DAYS 14 - FINISH: SALEM - COCHIN - FORT COCHIN/FINISH LINE

RICKSHAW RUN - AUGUST 2015: SHILLONG TO COCHIN - COMPLETED!!!

16 Days, 3740 kilometres, 600 mosquito/bed bug bites, 400 photos with strangers, 187 litres of petrol, 162 hours driving, 40 chai teas, 38 paneer butter masalas, 32 times running out of petrol, 7 near misses, 5 break downs, 3 broken head gaskets, 2 massive backfires, 1 collision with a truck, lost clothing, autoparts and petrol cans….. but after all this, ladies and gentlemen, ‘The Richies’ have completed the Rickshaw Run!!!

We have successfully driven our little tuk tuk, ‘Richie’s Rickshaw’, from the very top of the country to the bottom southern state of Kerala. The home straight was pretty cool… after flying down the east coast, we cut inland and had a few nice days back in the countryside. We again were overwhelmed by the locals, even invited to play some park cricket with them…. let it be known they are VERY VERY good! We then hit the central highway again, arriving a day early into Cochi. To get to the finish line, we had to get the old boy onto a ferry… no small feat given this tiny ferry was also packed with trucks, cars and as many bikes they could squeeze in. Once on dry land, we hunted for the finish line, arriving into the welcoming arms to the Adventurist team. Turns out we were the 5th team to cross the line (although the 4th to drive it over the line… the first team to arrive did so on a truck after half their engine fell out!). Although not an official race, we were pretty chuffed…. good from the ‘Old Richie’.

Its been an amazing experience and one I would definitely recommend. Yes it was challenging, and there were days when the 12 hours in the tuk tuk were hell. When it breaks down in nearly 40 degree temperatures, on a dirt road 30 kms from the nearest town, and you have zero mechanical knowledge, you do question what the hell you are doing with your life! However, I couldn’t think of a better way to explore this amazing country. It can be noisy, hot, smelly at times (much like Rhys!) but thats only a small part. The countryside was amazing, really beautiful scenery, changing dramatically as you moved from state to state… whether it was monsoon-like weather in Megalahaya, to the lush tea fields of West Bengal, to the dry and sometimes sketchy areas of Bihar… so much to discover and each day was completely different. Doing it in a tuk tuk was the best way to truly see India… Travelling across the country in one of their own vehicles made us so unique yet approachable, and boy did we receive some attention… sometimes too much (ask Rhys about the guy that straddled him in the ocean…. kinda weird!).

Above all, the thing to take away from this is how amazing the people are. Never have I seen such fascination, warmth and generosity shown by complete strangers. It didn’t matter where we went, nice hotel or poor roadside store, it was all the same. Often we didn’t even need help, yet Indians were always offering, seeking nothing in return. The fact that we were foreigners made us special… we were thanked simply for visiting their country. In a country of so many, often with so little, it was very humbling. Thank you India, you and you’re 1.2 billion are alright!

As this years run comes to an end, and the final few teams roll into Cochi (of course some won’t actually make it!), its time to celebrate. We had a Northern vs Southern Hemisphere game of Kabbadi, this weird local game that no one really understands… basically you just tackle each other and try and touch lines or something…. meh. There was also a cricket match against some local school kids (pretty sure we were hustled!). Tonight we have the finish line party on an island not too far from here. We won’t lie, we are pretty keen to sink a few and share war stories with the other runners… and if last night is anything to go by (was a quiet night which escalated very quickly), it should the goods.

Hope those that have followed this have enjoyed the updates as much as I have enjoyed doing them. If you wish to do the run at some point you will not be disappointed. Check out the adventurist link below. Also, I did this run in the hope of raising both awareness and support for the Cancer Council of NSW. If you feel inclined, please donate via the link below to ensure they can continue to provide such an amazing service to those who need it most.

Adam out.

THE RICKSHAW RUN http://www.theadventurists.com/rickshaw-run

DO IT FOR CANCER https://secure.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/registrant/FundraisingPage.aspx?RegistrationID=902352#&panel1-2


DAYS 11-13: ONGOLE - PONDICHERRY - SALEM

It's now day 13 which means we are at the back end of our second week in this little tuk tuk. Over 3200kms covered so far, with just under 400kms to go. The adventurist team recommend you arrive by the 20th of August, as this is the night of the finish party. This therefore give us 3 days to bring this baby home. Most teams aim for this date and should make it in time, however some have not been so lucky... several have had to abandon their tuk tuks way up north as they just couldn’t be repaired, whilst others are still running, yet they’re looking like arriving over a week late.

As for the last few days, it's all been about Richie. Whether it was impressing the mechanics with his stylish clothing, or spending his down time on a beach chasing waves (wowing the locals with his 'Marvellous’ surfing), Richie has been fully embraced by this country. While only a few know who he actually is (or understand us when we talk to them!), most villages love getting around him and getting photos with the great man. We did in fact meet a group of people who knew him well, given their close connection with the Indian cricket Premier League. We were even lucky enough to meet the Indian version of Richie (spoiler alert: it's just a kid in one of our wigs!). It been awesome taking Richie on one last tour of India, rest in peace you legend.

Richies Rickshaw on the other hand has had an interesting few days. I feel he is starting to show his age, pushing towards the 57000km mark. We've noticed the roll cage (not that it would do much in such an event) is cracking, causing the whole thing to shake when cruising along the highway. We tried some home repairs with ropes, duct tape and the like but may have just made it worse. Our roof is also barely hanging in there thanks to some alligator clips (these clips are the business... we have used them for everything from tarps, to holding petrol cans, bags and clothes... mark my words they will be big in 2016!).

To be fair, he's probably also beginning to suffer from our treatment (or lack there of!) over the last 2 weeks. We pushed him pretty hard earlier in the week and he started to sound really bad again. Turns out we had blown our second gasket, which for the record we diagnosed even with our limited mechanical knowledge (its all about noise people…. if you're out of oil or blown a gasket, I'm your guy!). We've also had some minor mishaps, such as running out of fuel on the highway, at which point realising we had lost our full petrol can somewhere.... some friendly locals and a water bottle full of petrol got us up and running again.

Honestly though, the little Richie has held up pretty well. We made such good time down the highway we allowed ourselves a rest day in a place called Pondicherry (also spelt Punicherry and like 15 other spellings… wierd), an old French colonial town. The place was beautiful and really didn't feel like India (whoah whoah, I ain't saying India is bad!!). We visited an amazing photography exhibition (mainly so I could see what a good photo actually looks like...), checked out an ashram (way too quiet for me.... what?!) and even got blessed by an elephant... all it wanted was wine or money...??! Even better was we squeezed in an awesome surf and lined up some diving... which incidentally was the WORST dive we have done! Apart from the terrible artificial reef (made from beer bottles, old cars and bikes they have dumped in the ocean...??), we couldn't actually see it until we literally swam into it (the van that is) as the visibility was so bad! Granted, the signs were there early when the accelerator on van we were driving to the dock in fell off.... ah well, diving India, tick.

So with the finish line is in sight, we're feeling pretty good about it all. We may need to limp him there (especially we have backfired three times since I started writing this, only to find our spark plug cable off... we used electrical tape to stick it down... that's ok yeah?!) but I think were gonna make it. Hopefully the next time you hear from me we will be at the finish line in Kochi… only time will tell.

    

DAYS 9 & 10: VISAKHAPATNAM- KAKINADA - ONGOLE

Pretty similar story for the Richies over the past few days. After kicking back on the beaches on Visakhapatnam, we have continued to burn down the highway. By chance, we managed to find a cool little shak on the beach in Rushikonda containing surfboards. The owner was this awesome dude who runs a surf school there, frequented by some of cricket’s royalty who play in the IPL (Warner, Steyn, Kohli and the like… coooooool!) and gave us the boards to use…. much to the locals amusement! The coast has also been fun as we have continually run into other teams. We added a kiwi team to our convoy, mainly so we could get some rugby banter going (and because we were sick of the cricketing abuse we were coping from the British... what ashes?!). Convoy life has been good, mainly because cabin fever creeps in and Rhys and I begin planning ways to ditch the other on the side of the road!

The old boy is still running well, with no real issues to speak of (doesn’t sound great but we put that down to age…. and our poor maintenance skills!). However, whilst cruising down the highway, 'The Thunder from Downunder' spotted a rickshaw service centre, something they really needed as their exhaust had holes in it (from the last guy who tried to fix other holes!). While there we decided to enquire about a service (this was our attempt at looking after the dear Richie). A few photos with them (their favourite of course being with Richie himself) and some carpark cricket later, the service was free! Amazing what these people will do for us… check out the group photo. Our mechanic is in the middle… doesn’t say much, just a lot of head wobbling which could be yes or no?!

As we got further south, we began experiencing some pretty hectic weather (I think it's one of the monsoon seasons here... and if it's not god help them when it is!). We made some modifications to our tarp/rain device, mainly because we couldn't see a thing in any direction (our windscreen wiper is mainly decorative… see the actual view below). I was in the back and remained relatively dry on our first rainy day... and by relatively I mean my face was still dry. Was pretty funny roaring down the highway in our little bubble… until trucks wash us off the road.

Thankfully the roads are pretty good down south, which has made the drive pretty easy. The best thing though is the special treatment we seem to get out on the road. People constantly beeping their horn in a manner that seems aggressive, yet they really just want to pull up beside you, wave, take photos and try and have a conversation... it's madness. They then offer food (not the greatest), directions (usually in the wrong direction) and their advice on cricket (which as Austalians we don't really care for at the moment!). Then there are the toll roads... we tried to pay but they keep waving us through the exempt vehicles line, right behind ambulances and government vehicles... finally someone recognises our importance.

So as the sun sets on our 10th day, little Richie has clocked up 2680kms. Still a fair way to go but we feel there is light at the end of the tunnel. Onward to the bright lights of Chennai, and some more coastal lovin.

     

DAYS 6-8: MEDINIPUR - CHANDIPUR - GOLPAPUR - VISAKHAPATNAM

HALFWAY!!

'He's done it’ (a reference to both the tuk tuk and the great Richie Benaud's call on the Shane Warne ball of the century). We have successfully navigated the north east corner of the country and finally hit the East Coast of India. Once we made it through the bottle neck at the top, between Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, we have basically followed a straight line down, heading to the closest coastal town we could find, Golpapur. We decided to celebrate by grabbing some beers and heading to the beach for the afternoon… of course, when 7 foreigners make their way out into the ocean on an Indian beach, the whole village follows. One guy even dropped his bike and ran out fully clothed, no time to even take off the helmet…. hilarious. 10 other tuk tuks also turned up that night… lets just say it got a little out of hand!

The funny thing about the way we made it through the country is we really had no accurate way of knowing where we were going. Between us we had 4 maps, 2 hard copies and 2 electronic, GPS even, however not one of them was the same. My map had us in the middle of a lake when we stopped, yet clearly we were parked on a tar road. What was worse is that the time and distance calculations were a joke... not once did we actually end up in a town we wanted to, nor did we do it in a reasonable time... useless. It took us a while to learn that even with broken English, asking a local was the way to go... even if it cost you several handshakes and photos.

Once we hit the coast it was bliss. The major highway made life easy, and the old Richie thundered down it. We managed to find a service centre in Medinhapur, and turns out we had a broken head gasket (gasket or casket… is that even a thing?! meh, I still don’t get engines!). A replacement part, cleaning the crap out of the exhaust and the other various lines for $5 Australian meant we were back in business... the thing is running like new... well not exactly new, we did hit the 55000km milestone on the highway, celebrated of course with a small ceremony and some chai on the side of the road.

Day 6 we had our first casualty of the trip... some villager is now the proud owner of a green haviana. Not sure what they will do with 1 but I know they'll give it a good home. Tragedy aside, it wasn't all bad news as on this day I had possibly the best breakfast EVER... and if not ever, at least top 3! I don't know the name of the village as no one could tell me and my map said we were in a swamp, but if anyone wants to visit, the GPS co-ordinates are below. It's basically the same thing we start with every day... a chai tea (amazing), some Dahl and flat bread (tastiest yet), however today, there was the addition of these little, potato/curry puff, samosa type arrangements... ridiculously good. I thoroughly recommend if ever in the area.... and understand how the hell co-ordinates work.

The only issue with stopping for breakfast in these parts is you get mobbed by the locals... any hope of a quiet, relaxing breakfast you're kidding yourself. It starts with 3-4 standing around, which slowly builds to 50-60 in a matter of minutes... where do they all come from?! It then turns to photos, handshakes, broken conversations, and often they throw a baby at you to hold... much to the child's terror. Honestly though, they are the happiest, frendliest and genuinely confused people I have come across, it's really a heap of fun.

We've now landed in a cool coastal town called Visakhapatnam, and as it turns out, so have around 12 other teams…. a halfway party could be on the cards. Total kilometres travelled so far is 2120. Apparently there is a pretty good surf break around here too, so it's time to strap some boards to the roof and go surf India.

Check out some pics from the last few days.

     

DAYS 4 & 5: DALKHOTA - BERHAMPORE - MIDINAPORE

So it's been an interesting couple of days for The Richies. We managed to tick past the 1000km mark relatively easily. By the time we stopped at the end of day 5 we had completed a total of 1210 kms. This is pretty well on par with the 250km per day they suggest if you intend to make it to Cochin by the finish date (noting that most don't and the team hang around for several weeks longer to wait for the stragglers). So yeah, we are pretty happy with the progress

However, day 4 was painfully slow. We spent approximately 10 hrs driving covered less than 200 kms. The roads were horrible! I honestly can't believe our rickshaw hasn't fallen apart. We have bounced, crashed and rolled our way through some terrible areas. We spent over an hour in a traffic jam because 2 trucks decided to play chicken, neither winning but instead causing a 3km traffic jam… Rhys got out and got a lift with the locals. I tried to take Richie off road to get around it but got us bogged… some americans also followed and got really stuck... whoops!

With regards to the trucks, they're out of control. Thousands of trucks burning up and down the roads, and its not unusual to find them on the wrong side of the road heading straight at you! We actually had our first head on collision with a truck (see photo below) however not a scratch on the old Richie.... parents relax, there was no crash, we found it on the side of the road in pieces. But we did sustain our first bit of damage... friendly fire from 'The Thunder from Downunder' as they tried to escape one of said trucks. It is only minor though, the back right wheel arch.

Richie was travelling really well up until late this afternoon. Although no further breakdowns (well we have run out of fuel on the highway several times... but that doesn't count!), he started sounding really rough and rattly. At this point back home I'd put oil in, however as we have to mix oil with petrol each time we fill up that's not going to help, so I'm out of ideas. I also think one of the wheel bar/axel thingies (I'll post a photo below, it's the thing on the right back wheel... I'm mechanically illiterate) may be busted! If someone can take a look that would be great! The old thing really does need a service though and we will try and track down a mechanic tonight... some guy with a spanner had a look at a truck stop, found a loose bolt and then banged the engine and pipes.... that counts as a device right??

Despite all this, today was an unbelievable drive through rural India. It was beautiful. It was also clear some of the villages we drove through probably hadn't ever seen a westerner, let alone one driving a colourful tuk tuk… shock and awe was an understatement. We even picked up our first local and gave him a lift… at least, we think he wanted a lift… we kind of just grabbed him and pulled him in haha. Watched a beautiful sunset over the rice patties too… very lush!

So far so good, let's keep it rolling.

      

DAYS 2 & 3: GUWAHATI - BINNARHAT - DALKHOLA

For those that were worried by the lack of contact (yes mother, I'm looking at you), 'The Richies' have successfully completed days 2 and 3. We have now covered approximately 700kms with roughly 20 hours behind the wheel (handlebars would be more acurate). Our typical day started around 5.30am and driving until deep into the afternoon... actually we tried driving last night despite them advising against it, and after disappearing into a pot hole that was more like a crater, we can see why.

Riche's Rickshaw is actually travelling pretty well. No further breakdowns, and we really pushed her on the open roads (maxing out around 60kms/hr and sounding like an explosion was immenent). We have developed a small convoy, 'The Thunder from Downunder' and 'The Spiritual Leaders' which provides some comfort should things go wrong... Although they both have nice new tuk tuks, still with 4 digits on the odometer... our poor thing required filling up 3 times before they did once. We will use our tuk tuks vast experience to get us to the end.....?!

It's pretty crazy out here on the roads. Once we entered West Bengal the road quality became much better, however with this quality came increased traffic. It would also appear there is a hierarchy on the road.... animals at the top and taking it for themselves! I narrowly avoided collecting a full set... ducks, chickens, cows, horses, goats, dogs, cats, even a monkey! And then there are the trucks and busses... drivers have some serious faith in one another, and why do they even bother having a median strip when no one drives on the right side of the road?! I feel like the road rules are more like guidelines... that no one uses! The funniest part of the drive was a stretch called the Siliguri bypass. After cruising through the toll gate without paying (what, everyone else did, even locals!) we hit around 15kms of the worst, muddy, pot hole filled dirt strip ever... maybe they need the toll to actually build a road. It was hilarious watching our tuk tuks bouncing all over the place.

We continued on today arriving at this pretty pimp roadside hotel just outside of Dalkhola. Last night we landed in a place called Binnarhat when we decided it was unsafe to drive any further. After the hotel we wanted was full, a guy who knew a guy, found another guy who knew of a hotel, which we feel was probably a house (our room had happy birthday family pictures on the wall...?!). This place definitely topped the previous nights stay, mainly because out mattress was 2cm thick instead of a sheet over wooden planks, and the pillow case actually had a pillow in it! Good times.

After almost 2 days in the tuk tuk it's definitely time for a few cold ones... probably not the 'kingfisher strong' though... we made that mistake accidentally the other night. Turns out they like their beer strong. Our place overlooks the rice fields so after some carpark cricket, a few beers on the roof watching the sunset should be the goods.

Here's a few pics of the last 2 days!


THE RICKSHAW RUN BEGINS! LAUNCH - DAY 1

Waking up slightly rough, we made our way down to Rickshaw HQ. Teams had already begun to assemble, putting last minute touches to their rides. Team themes also became apparent, with honourable mentions going to the Scooby-doo, monocle men and the frog guys (one of whom was on crutches following a broken leg in yesterday’s soccer game!).

Unfortunately it began pouring around 10am making the final preparations, and more importantly the roads, rather interesting. After a few group photos and some messing around in the carpark, we launched.

There were some nervous moments to begin with, none more so than when we couldn’t even make it up the first hill out of the carpark!! I think maybe it was the choke…. (not really sure what a choke is or does but when i turned it off we could make it up the hill…… haha)?! We then made our way up into the mountains through some torrential rain.

Was really cool seeing colourful tuk-tuks all over the roads. The locals obviously enjoyed it as they lined the streets… so much waving and hi-fives! Everyone was having so much fun until our mates rolled their tuk-tuk…. apparently the wheel fell off and halfway down the mountain they careered into the barrier. Luckily they escaped with only cuts and bruises, the tuk-tuk however was put on a truck and sent into town… scary stuff and definitely shook everyone that saw it. Our trip was far less eventful and very enjoyable.

Once we hit Guwahati, our destination for the night we had our first official break-down…. view, only day one and already done. A huge crowd gathered around our tuk tuk and Rhys asked if anyone was a mechanic… some guy put his had up, walked to our tuk tuk and started playing with stuff at the back…. turns out we had a clocked exhaust or something (not quite sure what he was saying) but we were back in action… so we thought. Then as we went to take off it broke down again… mechanic came back…. turns out we had run out of fuel…. good one us! In our defence there is no fuel gauge and our odometer is kind of dodgy.

We then managed to run into fellow runners and we sourced a cheap hotel for the night. Everyone was wrecked so an early night was in order… followed by a 5.30am start tomorrow.

Day 1 complete.

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PRE-LAUNCH DAY!

Today began with an early morning soccer game against a local team called… ‘the morning team’….. because they play in the morning….?! 6.30am we arrived, some not so fresh from the night before, others possibly still going. Following a close encounter, the Rickshaw team lost 10-9 on penalties (15 from each side took one… yes, I missed…. not uncommon!).

The rest of the morning we spent searching for more supplies, pimping the tuk tuk and getting psyched about what lay ahead. Had a nice taste of the monsoon weather too. Did some more burning around the carpark… managed to pick-up 7-8 passengers… school kids couldn’t get enough of the rickshaw…. that was until the police stopped me… whoops.

Once the afternoon rolled round, we got the call from our tailor…. the jackets were ready! With much anticipation we headed back to the crazy market we found this guy and picked them up. Result…. Marvellous. Check out the outfit for tonight below.

That evening there was to be a pre-launch party, allowing everyone to get excessively loose and ensuring we begin the journey tomorrow extremely hungover…. nice. Bring on these Indian roads.


PIMPING DAY 2!

Today was mainly spent hunting for supplies.... and by supplies, we mean the essential items one needs to travel across this country... cricket bats and novelty hats!! Also stocked up on toilet paper as it would appear this is a precious commodity over here.... can't think why.....?!

Its crazy how in a city of thousands no one could tell us where to find various bits and pieces.... 'up this road, no no, back this way....'. It became a bit tedious.... the hardware store sold paint, not tools, the automobile store sold metal and plastic, not oil or spark plugs (which apparently we need but I honestly have no idea what it is or what it does)!

We then spent a few hours in the afternoon continuing to spruce up the old girl.... I got my macgyver on (a stretch I know) and made some rain covers out of a tarp, Rhys patched up all the holes in our roof with electrical tape, and we also added some final touches to the paint job. After another session burning around the carpark we got our official drivers licence (check the photo......????) and we were set.

The evening consisted of a Q&A session - again the underlying theme being not if you break down, its WHEN you break down! Apparently some team broke down 170 times in the 15 days.... thats over 10 a day.... heavy! After this a few beers were had as we prepared for the early morning soccer match against a local team.

    

MEET "RICHIE'S RICKSHAW"

After an early start, with much anticipation we arrived at Rickshaw Run HQ, essentially a bamboo shed in a massive carpark filled with around 100 amazing rickshaws. So many different colours and designs, it was incredible. After some searching we found her, our home for the next 3 weeks… ‘Richie’s Rickshaw’.

The artists had done a fantastic job at recreating our design, with the tribute to Richie particularly awesome. We were given to opportunity to pimp it out, so we took it upon ourselves to add some final touches.

Our rickshaw is somewhat of a trooper…. a casual 53000kms on the odometer meaning it’s been around the block (and probably across the country!!) a few times. Other than a few holes in the roof (duct tape is a priority tomorrow) we’re pretty happy with it. We'll spend tomorrow modifying it, ensuring we make it through this epic journey.

The afternoon consisted of a short demonstration and few test drives, completed without issue. However, we did witness 2 teams roll their tuk-tuks in the carpark within the first hour (smashed windscreens, damaged roll cages……. hectic). It appears slow and steady is key. We also had a brief mechanical talk, the underlying theme being ‘try this, then this… if that doesn’t work see a mechanic… but don’t be surprised if you can’t fix it!’. As Rhys and I have zero mechanical knowledge (people who know me will concur, my car skills involve putting oil in when the engine starts making noise, often putting too much in so it smokes….!?), we may be in a little trouble here… only time will tell.

The evening will consist of a few beers and picking the brains of people who actually know what they’re doing…. this should be interesting.

Check out some of our pics from today. Enjoy.

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