West Bengal, India
We have had another shattering drive today. Roads littered with potholes. Only 3 tuktuks out of our convoy of 5 made it to our planned destination. The other two have fallen slightly behind due to an engine being shaken loose, poor navigational skills and a thunderstorm. We are just doing a mere 200k tomorrow so they can catch us up. Arrived at the hotel at 8.30, standard situation that everyone is knackered so once again it was a quick supper and straight to bed ready for our 5.30am start in the morning.
West Bengal, India
Delhi Belly has struck with fierce force! Not ideal for a day of going cross country where the roads are most likened to the surface of the moon. Potholes deep and wide enough to swallow the tuktuk whole, bounce a flipflop and mosquito net out onto the road, as well as dislodge bolts and screws which rained down on us from the roof frame. All the tuktuks now make slightly strange and worrying noises after their battering on the worlds worst road, hopefully they won't fall apart completely tomorrow. Think we will stick to the highways from now on. 5 days left to go, with 1000k still in front of us. The mountains now stand between us and a much needed back massage.
, Rushikonda Beach, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
After a good solid day driving yesterday with no incidents to our tuktuk we made it to what was described in the Lonely Planet guide as the best stretch of beach on the east coast and followed the lonley planets advice and stayed in their 'Top Pick' hotel. We had high expectations only to arrive at what seems to be a deserted motel style resort that would not look out of place in Chenoyble. The only other guests being our convoy and other fellow Rickshaw Run drivers who like us were disappointed with the place. The beach, covered in littler, cows, perving locals and painful sand storms was not exactly what we had expected but the sea was refreshing and the strong current made for some huge waves. Our evening consisted of trying to find a decent restaurant which we were successful in after a short tuktuk taxi ride. Tandoori chicken kebab places always seem to be a winner. We were forced to check out of the hotel at 8.30 this morning - the manager (who has managed to rub everyone up the wrong way) seemed to think we would check out quicker if he came into our room and watch us pack. We then went and got our clutch repaired as 1st gear was no longer an option and 4th get ** some text is missing **
Tamil Nadu, India
day 2 done and about 500km behind us in total. Been winding our way up and down amazing hills covered with tea plantations. So beautiful. We have gone for a slightly swanky stay this eve Tiruchirapalli's premier hotel. Which we think is well deserved after 12 hour straight on the road. Got straight in the pool after being made to shower before, we thought we were tanned but actually it was just dirt. Enjoying first cold beer in 2 days. Tuk tuk seems to be holding up, didn't run out of fuel today so that's something better than yesterday!
, Palolem Beach, Goa
Still enjoying the curry, curry and more curry. We had a Nice little bit kayak surfing this morning!
, UK
about Jet off in style with Jet airlines. So long chilly London here we come sweaty Mumbai!!
