Two days to recap this time; Holly chose the devil's arsehole for our place to stay last night and it had no wifi - but considering it had a squat toilet, a blocked sink with suspicious brown water, and stained walls, the lack of wifi did not really seem like that much of a hardship. So the day before yesterday, a lot more happened, probably because it was independence day here in India.

First, we were forced into a stop in the middle of the road after being blockaded by a large amount of locals who wanted to chat, take selfies and laugh at our ridiculous crazy venture. Second (Dale and Holly's favourite event), after we finished our late breakfast in a village, we somehow found ourselves shepherded to the entrance of a local school and then surrounded by about 100 pupils and teachers who also wanted selfies and to shake our hands numerous time (footage to follow).

The third thing (which was Luca's favourite) was when we spotted a tug-of-war competition going on, and decided to stop and see what was going on. We were treated like royalty: given seats, drinks and treated to dance shows. We even got to take part in a tug-of-war (the Indian word for it escapes us right now), which the locals kindly let us win, although we would've preferred the challenge. We also shared lunch that day with Ethan and John, fellow Rickshaw Runners from America.

Yesterday was all uphill; rolling mountain scenery, some great photo opportunities, monsoon rain, a coffee plantation visit, Indian Dominos pizza, and frequent swearing at traffic, clutch changes, and potholes! Not forgetting we were also quizzed by the local police as to what 3 white people were doing driving a tuk-tuk. They looked over our documents, laughed at our fake driving licences, and asked about the action figurines we had tied to our wing mirrors; Luca had to correct Holly as to which was Batman and Zorro, which when you think about it was irrelevant considering the situation (we also have Spiderman attached to our windscreen wiper).

And now, day 4.

I thought two weeks in India and Nepal prior to the Rickshaw Run would help me be prepared in some way for this ridiculous ride. Conclusion: not a chance! From chaotic test driving (only a few stalls thankfully) to dashing round Fort Kochi looking for spare parts to a crazy party on Bolgatty Island last night... and yet I know that this adventure will throw up even more crazy stuff over the next 2 weeks.

Stay tuned :)

So, after having a few problems with my visa at the Indian border with Nepal, and consequently having to catch a fifteen hour bus journey back to Kathmandu, apply for a new visa, have the agonising wait whilst it gets approved, I’ve finally made it to India. It wasn’t a text book arrival, re-arranged plans and a flight later, but still, we’re here!

Upon arriving in Delhi, I was lucky enough to have a test drive of our taxi drivers rickshaw. Driving one of these beasts for the first time on the manic roads of Delhi was probably not my best idea, but it was ok.

Arriving in Kochi, south India after a 3 hour flight from Delhi, puts the distance we’re travelling by rickshaw into perspective for us. We’ve collected our minion as below, and so far, no major issues to be seen other than the fact that holly needs both hands to change gear due to her minuscule hands.

We’ve spent the last day test driving, purchasing gear for the road and map reading.

For those of you that are interested, the link below should be for our tracking and official blog page -

https://tracking.theadventurists.com/#rickshawrun/rickshawrun2017

Considering the fact that Luca has already posted whilst in India, I feel like I should probably do the same.

It wasn't exactly a textbook example of how to start a trip, Holly was making her way to London hours prior to the trip from South America. Unfortunately, her flights were delayed, in turn she missed all of her connections, and is only now this minute boarding a flight to arrive in Nepal on Friday to meet me.

So, I've been in Kathmandu for little over a day now. Before I even landed in Nepal, I met a Nepalese couple flying in from Dubai, whilst in flight they were kind enough to share with my their scotch whisky purchased in duty free, i think we got through half the bottle before the cabin crew confiscated his whisky.

On landing, i applied for my visa, at what i can only describe immigration as a wooden hut situated inside an airport. I found my way to my hostel, met some fellow travellers and grabbed some local food, buffalo Momo's (nepalese/tibet dumplings for those of you that are wondering)

Although Holly isn't here with me at present, rest assured i am not alone in my hostel. I am accompanied by what i would describe as a 'family' of cockroaches, of which every time i go to the toilet to do business, I'm on edge that they will crawl on my feet.

Some of you will be happy to know i have so far fallen over into the mud once, in front of many locals. It would appear that my gucci beach sandles were probably not the best choice during monsoon.

To sum up, it is a hectic country, with mayhem around every corner in the form of vehicles which will run you down. It is also a very religious, spiritual and peaceful country, still displaying signs of a country devastated by the earthquake only a couple of years ago.

Whilst i leave you with this update, i will just share some news with you that Luca would no doubt prefer you not to know. To reference his previous post, he is no longer 'solid'.

The First Supper.

So today we have our first team outing into the City of London. This is an opportunity for all three of us to drink, relax and have a good time. This is the first test of our group dynamics. For those of you that don't know our group, it consists of -

**Dale** - English Risk taker, 26, father of the group living in Stevenage.

**Luca** - Italian Godfather of the group, 25 and living in London, semi-experienced traveler.

and

**Holly** - Hedonistic cheese lover, Adopted child of the group, 25 living in wonderful (doubtful) Watford.

Me and Luca have known each other for a fair while, after meeting a few years ago at a cattle market in the depth's of North London. Luca selling his award winning Bull and me wishing to purchase a mate for my Heffer. (In reality, he's a teacher and I'm a police officer. We met whilst rolling around in the mud somewhere near Coventry)

We both recently decided that we wanted to drive a three wheeled lawnmower 1900 miles across India. Luca, only having a years worth of driving experience and stalling approximately every 3 miles, and me, unable to think of anything worse than sitting next to a teacher correcting my grammar every 5 minutes.

We both decided that, really we needed some female guidance for our journey. Someone beautiful to look to in those wet cold morning's. Someone to be my saviour for keeping me from going insane. Someone to rely on to be level headed and responsible.

Insert Holly.

We met Holly on the internet. You could say it was a plenty of fish/chat roulette sort of set up. It was a Facebook website for the lonely hearts looking for a third wheel to join our team. Holly, being 4'10.5" tall was perfect in our minds to fix the undercarriage of the rickshaw and especially due to the constraints on space in the back seats.

Were still in the early stages of the planning, and tonight not only serves as a night for drinking, but also a night for planning for this almighty trip which is only 279 days away.

Hopefully tonight we will finally make a decision on our charity of choice, which is alongside our donation of at least £500 raised going to CoolEarth - [visit their page at](http://www.coolearth.org)

Dale

Team Third Wheel.