As promised...

 ...some photos now in the gallery for you.   More to follow.    

We left Shillong the day after the 'Finish Party' (5am!) with aim of getting off that mountain to catch our flight to Delhi.  Sad to leave our mighty rickshaw... but bloody happy we don't have to drive that thing again on those Indian roads.  

Its been a crazy few weeks here in India.  Mixed emotions about it all...but amazing memories for us all.  Each day, in fact each hour was totally unpredictable.  So many stories, I can't even begin to write about them on this blog..so photos will have to suffice for now.  

Enjoy!  

                          

Thank 'tuk' we've made it!

We've made it!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We're sipping tea in Shillong very pleased with ourselves that we made the finish line...and are alive still.   Apologies for the lack of contact the last few days.  Its been a tough few days for us.  Roads of hell, towns that i have no idea what they are called (because they are not even on our map!), break downs, punctures, and we've inhailed more diesel fumes and dust in the last 48 hours than the whole trip!  Blessed by Assam locals in one town...which would of been nice, if it wasn't at 11pm when we were trying to get to bed.  All very surreal.   I can't even begin to describe the conditions of the roads we have been on.. but amazed our 'shaw' is still in one piece.  

However, after making good ground after our break down, we hoped the last 100km upto Shillong would be like a sunday afternoon drive.  Wishful thinking!  Road was steep, bloody busy and very dusty.  2nd and 3rd gear all the way up and overtaking manoeuvres on blind bends that would make anyone cack their pants.  Managed to blow a hole in the exhaust too...so it now sounds like a West Auckland bogans car.  

Anyway... consumed some beer,  had showers, and today we all did a victory lap of the town.  It was like something from the Italian Job!  All good fun.  Tonight is the Finish party... and we'll enjoy our cold Kingfisher knowing we don't have to brave those India roads again.  Sad to say good bye to our little 'shaw' though. Its done us proud.

And just for record... we came 9th!  So very chuffed with ourselves.

I'll get some photos on the web site very soon.  

If you are reading this and haven't sponsored us.... please do.  Believe me... your donation has been well earned.

Rickshaw Run 2011...Done!   

A bit of R and R

After days and days of 11 hour drives, eating very little but bananas and generally being covered with grime, sweat and petrol we decided we deserved a rest! We met a very lovely man at the tourist office in Siliguri who agreed to let us park our rickshaw at his house for the night ( and provided us with chai and biscuits) and we took a jeep up to Darjeeling for the night. The shortage of accommodation in town meant that we were stuck with a rather over budget hotel with mountain views and good tea!! Result.We were looking forward to our first lie in the the chance to see the sunrise over the Himalayas was way too good an opportunity to miss so alarm was set for 3.30 am and we set off for Tiger Hill where the view was breathtaking! So glad we did this!

Now back in Siliguri refreshed, happy and ready for another 4 days on the road... Shillong is in our sights!!

 

The Coast Road - very little coast and a whole lot of cows

Hello!

Here we are sat in a nice little seaside town called Gopalpur-on-Sea, which is pretty well the first we've seen of the sea since Mamallapuran (another nice little village by the sea). Apparenlty once very popular for British holiday makers, now not so much. It is a lovely little place with very friendly people, children who are far too young and intelligent to be working in family resaurants at 9 at night and a bit of a stop of for a few other Rickshaw Runners. After four days of not seeing another team, all of a sudden there are about six teams here.

We made it out of the state of Tamil Nadu and into the wonder that is Andra Pradesh. According to the lonely planet we needed to dig deep to find charm in this fair state, and they were right. Although we did find some in a nice 'little' city called Ongole. I'm not really sure what is was about that place, just a good vibe I think.

THe next night was a a place that wasn't even on the map and then a very long drive dodging cows and spilled lorry loads to get us where we are tonight, over the state boarder into Orissa. Thanks for having us Orissa!!

So far it's been a bit of a long slog trying to get up this coastal highway, which is about 20km from the sea, to Kolcutta and then into the beautiful hills to drink tea and look at the mountains. Wishful thinking? Probably!! BUt that's my story and I'm sticking ot it!!

 

Cow!

I promise to never moan at Auckland traffic ever again!

...and we're off!

We didn't even make the start line....and we ran out of fuel!!!  But thanks to our friendly local rickshaw driver, lots of running around, hose and funnel purchased.... we were ready for action.   Suffering with a bit of a hangover, we made our way to Coimbatore.   Not the nicest of cities i have been too.  As for the journey there...not sure if India has a High Way Code book for road users...but I'm sure "you must play 'chicken' with on coming traffic" rule shouldn't be in there!!!  Might need that extra pair of pants after all! (and not for delhi belly!)   

Here's a photo of our pimped up mean machine! 

                              

10 weeks and counting….

10 weeks and counting…. That crept up quickly!! So now it’s all go!!The team are busy trying to get everything sorted so that we’re ready to set off on April 17th. Visas are being applied for, arms are being jabbed, accommodation searched for and the flights are all booked – we might even have found someone willing to let us have a ‘practice’ in their tuk tuk.India here we come!! We’re also busy trying to raise as much money as we can for our chosen charity in a variety of ways. Some of our friends and family have started to make donations. We are very grateful for that but still have a long way to go… It’s started to become a reality now and we’re getting very excited!!