stars. We wake up and just chat for a few hours about life. Some french guy came over, opened our curtain and yelled ‘SHHHH!’ We finally get off the train and really have no idea what to do. We have a hotel booked so figure we should get a taxi and head there. We get a taxi and start driving towards the hotel. Charlie, our taxi driver, was really outgoing and funny. After riding towards the hotel for a few minutes, we ask Charlie where a good bar is. He got really excited and took us to a rooftop bar above a hotel. We sat down and the workers brought us a few Kingfishers as we went around talking about our selves. I don’t really remember how it came up, but Charlie runs a Camel Safari tour company. Why not.

We meet up with the other people who are doing with Safari. They are a British couple who are currently traveling around India and have been doing so for about a month. Dave and Dot (short for Dorothy). The first leg of the journey is via jeep. Two miles in and the pavement ends. Fun. We pass and dodge at least 15 animals that are just standing in the road. Like they own the path. Charlie drives around them like its everyday business. On the jeep portion of the trip, we stop at 3 different historical places (Id like to add that it is 103 degrees F out and Austin and i have not changed clothes in at least two days). The first stop was an abandon town. Something about a silk road town. It reminded me a lot of Pompeii, just old house ruins. The second stop was a Lake. Yes, a lake. In the middle of the desert. Charlie insisted we drink the water and that it is very good. Very sweet. Ill never know if he was kidding or not. The third stop was an abandoned fort. This was really cool. It overlooked the town and had look outs and stuff. There were people there working on things. Hammering rocks and stuff. But i didn’t really understand why. I have a feeling they were there to make it seem more interesting. At the fort, Charlie wants to put some waters in the cooler over ice. But, Austin and i packed like 8 beers (22oz beers), so…we had to make room. We crack open a Kingfisher and stare out into the desert horizon with an ice cold beer.

From here we drive deep into the desert where two men and 4 camels are waiting for us. We load everything up and jump on the camels!! These things are such interesting creatures! We ride off into the dunes, heading straight towards the sunset. After an hour and a half or so, the guides stop and and say, ‘we camp here!’ The sun had just set so we kick our shoes off and sprint up the hill to see the beautiful colors the sun is painting into the sky. Austin and i set up our tripods and start shooting photos. Id also like to add that we found tumbleweed on the run to the top of the hill. Tumble weed really exists.

As we are sitting there enjoying the sunset, something irritating happened. I turn around and a man is coming over the hill. A man we had never seen before. He is indian, wearing a blue cloak, white turban, and is carrying a large sack. He gets to us, throws his sack down in exhaustion, and says (out of breath): I have come to sell beer and water to you. Dude, we are in the middle of the freaking desert watching the sunset. This is a magical moment. Dave and Dot have been in India for a while now, and this was their last straw for situations like this. They just tell him off and do not care about any of his sob stories about how he walked 15 kilometers to get here.

A little side note here. If you have ever traveled to developing country (or lower GDP), locals hawk travelers trying to sell them things. This is how they make money and is their culture. Totally understandable. But it is not in our culture to hawk, scam, and over charge for things (usually). I just wish there was some mutual respect on differences in cultures. Ok, rant done.

But yea, this guy showing up in the desert was just too much. Anyway, he hiked back over the hill and we carried on…taking pictures of tumbleweed and sunsets. Overall, the night was really relaxing. We had a few beers and chai tea while the guides made us food over the fire. We chatted with Dave and Dot about life stories and our individual beliefs about most things in life. It got pretty deep but they were such amazing people. Glad we crossed paths with them. As the night went on and the stars came out, we were all just mesmerized. The amount of stars you were able to see was breath taking. It honestly looked fake. Like you were inside a planetarium. Like someone just took a white paint brush and dotted points all above a black ceiling.

Writing in a blog is an interesting thing because it is so easy to only convey the great things and leave out the bad. I guess this goes with all writing really. But, for sake of informing everyone reading, I feel the need to share two negatives of the safari. First off is the toilet situation. Think it though. Yep. Yea. Uh huh. Just sand. I know. Second is the bugs. But thankfully our guides showed us this awesome trick where you build a mound under and around your blanket and then dig a small trench around it so that the beetles and scorpions are not able to crawl on your blanket. Genius.

I had mentioned it in a social media post, but I was suddenly awaken at 5:30am for no reason and above me was the most glorious Milky Way. Weird thing was, Austin was also awake at the time. The milky way was so gorgeous and just soared from right to left across the sky. If you haven’t checked out our feed yet, go on over to instagram: @Scotty_V_ and @Austinlarrowe

We all woke up and watched the sunrise. The guides made us chai, toast, jam, bananas, and hard boiled eggs. I watched them prepare the food and these guys are amazing. I also learned sand is an amazing scrub to clean dishes. We then packed up and road our camels back to town.

That is it for now! That is from two days ago. When i have some time to write, I will update you guys on our rickshaw status and of course, the launch party from last night. But for now, its Chai time and supply gathering.    

It's hot as hell in this bathroom and smells like moth balls.

 Last night Austin got into town. On his way out of the airport he picked up a bottle of Scotch. Instantly I knew We are gonna be best friends. Not because he seems cool, but because he was carrying whiskey. So we get home and start chatting, opening that bottle of scotch of course! Cheers to fun, adventures, and...pause...pause...India!! Next thing you know, we are out on the rooftop shooting photos of the skyline...I'm In my boxers with a glass of scotch. A few more shots in and we are playing pool with some locals in the office lounge (it's a call center, so they work overnight on USA hours). By the end of the night we are throwing tofu pieces off the balcony so the cows below in the street can have food. Actually it was just me throwing them, not sure why I tired to rope Austin in on that. None the less, Great idea.

We wake up the next morning and it's pretty uneventful. I mess with some photos and Austin does some other stuff. I dunno what he actually did. It was uneventful...until we try and get an Uber to Sid's house. We go outside and the Uber is not there, but it says it is. All the local people come over and start trying to help us. They are so freaking sweet. Except for the fact that they don't speak English. We walk in circles on the dirt covered road for about 10 minutes, trying to say English words to people who don't speak English as they say Hindi words to two white Kids who don't speak Hindi. And at this point, we've only learned curse words in Hindi. Not helpful. Since we are outside, we do not have wifi and no way for contacting anyone. Finally some silver car comes turning the corner and it's our ride! The excitement begins (I should add that it's like 101 degrees F outside). We get in this car and as expected, he doesn't speak English. It's ok tho right? Because google maps. Wrong. About 5 minutes into the drive, the drivers cell phone crashes and stops working. He just stops in the middle of the road. It's ok tho, this is India. After sitting in the road for 10 minutes, We finally get going and make it to Sid's house. Thankfully he was standing in the road. Seeing him is like your clutch purse. You just feel so safe when around him cause you know he's got your back. All and all tho, it was a fun ride and experience. We took an Uber in India. Austin and I were laughing most of it because yea, of course his phone would break in the middle of the ride.! We then spent the early afternoon gathering supplies. I obviously got wet wipes (two packs). Austin had a great idea to get spray cologne so we can mask our funk. Genius. We get some more meds for our journey and some lotion and stuff. I wish meds were this cheap in America. And most everything is over the counter. Except xanex and Adderall (yes I asked). Then we finally got the SIM cards figured out and working. What a nightmare. Honestly, I doubt it would have happened if it wasn't for Sid. There was so much to it. It's a long story. But listen to this: They had a special going on for new members, for 346 rupees (like $5 USD), you get 1 gb of data...per day! Normal plans in the USA give you like 5gb a month. We get 1gb per freaking day! For $5...total per month. Insanity.

Then we gather our stuff and head towards the Old Delhi train station. It's about an hour drive from Sid's house. I freaking love Sid. I wish there was a way I could actually pay him back for what all he has done for me. But he's that type of person where he just enjoys helping out and will not accept anything. Anyway, Sid's house and our guest house is kinda on the out skirts of Delhi (in a city called Noida, if you'd like to look it up). Omg, it was a change of pace. I thought India was crazy enough already, I was wrong. Way wrong. The hustle and bustle of Old Delhi is amazing. This is like sh*t you see in the movies. First off, when we get to the train station it's just utter chaos. People are sitting on the ground everywhere. There are no benches. And I'm talking hundreds and hundreds of people. Just sitting on the ground waiting. Many of them were sleeping on their bags. The lines were long, train horns hurt your ears, and trash everywhere. We stuck out like a black skittle in a rainbow pack. Everyone just stares at us. I had heard that this happens I. India, but it's interesting for it to happen in person. There was a kid standing 3 feet from me just staring into my eyes. It was really awkward. And like, you think after 5 minutes time he would stop. Negative. Honestly tho, I would probably stare at me too. I'm goofy as hell and have Rasta sunglasses on in the middle of India. From there we walk around trying to find 1. Currency exchange bank 2. Kingfisher (or fisher price as I call it)

In theory, our walk was not successful. But i see it as a success. First, banks close at 3pm. It's 4pm. Second, we find an alcohol store (kingfisher is an Indian beer. It's amazing) but you can only buy alcohol there, you can't drink it. And you cannot walk around the streets and drink. So fail number 2. But just walking around Old Delhi is where I find the true success. There are buses and cars and auto rickshaws, and bicycles, and street food stands, and mechanic shops, and clothes stands, and people carrying things on their heads, and oh my god there is everything. And so many people. It's glorious. I almost got hit by a bus, a car, and a richshaw. I'm talking 2 inches to that bus. It was the most beautiful chaos I've ever seen. The smells of fried bread, exhaust gases, fresh squeezed oranges, sulfur, and Indian body odor. It changed my life.

After walking around Old Delhi we have about an hour to kill until the train arrives. Seems like a while, but an hour here is no time at all. We go back to the car, chill for a few in the ac (don't forget it's 101 out), and head towards our platform.

Sid guides us to our platform and we get settled in. On the train I start getting so excited. The train starts rolling and I'm just Staring out the open train door as it's rolling through towns. In such a weird way, It is so relaxing. It's hard to explain but the noise of the tracks and the scenery (and smell of sulfur) is just amazing. I feel so at peace on the train.

I also haven't showered since Sunday night. It's Wednesday. I know that sounds gross, but F it.

I am writing this from the lower bunk of our two beds inside the train. It's going to be an 18 hour ride from Delhi to Jaisalmer. Austin is passed out above me. He got 2 hours of sleep last night. Much worse than my 4. I drank a Thumbs up (coke knock off) right before I got on the train...so I'm wide awake. It's been 4 days since I have had caffeine, so it has hit me hard. They have coffee and chai here (tea), but I just haven't had any. I'm wide awake. Poor timing. A man came 5 minutes ago to check our names and passports. Austin had just fallen asleep. Also Poor timing. But the man didn't actually check Austin's passport. He mad! I have met 3 other Rickshaw Run teams on the train. Prior to leaving the station, I left our train cart (called 'coach') and walked back out on the platform. I went all the way down until the train cars became 3rd class and hopped back on. I started walking through the carts in search of potential rickshaw run candidates (white people). I ended up meeting three teams! First are two teams from Manchester on the coach (train cart) in front of ours. They are in first class. One guys name is Dave, and I forget the rest of em. It's that whole thing where you introduce yourself and then subconsciously stop listening. And then one train cart back is a couple doing the rickshaw run. Actually, I should note that I don't really know if they are a couple. But they currently live in Kenya. Freaking awesome. They are Trisha and Michael. Trisha is Canadian and Michael is originally from Seattle. They now run a safari tour company (or something like that) in Kenya. Pretty sweet. They are very sweet people. Michael has a purple beard.

There is a very large group of French people next to us on this train. They were kinda rude at first. But I'm sure they are tired or something. And let's be real, anyone would be irritated after trying to figure out how to get on this train. Austin and I got really lucky and have two bunks together (one top and one bottom) AND we are at the end of the second class cart, so we are not sharing space with anyone else. Our two bunks (actually called births) are in there own little cubby which makes it very similar to first class.

Upon getting on the train, Austin and I ordered dinner. Veggie meal with rice and 3 kinds of curry. Then some weird yellow, greasy, sticky ball thing. Austin took his naan and made a curry taco...I like his style.

And now comes the story of train trash. So after eating dinner, I was wandering around looking for a place to throw our dinner plates away and found Michael. He was staring peacefully out of the train (they leave the doors open while moving). I ask him if he knows where we put our trash. He raises his pointer finger and replies 'I am not sure, but looks like they just throw it out the train' I look out the door and there is massive amounts of trash all along the ground next to the railroad! (There are also people and pigs just rummaging through it all). After chatting with Michael and sharing some life stories, I head back to our births (bunks). Almost back to our beds, I see a train worker. I stop him and ask (holding my dinner tray) 'where do you put this?' I kid you not, without saying a word, he points his finger out the train door.

Taj Mahal Day

First thing today I woke up to a bunch of text messages from Austin, my rickshaw comrade. His flights got all jacked up and stuff and now will be arriving later (1am instead of 9pm). I'm just thankful he is still able to make it! I feel like I have mentioned Sid, my host, but never fully explained the story. He is a friend of a friend who just happened to be living in Delhi India. He welcomed me with open arms and has helped me so much with planning and seeing the sites. His house is under construction so he has me sleeping in a guest house that is in his office building. The office building is 3 stories tall and I am up top. I will be staying here until tomorrow evening when we leave for the west side of India (the state of Rajhasdhan). So, now that you know Sid, he shows up at 6am to grab me and we head out to the Taj Mahal which is about a 2 hour drive south of Delhi. We Stopped for breakfast. Ordered Dosa, which is a south India dish with a massive rice flour crape. When I say massive, i mean it it twice the size of a dinner plate. During our drive, I've realized that motorcycles are family sized vehicles. We get to the Taj Mahal and are bombarded with 'street hawkers' who are trying to sell us everything. All up in our faces and stuff. We jumped in an electric rickshaw and head for the Taj. We ended up hiring a local to give us a full tour of the grounds which was amazing because I learned so much more than I would on my own. Things like: it took 22 years to build it. Or how instead of painting flowers, they carve flower shapes in the marble and insert different colored rocks. Afterwards we Stopped for lunch at a place called Pinch of Spice right outside the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. It's pretty fancy considering the surrounding area AND I saw the most white people ive seen in two days there. You could call it a tourist spot. Kingfisher beer is amazing. And for 2 American dollars you get a 650ml bottle! (Which is pretty much two 12 oz beers). And the food was bomb. I am curious why I don't eat Indian food more back home. Driving back to our place I started noticing trees in the middle of some roads. Apparently some trees are sacred! So, they just build roads around them and there will be a tree in the middle of the road. But hey, at least they paint them with white and red paint to warn you there is a tree in the road, right? We did dinner at an upscale Italian place called Theos. The best thing about upscale here: main course meals are only 8 US dollars! On the way home from dinner i saw a dog pooping in the middle of the road. As I type his we are about to leave to go get Austin from the airport. But, last but not least...I have to write about the toilet paper situation. It's kinda gross, so if you don't wanna be grossed out, you should prob stop reading here. Seriously. So Yesterday I was running low on toilet paper in my guest house. I texted Sid asking if there is more!? He text back saying 'isn't there a water jet?' Well yea, I see the squirting hose attached to the wall...but like...you have to still use toilet paper right? Nope You're supposed to just use your hand. Well thankfully right then I had enough tp to finish up. No big deal. Well this afternoon I was at Sid's house just hanging out. I really had to poop so I head on into the bathroom. I sit down and pull my phone out. Everything is normal. I'm finishing up and start looking around for tp. Nothing. Not even a tp rack. Fml I stare that water jet hose right in the eye. Shaking my head in disappointment. Thinking about my poor hand and what it's about to experience. I detach the hose from its mount, scoot up on the seat, and finagle my hose holding hand in between the seat and the back of my butt. But wait! Do I do it from the front or back? No one tells me these things. F' it. Doin it from the back. SQUIRT!! I jump up a little cause it's really cold! And proceed with the final steps in the procedure. Which I will not go into details about. India is awesome. That was not. Lesson learned, I'm buying wet wipes tomorrow. ![Uploading file...]()![Uploading file...]()![Uploading file...]()