do not pass go...

yesterday was a pretty big day, we made about 330 km on the awesome hwy, all the way to etawah from allahabad. mostly uneventful and with minimal slowdowns, the only trouble occured when our spark plug gave out. the rickshaw is making all sorts of rattling sounds and squeaks, a new one started yesterday coming from the front brake assembly. it looks like the cover is cracked and i think it's rubbing on something, it's noisy but doesn't appear to affect much so we'll get it checked out next time we see a mechanic. the big pain in the ass yesterday was after about 200km when ian realized that his passport was not returned from the hotel the previous night. we got in pretty late and left really early, we were both too tired to realize that it was missing. we dicided to finish going to etawah and try and get some faster transportation back to allahabad to look for it. i almost didn't get a place to sleep because the front desk of the only hotel we found that had available rooms wanted ian's passport. it took a bit to convince him that he was taking the train back to allahabad to look for it and that i was the only one staying in the room... apparently if you don't have your documents here you end up on the street pretty quick.

the clerk at the only open internet cafe on the street was watching gay porn at full volume when we walked in. i'm not sure if he actually worked here or if thats actually considered ok in a professional setting in india? i'm guessing not. at any rate, we needed to use the internet badly enough that it didn't stop us. we gathered as much info about allahabad and some hotels that might have his passport and went to the train station by pedal rickshaw to get ian a ticket in general bording at midnight.

there are large speakers mounted on some of the telphone poles here that periodically play religious (muslim) songs, and were blaring late into the night last night followed by fireworks. i asked the front desk if there was some sort of holiday yesterday that caused it but they seemed slightly confused, so we'll see if it happens again tonight.

ian has the train to delhi tonight from allahabad to go to the embassy, so most likely i will be here for 2 more days before we can continue on. i think we both are tired of delays and ready to get to the destination.

Limbo in Varanassi

Last night was rediculous. We took a rickshaw through the rain and arrived soaked at the train station at 730 for the train arriving at 9 that supposedly has our rickshaw on it. it was the drivers last fare of the night and he picked up his wife and two kids on the way with us. we got there and they assured us that yes, yes, it will be on the last car, the same one we put it in to begin with. we scouted out how to get out of the station, which ramps to take, found where the porters sit so we could get their help quickly when the train got there. we talked with the station manager and found out that the train is 2.5 hrs late. great, 1130 instead of 9. fine. i can wait that long, whatever. at 1130 we found out that it's been updated, another 1.5 hrs late, now estimated at 1230. the next time, 130, then 230, then finally at THREE IN THE MORNING, six hours after the scheduled arrival, the train finally got there.

and guess what? no rickshaw. the guy from the parcel office doesn't know where it is, but promises to 'find it' and takes our number on a small scratch pad.

by the way everything here is done in these giant ledger books, there are no computer systems tracking packages or anything of that nature, from what i can tell half of the time these guys spend at work is updating these ledgers.

at any rate, we got back to the hotel at 4am, totally defeated and pissed, got up a bit later and had some breakfast and decided to go down  there and talk to them and see if we can get them to call the delhi station and find out where our rickshaw is, and if not there, then call the stations in between and find it.

after the customary 40 minute trip to the station, dodging cows and getting our eardrums blasted by horns the entire way we went into the main parcel office where we were invited to sit down, then promptly ignored. after about 40 minutes of trying to get their attention (which should not have been hard, as there were 3 people and only one was casually filing something into a ledger) one guy finally told me the rickshaw is on the train from delhi to hyderabad and should be unloaded at 8 here, and he would call when it's in and please leave. i tried to explain that i wanted him to call delhi but he didn't know enough english, and i don't speak a lick of hindi to get the point across.

we then tried every other parcel office (there are two others) and the main platform supervisors office. each place either didn't understand what we wanted or told us to go somewhere else. at the end of three hours of this we decided that it was time to call it quits and just hope the thing shows up so we can be on our merry way. frustrating to say the LEAST. i'm not sure if i was supposed to bribe the officials to help grease the wheels, the guy at the hotel mentioned something about it this morning, but i didn't try for fear of offering the wrong amount and getting even less information from them.

stuck in veranassi

this is the first time in the trip we've had time to get to the internet. it's been a lot of driving from all day, then finding a place to stop and making the necessary repairs on the rickshaw before finding something to eat and crashing. the heat and humidity are oppressive down in the lower elevations, but other than that we've so far avoided any major breakdowns. within the first hour of the race there were several electrical fires in dashes, and a few wheels fell off as well. later on that day we passed someone whose muffler fell off, and we have been checking the parts that have broken on other rickshaws to try and avoid breeaking down.

after three days of driving some of the worst roads i've ever seen, we got to siliguri, on the border of bihar, the poorest state in india. upon starting out the next morning, asking for directions out of the city people seemed confused as to why we would want to drive, and we had many indications that the roads were bad, which if the previous roads were 'good', we were in some serious trouble. so we decided to load the rickshaw on a train and skip bihar all together....

it wasn't until we were on the hot, humid train that we realised that it was going to take 19 hrs to traverse the 700 km distance to  our destination. shortly after that the train filled up to fit more people that i would have imagined possible. at any one time everyone was in physical contact with at least 2-4 other people and i was stuck in basically a fetal position for one of the most intense nights of my life.

finally we got off the train, relieved and still hot and humid at 430 am, we tried to find someone to open the cargo door for us. the guy finally got there, and just as he did the train took off again. with the rickshaw still aboard. we grabbed a cab to an air conditioned hotel and have been relaxing and playing tourist until the train comes back from delhi tonight, hopefully with our rickshaw still aboard... it arrives at 9pm. if everything goes smoothly, we should be able to get some welds done tomorrow morning, the supports for the windsheild fixed and a squeaking noise coming from the engine checked out and putt putt down the road.

i hope.