Day 15 - Sprint to the finish line!
After a very late night and pressure for an early start, we had a little bit of breakfast and a sleep in and hit the road. A fairly breezy day down the highways with a relatively small distance to cover. We made a beeline for the ferry which took us across the channel from Kochi and into Fort Kochi, and a very quick drive and we made it to a huge furore of sound and sights, and finally, the finish line.
Such an incredible adventure with highs and lows as expected. We were left feeling incredibly pleased to be alive and safe (record number of crashes this year; 8 rickshaws) and a sense of perspective and energy money can't buy.
It's amazing how adaptable the human condition is. As Rickshaw drivers, we adapted in time to cows on the road, early starts, life-threateningly close calls on a motorway, driving with no brakes, potholes and questionable sanitary conditions. The people we saw adapted to their environment in incredible ways too. Driving through rural villages and slums it never ceased to amaze us how resilient people are; shacks in the middle of highways, contraptions with cows and mills to fetch water, using a tarp in 100+ ways.
A trip of a life time and I think it will have shaped us in many ways that perhaps we don't realise yet. An incredible perspective and a privilege to be able to completely forget about our It was such a surreal moment to part ways with the rickshaws at the end, it really became a lifestyle for us and almost a routine. Get up, quick bite, fuel up and hit the road to see what we might see. We checked into a luxury hotel, had some well deserved beers and sat by the pool. The end.. until next time.
Day 14. Kannur to Thrissur.
After a nice sleep we jumped on the road to Thrissur, a town a little further down the coast on Kerala.
SB2 fancied a stop to the beach and so SB1 carried on further down to check out an arts and crafts village in the North of Kerala, our next state. Immediately started to notice the landscapes changing to hugely lush plains, big rivers flushed full of fields and fields of coconut trees as far as you can see.
The arts and crafts village was something special; everything was dirt cheap and made on site. Seeing a guy make a beach towel on a loom is something else. It just sits in the store and looks like any other beach towel, and cheaper than Ikea as well. Great to see local artisans motivated to keep their craft alive but sad to reflect on the dying art as a whole.
SB2 also fancied McDonalds and so they pushed on, whilst SB1 stumbled on a Lebanese restaurant and dined like Arabian Kings. We made it in the evening to Thrissur (seemingly India's take on Vegas) and settled into a reasonably nice hotel after a well deserved beer.
Day 13. We got up early without breakfast and a good sleep and hit the road. Didn't last long as SB1 realised we hadn't paid and had to turn back to settle the bill at the previous hotel.
We set our sights for Kannur, a town further down the coast. A fairly nondescript day and a lot of driving to get under our belt to make sure we got enough KM's under our belt.
We made it to Kannur and checked ourselves into a very clean and well run set of apartments owned by a lovely family staying just underneath. They were incredibly excited by our stay and plastered us all over their social media and stopped and chatted with us for a good hour about our journeys. A nice breather and retreat.
Day 12. After leaving the serenity of Goa we headed for Udupi, an old colonial stronghold on the coast. We didn't expect much and after a very long day of driving and a quick stop off for a warm swim we arrived at our accomodation for the night: 'His Grace Homestay'.
It was like staying in a church. Religious affiliations aside, there was no doubt that the owner was keen to make it known through a fairly overt display of ornaments, messages and plaques.
We settled in for the night and ordered food in after a long day on the road. We got a reasonably early night until a bus load (literally, a bus load) of other guests showed up announced making a racket at around 11pm. After complaining to the owner via WhatsApp, he made efforts to try and get us to secure the door between the apartments with 'muskin tape' to see if that would stop the noise. We gave up and called it a night.
Day 9, 10 and 11. All in Goa. After watching the sunset on day 8 we checked into a nice place and enjoyed the pool and a couple beers before heading out to a trance rave. When in Goa. Certainly an interesting spectacle and experience. The first place we went to was beachfront, with revellers in the waves. Some in different states than others; one man in particular dancing fully clothed, kneeling in his jeans and shoes and the waves crashed behind him.
After checking out Anjuna we headed south to a much more peaceful Agonda beach. The drive down was nice. Anjuna was a bit too touristy and commercial for our liking, Agonda much more peaceful and relaxed.
We ate well at a local western style restaurant before heading to the pit stop party put on by the organisers. A good night, ending at a rave in an old stone quarry.
Day 10 saw a fairly late start and some recovery manoeuvres in the form of swims, greasy food, outrageously cheap massages sleep. Great place to unwind and stop given how hectic the previous days have been.
A nice Goan fish curry and some shopping to round off day 10.
Day 11 and we’re making our way down the coast after saying goodbye to Karl of SB2 (other rickshaw) as he’s back to London tomorrow via Mumbai.
Roads today are buttery smooth and it’s nice to be down by the coast with fresher air and some lush views. A lot more coconut trees down here and the weather is remaining consistently hot. I’m sure the sunsets are getting better too. Unreal to be on Agonda beach as the sun was setting last night; such a rich red colour and it just seems to hover above the horizon for everyone to get a good look. A lot of people just sitting there and meditating, contemplating or napping.
Day 8. The road to Goa. Started off semi early with the standard hotel breakfast and hit the road around 9. Easy roads out of Kolhapur and some really nice scenery with lush green fields and fairly diverse crops.
Had a decent hill climb over the range and put the brakes to the test. Foot to the floor and the shaw still rolls; takes a good while to come to a stop but we’re taking it easy.
After a sensational lunch we cruised into Goa, and drove like madmen to catch the last 15 minutes of the sunset on the beach as I write this. Definitely worth it.
Other teams starting to roll into Goa, but we’re definitely ahead of the pack having put in the hard yards in the first 4 days. We’re planning 3 days in Goa and very much looking forward to kicking back for a few days.
Day 7. Started a little later than usual after a late night last night at the top of the hill.
Lucked out with a nice hotel and had a decent breakfast and coffee (hard to find in India it seems) before a quick shop around the markets and straight out to the look outs. Being 1500m up the views were spectacular. In typical Indian fashion there were all kinds of merchants with tenuous links to be scenery. Of course there was a wax museum. Of course there are is go karting.
Bumped into a few rickshaw teams up the top and had a good chai break with a nibble. Decided to test out the shaw and do a few skids in the dust, just as the official organiser rickshaw pulled up too. Of course they joined in.
Managed to get rickshaw 2 fixed and back on the road again at a decent mechanic who charged next to nothing. Our brakes were failing so we got them cleaned as well.
Grabbed a couple beers for the road and we’re driving into the night to our next destination. Good motorways tonight too. Should be up early tomorrow to make a beeline for Goa in time for the halfway party 🎉
Day 6 today. On the road at 8am out of Thane (outer Mumbai) which took a toll on the rickshaws and our patience. I think we shaved a good year off our life expectancy by breathing in the cocktail of dust, burnt plastic, fumes and whatever else makes up the heavy blanket of pollution covering Mumbai.
Treated ourselves to an afternoon beer which boosted morale, timed perfectly before our third breakdown of the trip. Dirty carb again which I cleaned whilst some the boys started an impromptu cricket match with a couple of local school kids. Word got out and by the time we’d finished fixing up there was a groundswell of 15+ kids. Some even cycling down from nearby villages with old cricket bats.
Karl (SB2) kindly gifted the kids a new cricket bat. Screaming and running ensues. Cool to see the kids over the moon. We lost the match by the way. On reviewing footage of our departure we noticed our bag of spare parts on the ground too. Oops.
Back on the road and we had a huge up hill climb to get to Malebeshawar in the forests. Both rickshaws struggled and we had to keep stopping to keep the engines within a reasonable temp. Made it to the top and rickshaw 2 just completely gave up. So now we’re stuck on the top of a mountain with one broken rickshaw, five tired guys and a fairly lofty goal of repairing the rickshaw tomorrow.
End of Day 5. Sleep in was very welcomed by all the boyz be a total treat to stay at Manthan’s uncles house last night too. Incredible food and warm hospitality.
After a few checkups and yet more mechanics looking at the other rickshaw to try and conjure up speed improvements, we hit the road just after lunch and stopped off at a local BK on the highway.
Fairly standard afternoon on the highways down to outer Mumbai; negotiating the usual cows, people walking across the highway, onslaught of lights and the standard assortment of animals (cows, dogs, ruthless drivers).
Staying in decent apartments tonight and heading to sleep after a couple of drinks out on the town at some fairly questionable establishments.
After the statue we had a good 3 hour whirlwind of a drive across roads that look like the surface of the moon and highways that feel like we’re on mad max. Full focus required for both.
End of day 4 now and we have made it to safety and incredible food. Home cooked experience was out of this world. The family really put it on for us with all kinds of treats.
Looking forward to our first ‘sleep in’ of the trip tomorrow; we’ve been getting up at 6:30 every day to get on the road. First four days have been: 270km, 250km, 320km and 300km is so today.
