And so this crazy caper is almost at its end.
It's been both a long journey and a relatively short one.
I have been chewed up and shat out towards the light after experiencing India's worst driving. I will forever have nightmares about cars verging me off the road, the passengers' smartphones flashing me until I reach the bitter end of my patience and blatant disregard for my life and safety.
Apparently the right to be safe isn't a thing here, everyone just drives like a maniac because of the nine-lives thing.
I have played the dirty game of roulette with traffic and so far, won. I can't say the same for my fears, but I no longer flinch when a car, bus or truck is being driven straight towards me. this is either a really good thing or a really bad thing. People wonder why you won't stop for a selfie when they've just tried to kill you, funny, I thought that part was obvious.
I've rolled in thorns and shat in yards. I've been fined for driving on the wrong road and I sometimes wish I had brought some toys to make the bumps more interesting. Gosh knows you have to find some entertainment for when - god forbid - you get flat, endless road without potholes and no traffic. Such dreams are the figments of a spoiled mind.
India's roads are the perfect place for a stuntman in training. They've taught me about fear and controlling my reactions to it. They've taught me that rules are such a wonderful thing, and I never thought I'd say, I can't wait to get home to Australia and all our wonderful rules.
Rules are made to be broken. But when there are no rules, I'm the one being broken.
I can't quite believe that we're in Day 6 already.
We've had some crazy things happen along the way.
We've seen maize dried on the highway
we've seen cousin it on a bicycle going to market
We've experienced the annoyance of kids who are trained beggars by age 5.
We've run out of fuel, broken down twice, hit road barriers in the madness.
We've sweated more than if we were in a gay sauna in mexico and we've been hunted by those crazy orange fuckers on a pilgrimage along the ganges.
I've watched chickens being executed and pigs being dissected for sale.
I've eaten local cuisine and (mostly) lived to tell the tale.
I've filmed in the wet and been chased by thunderstorms.
I've slept in a catholic convent when there were no other accommodation options, and still managed to have a stiff drink.
Nothing beats being a slash bandit yesterday.
The local food is incredible and tasty and safe. Just my stupid western palate isn't used to the curry onslaught. Spices and heaps of potato means that things in the constitution need a little assistance from western medicine to stay put.
After driving over 48 speed bumps (whose great idea was that) my lunch had not had a chance to settle before it decided, on the arrival into Giridih, that it really didn't want to call my stomach home.
It was that instantaneous feeling. An evacuation was going to take place whether I wanted it to or not. I had to go. RIGHT NOW.
The tuk was pulled to the side of the road, paper was grabbed and I was in search of somewhere to drop my load.
I found a cow paddock next to an old shed. Hid behind some building materials and told Bev to keep watch. I won't describe how the next bit felt, but the part after it was way worse.'
The owners came home. Wondered why bev was at their gate not letting them in. The old lady pushed past, horrified that I was taking a dump in her yard. I tried to hurry, but no, she came and watched on. Started speaking in Hindi, we tried to tell her no comprendo, but she talked on. By now I had an audience, one which was examining the contents and colour of my evacuated stool.I picked up my wipes and straightened myself out. Since english wasnt her strong suit, i told bev to start the tuk and start running.
I apologied, many many times.
And then I bolted.
Suddenly a mostly-immobile 80 year old became usain bolt. She chased me out of her yard screaming at me in furious hindi. you dont need to be a linguist to know a strong word when you hear it.
Thankfully the tuk started first go and we were off down the busy street.
Watch out Shillong, The Somedays are in town!
We breezed in from Cherrapunjee this morning and we're here until the run gets started, or until we get kicked out for suspected indecency... either is possible.
We've had a wander around Police Bazaar and tomorrow it's off to the other Bizaar and checking out some Archery.
Now we're gathering supplies and are going to start causing mayhem, so long as can find a Wine Shop that is open!
We've been actively posting to our facebook page, and I've been posting to my own blog:
We got new hair colours!
Thanks to our incredible hairdresser Emma Carey!
Mel is proudly the owner of a fuchsia fantasy!
Bev has become the mad mandarine - better watch out!
And our fantastic Bevan has become the green machine!
Look out for us in Shillong / Cherrapunjee next week!
You know that feeling when you're waiting to go, you're snapping at the heels for the days to whittle away?
That's the feeling I've got right now. I could happily go tomorrow.
Bev and Bev (yeah, there's two of them) are making the last of the preparations before we get on our way to this crazy adventure that we're all working towards.
Me? Well I'm just busy making sure I've got all the gear in good working order. I'm fashioning mounts for GoPros and making certain I have a data strategy all sorted. After all, it's about the images, it's always about the images.
In the meantime, the point is to raise money for [SATHI INdia ](http://sathi-india.org/) for those less fortunate than ourselves.
This is for all of them, all of them.
)So we've been pretty busy doing lots of Fundraising for our adventure. We've had a breakfast, aussie lunch and Indian dinner. Now we're back for another, final effort, another great Breakfast, because our last one was a hit, so why not have another go.
We've been raising money for our entry fees, our rickshaw deposit and all the incidentals that come along the way.
We've made a team video demonstrating that we have the required brain-cell count to be eligible for this, like those height-limiters for kiddies on rollercoasters. We have qualified crazy enough for this adventure, now send us our noble steed and we shall be on our way.
Bev
Melanie
Crazy. Mad. Keen Photographer, videographer and blogger! The pen is mightier than the sword, but a stun gun trumps all. Haha
Bevan
I work for myself doing what I love, furniture making. It would be nice to make decent money out of what I do, but money isn't everything
On face value, you'd think we're the more mature, less experienced type of team out there. But you'd be dead wrong. Age doesn't mean maturity and we intend to prove that! We are 'The Somedays' and we are here to show you that foolishness and fun-loving can go hand in hand. We're spontaneous, we're outrageous, we're Aussie and we're unashamed. We're the caffeine in your coffee, the crazy ones who don't take 'No' for an answer. This is disorganised chaos, in our perfectly imperfect world.
India Someday
They're a travel agent with a difference - they organise everything in the country for you, before you even get there. The sheer variety of places to visit in India and the size of the country make it difficult to plan an Indian holiday. Which places to visit? Which destinations to skip? We are a young, energetic and resourceful travel company that enjoys working closely with our guests to help them plan an exciting Indian holiday experience. We've done India with them before and we'll shout their names from the rooftops as they become our men in the air, rescuing the ends of a long day with a great hotel.
At Dare to be Healthy we are committed to providing you with the best natural, toxin free products available to us. Every change you make to reduce your chemical exposure by switching to natural and toxin free products WILL make a difference.
We offer a variety of products that suit all budgets to allow a compromise between the quality of natural ingredients and price. We hope our store assists you with sourcing products that will help you to reduce the amount of toxins you are putting on and in your body that also benefit the environment around you.
