Day 11 (Tommy's Birthday)
Not a great start - Tommy took a particular dislike to a lorry while passing it, scraping the back corner. What was worse was that a group who were following us stopped, saw it happen, and hit the truck as well...Americans for you, always wanting to go one step further.
Jake wasn't best pleased, as this all happened 3 inches from his head.
Fairly uneventful after that, until we reached Jessore Sloth Bear Sanctuary. Having organised this little adventure, Jake was convinced that their was a route through. Fortunately there was, just not a way over the river out the other side. The rest of the morning was spent trying to cross the river, which wouldn't have happened if we hadn't have met a very friendly local. He knew a little English, and hopped in with Jake and Tommy to lead the way. Harry got in the Americans 'shaw, and got some entertaining footage of Jake nearly tipping Talulah. Wasn't very fun for the boys involved though...
Finally found the main road thanks to our new best friend, said goodbye and powered on to Pali.
Found a bar right across the road and enjoyed a few (too many) drinks to celebrate Tommy's birthday. Then somehow Jake and Harry found themselves in a Ganesha day party. They took part in some dancing, while Tommy carried on drinking...
Day 12
Started the morning off slowly, as Tommy was feeling fairly awful from the night before.
After a scan of Talulah the night before, we found that all 4 of the back left wheel bolts had sheared off, creating massive holes, bringing the wheel close to falling off. The morning was spent trying to find a mechanic to replace it. While doing this it turned out the brake pads had disintegrated, meaning there was a fairly substantial stopping distance for the rest of the trip.
Spent 6.5 hours of the afternoon driving about 230km to our next stop, making it an easy journey to the finish the next day. Had to drive in the night for a bit, which was made harder by thousands of pilgrims walking down the main road to Pokhran.
Day 13 (Final day)
Left at 7:30 with the aim of making the finish by midday. Easy drive through some beautiful desert scenery, but then couldn't find the finishing line! Drove around Fort Jaisalmer to find accommodation, then eventually made it to Jawahar Niwas Palace - the finishing line!
Got the photo, wrote our names on the big whiteboard, and got a well earned beer before dipping in the pool and getting dominated by the locals at cricket. As fun as the game was, it was disgracefully hot, and chasing a tennis ball for 10 overs was an absolute chore!
After getting promoted up the batting order to number 6, Tommy went out in style by getting out first ball. Sorry lads...
After finding food and showering, we headed back to the Palace for the finish party. A fantastic way to end the Run - meeting friends from the start in Cochin, to getting in the pool more times than we can count, and just talking to people about everything and anything. The sing alongs were pretty sweet as well.
Safe to say this has lit the traveling spark, and fortunately we've got invites to see new friends all over the world.
We're spending the next few days in Jaipur, Agra and then finally Delhi to fly home.
Thanks for following us, and all of the donations - heres to the next adventure!
So a couple of days since our last blog post. Day 7 consisted of us making our way up some rather interesting mountains to the town of Mahabaleahwar. Throughout the day the weather was very British with high winds and lots of rain which made driving very interesting. On top of the bad weather we encounter lost of hills which Tallulah (tuk tuk) has a fear for, this resulted in us pushing her up at least two hills and getting very wet, however after some light encouragement and a pep talk by jake she finally got her self into gear.
Day 8 we made our way to Sangamner. On our journey we encountered two Americans which we decided to team up as we hadn't seen another team member for a least 3 days. The trip took us all day and was a tedious 270km long. Tommy had supposedly sorted out some top rate accomidation for the evening, however 5 minutes away from this haven we were met by dirt tracks and pigs roaming the streets (harry and jake were now sceptical about this so called amazing accommodation). Their opinions changed 100m down the road when this palace appeared out of know where with two swimming pools and amazing rooms, tommy had pulled off a beauty. The evening was spent playing in the pool (which we don't think we were allowed in but never mind) and jake and harry being royaly beaten by two 12 year olds at ping pong.
Day 9 was spent making our way to Valsad. 30 minutes into our journey we were met by a man who we now know was telling us a different route to go, however, thinking we knew more than this wise old geza we plunded on. Another 30 minutes down the road Jake made a interesting observation being that the only cars coming the other way were 4x4s and lorrys, yet again the light bulb moment stayed off and we trundled in what can only be described as the worst road in India. Luckley the two most experienced and adventurist drives (jake and harry) took turns at the wheel to navigate through the moon like terrian with two hills that turned out to be mud slides. Even though harry and jake insist that they missed the large majority of pot holes tommys back and neck tell a different story. But to everyone's amazement Tallulah didn't slip up or break down once thoughout the ordeal.
In comparison day 10 was a dream with us getting in some serous Km and ending up in a pent house suit which the man the name the legend tommy g found yet again.
Day 3, 4, 5 and 6
Apologies to our avid readers for the lack of updates - we've been without wifi for three days. Dark times.
On Day 3 we left Payyanur having tagged on with another team to find accommodation. Struck gold with air con, and huge bed that fit three of us, and half decent wifi. Set off at about 7:15 with the aim of making to a beach side homestay in Bhatkal. Spent most of the day driving up the costal main road, and had a class stop at Bekal Fort. It was huge, easily a mile around, and right on the sea. Tommy got a new profile photo out of it so he was chuffed. Encountered a few friends we'd made - three teams who were sticking together - and saw them in spots throughout the day. One of the lowlights was Harry driving like a morph - trying to overtake too quickly and taking the air filter off. We limped to the address but couldn't find it. Fortunately the others turned up and found it for us. Spent the evening in a massive house having a pool party, with loads of beer, and a bit of pool side frisbee. It was grand, and we didn't get to bed until about 2:30am. The late start the next day was massively needed!
On Day 4 (17th) we spend about 5 hours driving to Jog Falls - the Niagra of India. It was fairly comfortable apart from the torrential rain and 15km climb up a mountain road at 20 kph. There were some awesome views, and we watched farmers lay rice fields!
At Jog Falls our game really peaked, which was quite a surreal moment for all of us. After a painful climb down about 3000 steps to the bottom of the Falls (which left our legs shaking), we were asked by about 6 families for photos. Getting into 'foreigner model' mode, we had both group and individual photos with everyone.
After a fairly tortuous climb back up the steps, we stayed in the area and had a great night chilling in our room and listening to music.
Day 5 saw an early start, and we hadn't put many km in the day before. Up at 5:45 for a 6:30 start, we chewed up the road on our way to Belagavi. On the way we stopped at a school to watch their sports day. To our surprise we got invited in, and Tommy got handed the microphone to say, we assume, some motivation words to all the kids. Hosting duties out of the way, we were given hot drinks, loads of food, and had a few photos taken. Watching the sports was fascinating - volleyball was electric, koko (?) was confusing, and kabbadi (?) was brutal. After a tour of the staff room, and a read through some of the books that the kids learn from (harry struggled with the book part due to his so called dyslexia), we set off again. The most interesting thing was that all the students their learn three languages - their regional language first, then English, then Hindi. When they travel to other regions, they speak either English or Hindi.
When we made it to Belagavi, it was manic. Rocking up in what appeared to be 'downtown', we didn't have a clue what to do or where to go. Fortunately, while we'd stopped on the highway to refuel, a lawyer, who had studied in London, stopped to offer a hand. He gave us his card and we were able to call him and ask for a good place to stay. Being a lawyer he suggested the most expensive place in town, so after a rush hour journey we made it, and severed some limbs to pay for the night. At this point Jake had steam coming out of his ears, after he'd asked to use the hotels wifi, been rejected, and then had to shell out what we thought was an extortionate amount of money. As tantrums go, this was mega.
Turned out to be worth it as we slept like logs and raided the free breakfast.
Nothing to report on Day 6 - currently in Karad after a day of boring driving and a McDonalds!
Hopefully we'll be able to update the blog more regularly from here on!
Peace.
Day 1-2 blog
Day one of the rickshaw run started by the mad dash to the ferry of dreams which was a long 300 yards down the road. It's safe to say that 75 tuk tuks hurtling down the road at "top speed" and cramming them selves into a ferry did not go down well with the locals as the cheif mechanic almost go arrested and the tuk tuks came close to being impounded.
However, once this slight issue was sorted we were on the ferry and arrived and Vyipn in no time. Once there Harry took the wheel and hurtled down the road at top speed only to slow down when hearing his sisters wise words about not getting any more points on his licence. The next hour constisted of amazing views along the coast line and with relatively smooth roads. But all this changed quite quickly when Jake decided to go down a sand track to get a picturesque photo by the beach. This did not end well as we got well and truely stuck but two kind locals helped us out and then offered us chi in there house which was a humbling experience.
Apart from that one incident and a few close calls with busses and pot holes the day went smoothly and we found somewhere to stay. The one thing that was noticeable was the interest we got from the locals, as everyone would wave at you or what a selfie which made progress at times quite slow.
Day 2
Day two was an early start with Tommy taking the wheel and supposedly "teaching" Harry and Jake how to not over rev the engine on a hill. Again we were treated like rock stars and everyone wanted selfies with us if will stopped for breaks. The two memorable moment of the day was the India Independence Day porades in which we observed two very different types, the first being very welcoming and offering us food and being very friendly, the second being a huge, what we think, communist march type thing which was quite intimidating when you are in a brightly coloured tuk tuk driving past.
We also had our first "break down" today while jake was driving, while driving up and hill in the middle of knowwhere we heard a loud bang and the engine stopped, not the most ideal place. However, even before all of us could get out to see what had happened we were greated by 6 locals who continued to ring a mechanic to come out and help us, only to find out we had run out of fuel and had some more in the back.
Day 4!
Pretty easy morning, surprisingly we took it fairly easy last night at the party, unlike everyone else there...but the launch party was awesome, great food, great beer and an awesome venue!
Big day for us today - Tommy found out that Indian SIM cards don't work in his phone, we got loads of petrol, smashed the locals 2-0 in the football game, and had an outrageous Chicken Tikka pitta for lunch.
Driving is now third nature, and I'm sure in a few days it'll be second. Getting more confident at finding our way around, which is bad news for our best mate 'Del-Boy' the taxi driver, who robbed us blind yesterday.
We start our journey tomorrow, but we're feeling pretty confident. Packed and unpacked everything on the Rickshaw, so we know it fits!
Off to dinner tonight with some other Runners we've met these last few days, should be a good send off.
Peace.
Day 3
The day started off quite slowly with all of us being a bit worse for wear from a few beers the night before. However, a quick breakfast at the Happy Camper did the trick and got us into gear.
The main aim of the day was to tear up the Indian roads looking for spare parts and things to pimp our tuk tuk. However not even as we left we were chased by our local and loyal taxi driver, who we have named Del Boy, and his companion Trigger. The next 5 minutes can only be described as chaos as Harry tested the tuk tuks evading skills to get away from our 'friend'. As you can imagine this didn't last long, Jake and Tommy valuing there lives over a Fast and Furious style getaway.
Once the pursuit ended Del Boy demanded he took us (Harry) on some driving lessons and get some camo sides for the tuk tuk. However, the days adventure didn't end there- Del Boy then took us all to a massage place and demanded we get a full body massage. This did not go down well with Harry or Tommy and the memories of that hour massage are truly engraved into our minds. However, jake has his second appointment booked in tomorrow.
Day 2
We finally got to drive our chariot today. We all think we have the gist of it, but it seems all our focus is on driving it and our multi tasking is non existent. This came to light when Jake didn't see a junction until the last moment, with Harry and Tommy almost ending up in the front with him. On that note - the brakes work like an Indian dream. Off to get food, and more than likely, some beer. Prepping the Rickshaw will be tomorrow's job.
Peace.
Been in Cochin since about 4am, made it to the hotel at about 6, slept from about 8 till 12. Taxi drive was mental, bit of a culture shock for Harry and Jake, who lost their arse holes after about 10 minutes.
It'll take a day or so to acclimatise, mainly because it's really fooking hot.
Quote of the day - Tommy (after his first flight) - 'Flying's just like getting a train, just with smaller windows innit really'.
3 days until we fly out. Haven't thought about packing yet because I'm lazy. The other two are very prepared, almost to the point of boring...
The Fundraising begins
Taking a break from the dissertation writing to start setting up our fundraising page for our three chosen charities Cool Earth, Teenage Cancer Trust and the Down's Syndrome Association. 260 day to go!!
The Homeless Wonderers
