The rickshaw has been returned to the pound, the adventure is over:
Total Time Taken to Complete: 12 days 22.5 hours
Total Distance Covered: 3,421km
Thanks for reading everyone. Until the next adventure.......
Sunday, 15 June 2008
So Long And Thanks for All The....
Visits to mechanics: 3
Bumps and scrapes: 4-6 (Amelia: parked lorry, raiders of the last chapati, at least 2 lizards and a flying bird; Joe: parked car, moving motorcyclist)
Potholes: countless
Samosas for Breakfast: 14 each (in total, not everyday)
Litres of Petrol: 113
Litres of Fuel Oil: 3.5
Hours at the Handlebars: 113.5 hours
Amusing road signs: Many ("Check your brain and brake", "Safe driviving saves lives, safe sex stops AIDS")
State border crossings / toll booths jumped: c.10 (We may not have noticed some others)
Press interviews: 3
Published news stories with photo and everything that we've got to take home: 1 (result)
Sponsorship money donated to Frank Water Projects and Mercy Corps Int.: 1211 GBP (lines not yet closed: www.willwemakeit.com/paintitblack)
Bumps and scrapes: 4-6 (Amelia: parked lorry, raiders of the last chapati, at least 2 lizards and a flying bird; Joe: parked car, moving motorcyclist)
Potholes: countless
Samosas for Breakfast: 14 each (in total, not everyday)
Litres of Petrol: 113
Litres of Fuel Oil: 3.5
Hours at the Handlebars: 113.5 hours
Amusing road signs: Many ("Check your brain and brake", "Safe driviving saves lives, safe sex stops AIDS")
State border crossings / toll booths jumped: c.10 (We may not have noticed some others)
Press interviews: 3
Published news stories with photo and everything that we've got to take home: 1 (result)
Sponsorship money donated to Frank Water Projects and Mercy Corps Int.: 1211 GBP (lines not yet closed: www.willwemakeit.com/paintitblack)
Day 14: Mamallapuram to Pondicherry
Distance travelled today: 103km
Total distance travelled: 3,408km
Driving time: 3 hours
We thought we should skip writing about day 13 as it involved a lot of relaxing, eating, drinking and a trip to a crocodile sanctuary, but no rickshaw-related adventures (feeling slightly superstitious about driving on Friday 13th).
So, day 14 and we set off on the final leg of our journey along a stunning coast road that didn't appear on any of our maps. In one of the guidebooks it said that accurate maps of India didn't exist, partly because it was against the law to show a complete representation of roads within 80km of the coast for "security reasons".
15km outside Mamallapuram, our rickshaw lost power and we shuddered to a halt. There seemed to be smoke coming from the engine. In the unlikely event that we had run out of petrol, we refuelled and hoped the shaw would start again. It did - but 10km further on the same thing happened. Each time, the breakdown was preceded by a strong smell of barbecue sauce. This happened twice more and we decided to stick to 40kph for the rest of the journey.
However, we made it! We rolled into Pondicherry - went past the finishing line without spotting it and felt elated with ourselves for completing. We spotted lots of other gaudily painted rickshaws down various side streets and a number of other rickshaw runners walking around with similarly triumphant expressions. That evening, we caught up with lots of teams over drinks. We've heard of at least 8 teams who rolled their rickshaws, 4 who wrote theirs off and a number of people who gave up and flew home early. People have had all night driving and hundreds of breakdowns, nasty wounds and broken windshields. Just so you get an idea of the scale of people's experiences, our travelling companions The Raiders of the Last Chapati have become known as "the team that only had one flat tyre". One team managed to do 2,000km more than us by going to Agra, down the west side, down to the tip of India and back up to Pondicherry.
In the general relief of surviving and making it here, drinks flowed freely into the night and ended with a number of teams drag-racing down the promenade, past the police station, getting their vehicles impounded and themselves arrested. We haven't heard what's happened to them yet...
Total distance travelled: 3,408km
Driving time: 3 hours
We thought we should skip writing about day 13 as it involved a lot of relaxing, eating, drinking and a trip to a crocodile sanctuary, but no rickshaw-related adventures (feeling slightly superstitious about driving on Friday 13th).
So, day 14 and we set off on the final leg of our journey along a stunning coast road that didn't appear on any of our maps. In one of the guidebooks it said that accurate maps of India didn't exist, partly because it was against the law to show a complete representation of roads within 80km of the coast for "security reasons".
15km outside Mamallapuram, our rickshaw lost power and we shuddered to a halt. There seemed to be smoke coming from the engine. In the unlikely event that we had run out of petrol, we refuelled and hoped the shaw would start again. It did - but 10km further on the same thing happened. Each time, the breakdown was preceded by a strong smell of barbecue sauce. This happened twice more and we decided to stick to 40kph for the rest of the journey.
However, we made it! We rolled into Pondicherry - went past the finishing line without spotting it and felt elated with ourselves for completing. We spotted lots of other gaudily painted rickshaws down various side streets and a number of other rickshaw runners walking around with similarly triumphant expressions. That evening, we caught up with lots of teams over drinks. We've heard of at least 8 teams who rolled their rickshaws, 4 who wrote theirs off and a number of people who gave up and flew home early. People have had all night driving and hundreds of breakdowns, nasty wounds and broken windshields. Just so you get an idea of the scale of people's experiences, our travelling companions The Raiders of the Last Chapati have become known as "the team that only had one flat tyre". One team managed to do 2,000km more than us by going to Agra, down the west side, down to the tip of India and back up to Pondicherry.
In the general relief of surviving and making it here, drinks flowed freely into the night and ended with a number of teams drag-racing down the promenade, past the police station, getting their vehicles impounded and themselves arrested. We haven't heard what's happened to them yet...
Day 12: Tirupati to Mamallapuram (via Kanchipuram)
Distance Travelled: 190km
Total Distance Travelled: 3,305km
Driving Time: 6 hours
With the finish line in Pondicherry in sight we decided to ease off the pace a little and drop into a few sights along the way - although we decided that Mango World on the Tamil Nadu border was probably not high on the list. We drove along some beautiful roads to get to Kanchipuram where Amelia called us to a stop -- tempted by the guidebook's promise that "what Darjeeling is to tea and Cheddar is to cheese, Kanchipuram is to silk".
Heading off to wander around town we were plagued by Auto-Rickshaw drivers trying to offer us trips to the temples -- Joe took much enjoyment from their bemused faces as he showed them our keys and explained to them we were Auto drivers ourselves. We dropped into a couple of silk emporiums which had some beautifully coloured and patterned silk saris - which Amelia was particularly enamoured by. However, she resisted the temptation to add to her extensive collection of coloured fabrics from around the world.
Having almost reached temple saturation point we were enjoying just pacing the city's tranquil streets (making a rather pleasant change to the bumpy and noisy rickshaw journeys) and restricted ourselves to visit just one temple in the centre of town. There we were guided by a rather aggressive old man, who Amelia has down as a priest, who barged in front of worshippers at each shrine and ordered "picture - take one" before rushing us to the next. He did manage to cause much amusement after ordering Amelia to tie some wood to a tree - before telling her that it was a fertility tree and that it was now 100% sure she would have a baby in the next 12 months. Hummmm
Fleeing the heat of our stop in Kanchipuram we set off for the backpacker hot spot of Mamallapuram - a scenic beach resort with some shore-based temples and impressive stone works. With Pondicherry just100km away we were feeling confident of finishing and set down for a day of relaxation, some sea food and a well earned couple of drinks.
Total Distance Travelled: 3,305km
Driving Time: 6 hours
With the finish line in Pondicherry in sight we decided to ease off the pace a little and drop into a few sights along the way - although we decided that Mango World on the Tamil Nadu border was probably not high on the list. We drove along some beautiful roads to get to Kanchipuram where Amelia called us to a stop -- tempted by the guidebook's promise that "what Darjeeling is to tea and Cheddar is to cheese, Kanchipuram is to silk".
Heading off to wander around town we were plagued by Auto-Rickshaw drivers trying to offer us trips to the temples -- Joe took much enjoyment from their bemused faces as he showed them our keys and explained to them we were Auto drivers ourselves. We dropped into a couple of silk emporiums which had some beautifully coloured and patterned silk saris - which Amelia was particularly enamoured by. However, she resisted the temptation to add to her extensive collection of coloured fabrics from around the world.
Having almost reached temple saturation point we were enjoying just pacing the city's tranquil streets (making a rather pleasant change to the bumpy and noisy rickshaw journeys) and restricted ourselves to visit just one temple in the centre of town. There we were guided by a rather aggressive old man, who Amelia has down as a priest, who barged in front of worshippers at each shrine and ordered "picture - take one" before rushing us to the next. He did manage to cause much amusement after ordering Amelia to tie some wood to a tree - before telling her that it was a fertility tree and that it was now 100% sure she would have a baby in the next 12 months. Hummmm
Fleeing the heat of our stop in Kanchipuram we set off for the backpacker hot spot of Mamallapuram - a scenic beach resort with some shore-based temples and impressive stone works. With Pondicherry just100km away we were feeling confident of finishing and set down for a day of relaxation, some sea food and a well earned couple of drinks.
Day 11: Chirala to Tirupati
Distance travelled today: 341km
Total distance travelled: 3,115km
Driving time: 10 hours
We set off from Chirala down the coast road following the chapatis until we hit the main highway south. This was probably the most boring road we found in India: dual carriageway, no speedbumps, very few cows on the road, only one tractor coming the wrong way towards us, no exciting overtaking manoeuvres, sudden braking etc. The only highlight was when the road became two-way with no warning as oncoming traffic was diverted on to our fast lane for a short section. The chapatis noticed very late and almost had a head-on collision with a car, but apart from that the road was dull.
It was fast though and we made a lot of ground. We turned off towards Tirupati, which had the usual combination of offroad/no road stretches, bullock carts, tractors, oncoming buses that were wider than the road itself and fun was restored to the day. We also bumped into our third set of journalists so far on the trip who took our pictures and asked us what we were doing. So far we have yet to see ourselves in print.
Tirupati is the most visited Hindu temple in the world - receiving an average of 10,000 pilgrims a day, many of whom shave their heads and offer their hair as a sacrifice. So we saw lots of bald people and a temple.
Total distance travelled: 3,115km
Driving time: 10 hours
We set off from Chirala down the coast road following the chapatis until we hit the main highway south. This was probably the most boring road we found in India: dual carriageway, no speedbumps, very few cows on the road, only one tractor coming the wrong way towards us, no exciting overtaking manoeuvres, sudden braking etc. The only highlight was when the road became two-way with no warning as oncoming traffic was diverted on to our fast lane for a short section. The chapatis noticed very late and almost had a head-on collision with a car, but apart from that the road was dull.
It was fast though and we made a lot of ground. We turned off towards Tirupati, which had the usual combination of offroad/no road stretches, bullock carts, tractors, oncoming buses that were wider than the road itself and fun was restored to the day. We also bumped into our third set of journalists so far on the trip who took our pictures and asked us what we were doing. So far we have yet to see ourselves in print.
Tirupati is the most visited Hindu temple in the world - receiving an average of 10,000 pilgrims a day, many of whom shave their heads and offer their hair as a sacrifice. So we saw lots of bald people and a temple.
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Day 10: Nagarjuna Sagar dam to Chirala
Distance travelled today: 225km
Total distance travelled: 2,769km
Total driving time: 7 hours
Repairing time: 1 hour
We set off this morning to find yet another rickshaw mechanic to make a more permanent repair to our clutch, arriving in the town of Macherla. Triumph at last when we spotted a rickshaw on a jack having some work done. The mechanic once again declared 'no problems', until we demonstrated the lack of first gear.
After half an hour of tinkering and a few test drives, we were invited in for a driving lesson with the mechanic who showed us how to change gears a little more gently. As we each took our turn to drive, he kept emphasising how slowly we needed to drive in towns, very very slowly.
He then took over the controls and hooned the wrong way down the street, heading straight for a large bus before hitting the brakes at the last possible moment and skidding into the only gap available to stop us being squashed. We then hurtled down some side streets - at this point we were beginning to think we had been shaw-jacked - careering around cattle, people and over bumps at breakneck pace. We were convinced we were going to hit something, fall out or have some other catastrophe. Anyhow, our over-excited mechanic pulled up outside a beautiful temple and urged us inside to have a look. He then drove us to a second temple (about 900 years old) for a bit more sight-seeing, before finally returning the rickshaw to our much more careful driving. Once again, the mechanic refused any sort of payment for his work, which (fingers crossed) seems to have fixed the problem.
Worried that we were approaching Pondicherry a little too quickly, we decided to shorten our drive today and head for the beach at Chirala. Arriving there, we found that the beach smelt strongly of rotting fish and lacked luxury resorts so we are back in town, having reconvened with Mark and Tom.
Two other teams have hit Pondicherry already - we plan to meander down a little more slowly.
Total distance travelled: 2,769km
Total driving time: 7 hours
Repairing time: 1 hour
We set off this morning to find yet another rickshaw mechanic to make a more permanent repair to our clutch, arriving in the town of Macherla. Triumph at last when we spotted a rickshaw on a jack having some work done. The mechanic once again declared 'no problems', until we demonstrated the lack of first gear.
After half an hour of tinkering and a few test drives, we were invited in for a driving lesson with the mechanic who showed us how to change gears a little more gently. As we each took our turn to drive, he kept emphasising how slowly we needed to drive in towns, very very slowly.
He then took over the controls and hooned the wrong way down the street, heading straight for a large bus before hitting the brakes at the last possible moment and skidding into the only gap available to stop us being squashed. We then hurtled down some side streets - at this point we were beginning to think we had been shaw-jacked - careering around cattle, people and over bumps at breakneck pace. We were convinced we were going to hit something, fall out or have some other catastrophe. Anyhow, our over-excited mechanic pulled up outside a beautiful temple and urged us inside to have a look. He then drove us to a second temple (about 900 years old) for a bit more sight-seeing, before finally returning the rickshaw to our much more careful driving. Once again, the mechanic refused any sort of payment for his work, which (fingers crossed) seems to have fixed the problem.
Worried that we were approaching Pondicherry a little too quickly, we decided to shorten our drive today and head for the beach at Chirala. Arriving there, we found that the beach smelt strongly of rotting fish and lacked luxury resorts so we are back in town, having reconvened with Mark and Tom.
Two other teams have hit Pondicherry already - we plan to meander down a little more slowly.
Day 9: Karimnagar to Nagarjuna Sagar Dam
Distance Travelled: 341km
Total Distance Travelled: 2,544km
Driving Time: 11 hours
Repairing Time: 1 hour
With our temporary fix still holding we headed from Karimnagar to Warangal in search of a bona fide rickshaw mechanic. We were bitterly disappointed, despite row-upon-row of motorcycle mechanics there was not a rickshaw mechanic to be found. Amelia worked her charms on a friendly petrol station owner who sent out some of his employees to find a mechanic. Once located the mechanic took the rickshawout for a spin and delared "No problems".
So off we set in pursuit of Mark and Tom in their rickshaw - never managing to meet them but criss-crossing routes and passing each other at petrol stations. As we neared our destination it appeared that few people had heard of the town we were asking for - so when one person on a taxi-rickshaw declared he was going there we nabbed him as our passenger. Amelia managed to hold conversation with our nervous passenger (who was clinging on to the sides with white knuckles) - a civil engineer working on the dam - whilst he pointed us in the right direction.
With Joe driving, we spotted a 5km to go sign on the road and were mentally preparing for a wash and nice meal when the engine began to sound particularly bad and the clutch gave way completely. We laboured on - avoiding changing gears in the hope that we would be able to make it to our destination - but eventually we ground to a halt.
We were barely stopped for a minute when we had drawn a crowd of 3 local rickshaw drivers who helped us out and got us going again trying to keep in 3rd gear and work our way to the local mechanic -- again guided by our passenger, who was turning out to be a real hero. The smiling mechanic managed to fix our clutch in 10 mins, refuse payment and then sent us on our way.
So 2 breakdowns in as many days but still on the road and still heading South.
Total Distance Travelled: 2,544km
Driving Time: 11 hours
Repairing Time: 1 hour
With our temporary fix still holding we headed from Karimnagar to Warangal in search of a bona fide rickshaw mechanic. We were bitterly disappointed, despite row-upon-row of motorcycle mechanics there was not a rickshaw mechanic to be found. Amelia worked her charms on a friendly petrol station owner who sent out some of his employees to find a mechanic. Once located the mechanic took the rickshawout for a spin and delared "No problems".
So off we set in pursuit of Mark and Tom in their rickshaw - never managing to meet them but criss-crossing routes and passing each other at petrol stations. As we neared our destination it appeared that few people had heard of the town we were asking for - so when one person on a taxi-rickshaw declared he was going there we nabbed him as our passenger. Amelia managed to hold conversation with our nervous passenger (who was clinging on to the sides with white knuckles) - a civil engineer working on the dam - whilst he pointed us in the right direction.
With Joe driving, we spotted a 5km to go sign on the road and were mentally preparing for a wash and nice meal when the engine began to sound particularly bad and the clutch gave way completely. We laboured on - avoiding changing gears in the hope that we would be able to make it to our destination - but eventually we ground to a halt.
We were barely stopped for a minute when we had drawn a crowd of 3 local rickshaw drivers who helped us out and got us going again trying to keep in 3rd gear and work our way to the local mechanic -- again guided by our passenger, who was turning out to be a real hero. The smiling mechanic managed to fix our clutch in 10 mins, refuse payment and then sent us on our way.
So 2 breakdowns in as many days but still on the road and still heading South.
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