Day 10: The Story So Far....

It's been 10 days now since our intrepid Rickshaw run team set off from Goa. Many people thought they were mad. For sure, nobody really knew how far they would get in their little 150cc hair dryer. During that time they've had two punctures, five breakdowns, run out of petrol twice, had the roof rack ripped off and split the chassis. The latter incident requiring a quick visit to a local repair shop for a spot of welding! Yet despite all the mishaps they've so far defied the odds and covered an astonishing 2,100 kilometers. If you want to get a true reflection just how far they've traveled, then check out the map. It kind of puts things into perspective!

It's been one hell of journey to date and they're not done yet. Still to go is the last 600 or 700 kilometers to Pokhara in Nepal. But for now the team are in Varanasi, sacred home to millions of Hindu's. More than a million pilgrims visit the city every year. It's a city of temples. Almost every road crossing has a temple nearby. They got our first glimpse of the city yesterday and will be spending most of tomorrow here too. 

There's so many stories to tell from their journey so far. Too many to write here. Safe to say it's been like nothing any of them expected. One thing for sure though is they're all absolutely determined, come hell or high water, to make it to Pokhara for the 26th. 

To get this far and fail is unthinkable. They simply have to make it.

Day 6 Report: A Bridge too far…

Think about the last time you took a ferry. Passenger ferry. Car ferry. Any ferry. Chances are the image in your head includes some kind of iron vessel complete with engine, steering and loading bay. Something you would feel confident could transport you and your vehicle across the water.

Not a flakey wooden raft hauled up to a muddy riverbank by a dozen guys pulling on ropes.

To say this didn't inspire us with confidence would be an understatement. The last time I saw a ferry even approaching this one, was in the tiny fishing village of Tai O on Lantau Island, just off Hong Kong. However, this is India and if we were surprised, then more the fool us.

Day 6 saw the team set out on one of the longest legs of the journey so far, over 270km’s from Khandwa to Bhopal. The day started in spectacular fashion with the a visit to the Ajanta Caves. Carved high up into the rock face, this myriad of caves is the home to some amazing Buddhist religious art dating back the 2^nd century BC. It’s hard not to step back and stare in amazement at how something so magnificent could have been done so long ago. That it’s survived is a blessing for those of us lucky enough to see it.

After that it was back to the road and time to head northeast through Khirklya and Harda. All was going well until we were just south of the predominantly Islamic town of Hoshangabad. There we heard a big religious festival had meant the roads were closed. Undeterred we quickly plotted a route which took us west of the town and across the river.

Ah yes, the river.

And so it was there, with the sun setting, that we stood on the muddy riverbanks whilst a group of highly organized ferry company employees expertly loaded our rickshaw on the vessel. Or in other words a small army of villagers all shouting instructions at each other, pushed, pulled and generally manhandled the rickshaw (and later cars!) onto a small of assembly of logs, tied together with… something. And hauled the said 'ferry' across the river with ropes.

It’s at those moments you begin to wonder about the sanity of what we’re doing. Or surely there must have been a bridge we could have crossed?

Never the less, perhaps more by luck than judgment, we all made it across. It certainly made for great television, although I’m not sure the car hire company will feel the same way.

Remind me why we're doing this again…?

 

Day 6: Khandwa to Bhopal, 274km's

Another long day on the road today for the Rickshaw Run team. After the dusty sights in inaptly named 'Grand Hotel' in Khandwa, the team head north east through Harda and on to Hoshangabad. Here the turn left and head directly north to Bhopal and hopefully a good nights sleep!

Day 4 Report: 2 wheels, cow pat and pizza!

Another day, another dollar! Or in this case, another 240kms covered and the team move a little closer to Nepal!

Day 4 proved to be another one tell the grand kids about. Market shopping Indian style, near misses on the road, afternoon naps and Domino’s pizza!

Highlight of the day, at least for the crew, was Katie’s maiden ride at the handlebars of the rickshaw. A virgin to the orange beast up to that point, the team quickly realized why it was better for them if someone else drove!

“With a convincing blend of enthusiasm and reluctance, Katie took to the road. But by repeatedly dropping the clutch between fourth and second, and almost throwing Gordon and Shelley over her shoulders through the Perspex windscreen, she masterfully relegated herself, after just four kilometres, to a blissful afternoon of sleep, nail-buffing and random ramblings as the rickshaw clattered its way north, winding through the sublime hills, valleys and meadows of central Maharashtra.” Said Jon, the Producer.

After a brief stop at a local Indian market, it was back on the road with Shelley and Gordon at the handlebars. The day saw them practicing their extreme driving technique which involved balancing the tuk-tuk on two wheels, whilst swerving to avoid cows and on coming traffic. The white line in the centre of the road seems to be purely for decoration. And if it’s perfectly fine and dandy to have ‘zebra crossings’ in the Western world, why cant we have ‘cow crossings’ in India?

Lunch was a throwback to the junk-food-world we normally inhabit - Domino’s Pizza in Aurangabad. Who said we’re not taking in all the sights?

Hats off to Gordon for pulling into the petrol station, proceeding to fill up the tuk tuk, only to realize he had no money. Nor did Shelley. Or Katie. Or the crew. Anyway, after a short stint pumping petrol for bemused Indian drivers, the petrol station manager finally let them go and off they went, on their merry way once again.

Commiserations to Shelley though, who not only managed to step in pee and cow s**t, but after leaving her camera and phone in the tuk-tuk overnight, wondered why it wasn’t there in the morning? Duh!

And that about concludes the antics for Day 4!

Day 4: Bid (Beed) to Ahlad, 170km's.

Day 4 and the rickshaw run team hit the road again. Today they're heading north once more towards Aurangabad. Then they continue on to a small town call Ahlad which is half way to Ajanta, where of course they'll be visiting the spectacular Ajanta Caves. In total about 170km's. Easy stuff!

Day 3 Report: Birthdays, hitch-hiking and land speed records!

Day 3 and what a day! Just when you think nothing else can happen, it does. Well, it is Incredible India after all! The stars (or perhaps that should be the dunces) of the day were our tv hosts. After loosing sight of the film crew and running out of petrol, the guys decided it would be a good idea for Katie (our resident Ozzy blonde) to hitch a lift with a bunch of truck drivers to the nearest town. Lets put it down to a momentary lapse of reason brought on by the midday sun, but need less to say, Jon the producer, had a few choice words to say when finally catching up with them!

Good news though came in the shape of Katies Birthday! That’s right, our blonde ‘thunder from down under’ celebrated her birthday on the road! Big thanks to our production manager G2, who managed to rustle up a cake from somewhere, complete with icing and a birthday message written on it. I have no idea how he does it, but who cares! Happy Birthday Katie! Now please don’t go getting into any more trucks with strange men…

Back on the road and well, it had to happen sometime, didn’t it? Our nice little orange tuk-tuk got a flat! Normally this wouldn’t be a problem but no prizes what the guys found when they went to look for the ‘jack’. Yup, no ‘jack’! Undeterred our ingenious rickshaw pilots rigged up a kind of see-saw lever, using the girls as weights (no funny comments folks) whilst Gordon changed the wheel! Looking forward to seeing that footage!

Elsewhere, G2, continued to work his magic, this time persuading the Karnatak and Maharashtra state boarder officials that their estimated tax value of our camera kit was just a tad on the high side. After some intense negotiating, in the men’s toilet(!), it was decided no tax was applicable and the crew were on their way! 

And finally, top honors of the day have to go to Shelley who managed to squeeze 80kmh out of the rickshaw today. And that was on a flat road with no tail wind! I think someone must have been doing some ‘secret pimping’ during the night. That or we must have the only tuk-tuk with twin carbs!

All this and it’s only day 3!

 

Day 3: Bijapur to Beed

Day 3 see's the Rickshaw Run team heading North to Solapur, then on to Osmanabad and finally Beed (or Bid as its sometimes spelled.) Its a long run through mostly flat terrain and will no doubt test our rickshaw pilots patience!