We made it !
Of course, the last day couldn't be breakdown free. Team the Rickshaw must go on again experienced a loss of power which puzzled the brightest mechanics. The carburettor was cleaned yet again with no visible improvement as soon as 1hr after the fix.
An improvised mechanic on the road told us to let the engine cool down while drinking a Chaï. This is a very Indian thing to do so we obliged. The Chaï drunk, we got on the road again only to see the same problem appear 10km down the road. Done with Indian style (do nothing and wait until it fixes by itself), we toed the second Rickshaw with our trustworthy Rickchaussette for the last 90km to Jaisalmer.
We arrived around 8pm at the Priya Hotel in Jaisalmer, finish line is closed so the real finish will be tomorrow. We will finally be able to trash this faulty engine with clean and re-cleaned carburettor.
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Our lust for peaks came back strong, the last view before Jaisalmer is Mount Abu. The climb with the Rickshaw was amazing, until we got ourselves trapped in the cloud. No sightseeing possible.
The Dilwara temple is something to be seen, 4 smaller temples, all decorated with the finest of marble.
The cloud disappeared on the descent of the mountain so we got to see the beautiful landscape below, Pandoori, Abu Road etc.
Another 260km was left for Sindhari, our stop for the night. The green pastures gave way to the arid sandy pothole filled. With some night driving, we reached the city at about 9pm. Everything was closed but it felt like the 1000 inhabitants of this town were there to see us.
Today was also the Ganesh celebration and music followed us all along the road, it was awesome driving through the galvanized crowds !
The days of persistent driving should now be over. Back into schedule, we authorized ourselves a visit of the city palace of Udaipur and its city palace and some shopping. The palace, biggest in Rajasthan, was amazing and offered and view on all the city. The visited maze was only about 1/3 of all the palace ! The rest being a private hotel and the chambers of the current Maharana.
The road to mount Abu was flawless, no break, little to no traffic.
We stopped in Pandoori for the night, the climb to mount Abu is set for tomorrow morning.
This shall be our last all-day drive, I hope ! 327km with a few stops to enjoy and no mechanical breaks, if that's not pretty swell !
For lunch time we got ourselves the best restaurant. As we say: "no card, no problem." We entered the empty joint and the owner got to work, suprise surprise. Big round of Thali for everyone with unlimited chapatis for a meager 400roupees (about 6€) for 6, water included.
After some staggering landscapes, we arrived in Udaipur and navigated through the narrow maze that is the tourist-car forbidden inner city.
Tomorrow will be the time for proper touristic tour of the city, its palaces and lake-hotel.
The run is a trade-off between visiting and going forward. Today was all about going forward. Pretty uneventful day until the late afternoon where by thinking we took a shortcut, got ourselves on a muddy mountain road.
The Shaw's behaved flawlessly as if they were all wheel drive (3x3?)
Arrived in District Dhar for the night.
Note to selves: do not attempt to eat dinner in a bar, even if they pretend it is also a restaurant. you'll be offered beer and whiskey every minute and by every staff of the joint.
Pretty cold day in the Shaw's today, who said India is a burning hot place ?
Got our raincoats out on the way to Ellora Caves. Those caves, by the way, are pretty amazing. Sorry to the fellow Rickshaw teams we saw (7 iirc) for not stopping for Jibber jabber but we were on a tight schedule. We'll make it up at the survival party !
Faulty carburettor for our fellow Rickshaw about 5km before getting to Chalisgaon, our spot for the night. Luckily, 31 people stopped to help (we counted). 3 mechanics in the lot so it was a pretty nice fix.
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Turns out Rickshaws don't have doors ! The result being heavy west wind with dart-like drops shooting through the Shaw on our drive to Beed.
No breakdowns today, thanks to Ganesh I presume. The potholes will eventually tear through the axles that's for sure though.
A crucial decision had to be made, after Hampi, either going north or west. We chose the quite and lonely north road to keep our tracking points isolated. We'll see Goa and such on pictures, should be enough!
Finished our road in Bijapur where a rather intricate celebration took place:
Teams have to form a 6-7stories high human tower to break a bowl attached over the street. Easy enough. Well, imagine that with 5000 people around, hard core techno blasting and an entire tanker-worth of water thrown at you. The results, catastrophic failures over and over until they bring down the bowl little by little.
Thank for the religious awakening Bijapur.
Our ever so faithful duo team had their engine torn apart and the piston replaced. They can almost keep up with the mighty and unbreakable Rickchaussette.
Road to Hampi is silk smooth and the ruins there amazing. I now we are several days late but for once, what a solace.
Our ambitious plan to go from Bengaluru to Hampi fell 50km short when dawn suddenly happened. The pothole filled road with our super-cargo trucking friends didn't feel that appealing anymore so we stopped in kudligi for the night.
Funky night time driving will be compulsory at some point so better push it back in time a little while we still can.
Attached, the welcome sign for us in Bengaluru and the busyness of its road even before 8AM and especially the size comparison between Rickshaw and regular truck.
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