Jibber

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Krabi, Thailand

We start the day in Malaysia at Kuala Perlis, and are up early to get to the border crossing near Satun to Thailand. Remarkably we don't break down all day, and manager to slide over the finish line 1 day early and in 3rd place. The winner arrives on the back of a truck. Thanks to all of you who supported us by donating to these great causes. There'll be more updates tomorrow before the wrap party.

Krabi, Thailand

Finished!

Day 8 - Details

Day 8

 

Havoc

 

Heading out of town at 6am we decided to take the “yellow†road on the map instead of the regular “red†highways. The yellow shortcut is 50klms shorter through mountains. This turned out to be a bad idea. The mist lifted just in time for the road to disappear into mud for several long sections. The roads that were paved were littered with massive potholes.

 

Disaster strikes. Whilst convoying yellow in front and blue behind, the blue shaw needs to avoid an oncoming truck, but can’t pull up in time. To the left is a leafy front garden, but it is 2 metres down a slope. The rickshaw tips down into the hole and slowly tumbles onto it’s side, then front, then other side eventually coming to rest. Everyone inside is luckily ok, with a bruise or two and some shattered nerves. It was a very very lucky escape, and we are massively relieved that everyone survived unhurt.

 

On three wheels again the rickshaw amazingly starts and we managed to drive it up a flight of stairs back to the road. Some roadside panel beating and it takes shape again, and a test drive confirms that remarkably the only damage was a few broken lights and mirrors, and some serious dents.

 

Serious disaster averted we continued up the mountains until 10 minutes later the yellow shaw disappeared from the rear view. We turned around and discovered that a mechanical failure put the yellow machine out of commission. After a quick engineering assessment we decided that a truck to the next town for a mechanic was the best course of action, and we organised the first available (and also the world’s smallest) truck. Still shaken from the accident, morale was at an all time low. To top it off, when loading the yellow shaw onto the “truck†we had to move a dead dog out of the path which had seemingly been blowtorched. We were offered to stay for lunch, but declined politely.

 

The little truck’s capacity was seriously questioned when it also broke down. It summoned the strength to get us to the next town, where at the “mechanics†we realise that it is not your garden variety breakdown, and that the engine needed to be dismantled. Conscious of the ever approaching deadline of the freighter to Malaysia that we cannot miss, and the reliability of our original truck, we decided a bigger truck is required.

 

The team split up with 5 bodies taking the bus to Medan, whilst Bryan and Andy stayed to organise the transport of the rickshaws. We made plans to meet at a hotel in Medan and went our separate ways. The five in the bus took their bad mechanical karma with them and caused the bus to get three flat tyres. They catch but a glimpse of the renowned Lake Toba by night and rolled into Medan quite shaken by 8 hours of the driver apparently trying to kill them by running either into oncoming traffic or off a cliff face.

 

Meanwhile, whilst Bryan and Andy are loading the blue shaw onto the bigger truck, a plank snapped and gave way and it tipped alarmingly to the left for the 2nd time that day. Miraculously the blue shaw made it up into the back without further damage, where some serious Rickshaw Tetris was required to make them both “fitâ€.

 

So after several hours of negotiation, re negotiation, theft, recovery, and some locals almost coming to blows we arrived in Belawan at 1:30am to unload the shaws in the midst of the most remarkable thunderstorm we’ve seen yet. Drenched to the bone, we park the machines and get a cab to a hotel for lights out by 4am.

 

But not before a well deserved beer.

Day 6 - Details

Day 6

Bunga

Began the day feeling pretty smug. Machines running beautifully although the blue rick still has sandwiches where the brake pads should be. Hit the longest, flattest, straightest stretch of highway in all of Sumatra. Hard pressed just to stay awake. Oddly bored without a breakdown or seven to break up the day. Spoke too soon. Flat tire on a mountain side in a blizzard of moths and biting insects. Had to keep picking them out of our hair, beards and clothes. Keep pushing to meet our target at Bukitingi. The road around the lake would have been beautiful in the day but by night is totally treacherous as trucks have washed the bitumen so that we are constantly listing to the left. At the very end of an extremely long day we arrive atop the mountains just before midnight.

Day 7 - Details

Day  7

Awoke freezing on top of the world. Overnight the deer satay has not agreed with one of our fair adventurers and he is seriously ill. Head up into the mountains and out the other side. Begin fishtailing perilously close to the edge of the cliff before we realise there is yet another flat tyre, the second in 12 hours. Also we no longer have a spare and must shoehorn the blue rick’s spare in which rubs the whole way down the mountain smelling suspiciously like fire.

Manage to secure a new spare with the help of some locals and are on our way until of course the clutch cable fails on the Jungle Pig. Roll into a petrol station where we set up shop for about three hours in the middle of a Caltex. Like angels of mercy the Doctors from Sheffield roll by and deliver much needed antibiotics for our walking wounded before cruising happily onwards in their frustratingly sound machine. Stop for dinner and are completely swamped by a hoard of ragamuffin boys and seemingly countless school girls.

Number five also is suffering from belly complaints and so we administer a travel calm tablet with unexpected narcotic effects on her. Although we end up hitting bathtub sized potholes at  55km/h in the dark she barely stirs from her slumber and is a little bemused when we arrive at a hotel many hours later. Originally had planned to stay in the first town we hit but saw the worst hotel of the trip (possibly a brothel) and we decide the late night roads afforded more safety.

Medan, Indonesia

Day 9. Rest day. The finish party has officially been moved to krabi due to the flood situation in Bangkok. At the warehouse waypoint we discovered that a lot of team have had similar experiences on the road. Multiple breakdowns and back of truck shippings. We are scheduled to recommence the race from Malaysia on the 27th, with about 500k's to go till the revised finish line. We hope that the rickshaw will hang together for the remainder of the race, but given our experiences thus far that seems unlikely! We fully expect for it to fall into pieces as it crosses the line.

Medan, Indonesia

Day 8. We arrived at the port for the freighter to Malaysia by truck, with both rickshaws crammed in the back. We have had a tumultuous few days, with our rickshaws battered and broken but amazingly still driving. In 2 days we start the Malaysian leg of the race, with Thailand to follow. There is still some uncertainty about the feasibility of pushing through to Bangkok given the situation there. We'll wait and see.