Six days of madcap fun in India – the Rickshaw Challenge
April 6, 2019 – the Prologue
I don’t ride motorbikes. I had a wee accident while piloting one some 25 years ago in Thailand that left my pillion passenger Keith a lot worse off than me. So imagine my horror today when I found out that the auto rickshaw that I’m going to be driving up the west coast of India for the week is basically a motorbike on three wheels with a thin metal carriage fitted on top of it. Who knew? Everybody but me it seems.
I also didn’t do a lot of research when I somehow allowed myself to be signed up for the "Rickshaw Challenge: the Malabar Rampage” about eight months ago. Indeed I was quite reluctant, but I couldn’t pass up on the chance to spend 10 days with my old mates Ashley Woolf, Steve the Fox and Des the Chamelon (smuggler).
It turns out after the initial shock that driving a two-stroke auto-rickshaw (think a Thai tuk-tuk) isn’t that bad, but it’s by no means a simple task of getting the hang of pinpointing where neutral is on grip-shift gear system that is probably a hundred years old. “Feel the force, Luke” is about the gist of the advice we were given.
Our orientation session today consisted of driving around (what appeared to be) a dusty piece of wasteland for a couple of hours, and it was fairly simple to not-quite-master the controls of our rickety machines. However, the task became a tad more complicated when our “dusty piece of wasteland” was infiltrated by a band of cricketers; it seems our pot-holed patch of sand doubled as the local oval. The 20 or so young local lads didn’t seem to mind that a ramshackle collection of customised auto-rickshaws were zipping in and out of their Saturday afternoon game. But unbelievably, after some initial trepidation, the nine teams of the Malabar Rampage didn’t seem to mind sharing their field of dreams either and so the wackyiest of races became even more surreal as we avoided line drives, googleys and blindly enthusiastic fielders. There’s a lot to be said for flexibility and assimilation.
Anyway, I’m in Trivandrum, Kerala with my mates Steve, Ash and Des and we’re going to be sharing two of these auto-rickshaws on a six-day, 1,100km trip up the Malabar Coast to Goa. I’ll be endeavouring to post a daily update on our adventures in the hope that some of you will be entertained enough by our madcap effort that you might spare a few dollars for out charitable efforts. For my personal fund-raising cause, I’ve picked the "Support a Home for 25 Homeless Girls by ATMA Foundation”. This project will help to construct an urgently needed building with better facilities for 25 underprivileged girls at ATMA Gurukulam Girls' Home in Thrissur District, Kerala, India, and also support their care, boarding and education. Any donations however small will be gratefully appreciated. Thanks for reading this and hopefully for some dollars. Click here to donate please.
And wish us luck.
I don’t ride motorbikes. I had a wee accident while piloting one some 25 years ago in Thailand that left my pillion passenger Keith a lot worse off than me. So imagine my horror today when I found out that the auto rickshaw that I’m going to be driving up the west coast of India for the week is basically a motorbike on three wheels with a thin metal carriage fitted on top of it. Who knew? Everybody but me it seems.
I also didn’t do a lot of research when I somehow allowed myself to be signed up for the "Rickshaw Challenge: the Malabar Rampage” about eight months ago. Indeed I was quite reluctant, but I couldn’t pass up on the chance to spend 10 days with my old mates Ashley Woolf, Steve the Fox and Des the Chamelon (smuggler).
It turns out after the initial shock that driving a two-stroke auto-rickshaw (think a Thai tuk-tuk) isn’t that bad, but it’s by no means a simple task of getting the hang of pinpointing where neutral is on grip-shift gear system that is probably a hundred years old. “Feel the force, Luke” is about the gist of the advice we were given.
Our orientation session today consisted of driving around (what appeared to be) a dusty piece of wasteland for a couple of hours, and it was fairly simple to not-quite-master the controls of our rickety machines. However, the task became a tad more complicated when our “dusty piece of wasteland” was infiltrated by a band of cricketers; it seems our pot-holed patch of sand doubled as the local oval. The 20 or so young local lads didn’t seem to mind that a ramshackle collection of customised auto-rickshaws were zipping in and out of their Saturday afternoon game. But unbelievably, after some initial trepidation, the nine teams of the Malabar Rampage didn’t seem to mind sharing their field of dreams either and so the wackyiest of races became even more surreal as we avoided line drives, googleys and blindly enthusiastic fielders. There’s a lot to be said for flexibility and assimilation.
Anyway, I’m in Trivandrum, Kerala with my mates Steve, Ash and Des and we’re going to be sharing two of these auto-rickshaws on a six-day, 1,100km trip up the Malabar Coast to Goa. I’ll be endeavouring to post a daily update on our adventures in the hope that some of you will be entertained enough by our madcap effort that you might spare a few dollars for out charitable efforts. For my personal fund-raising cause, I’ve picked the "Support a Home for 25 Homeless Girls by ATMA Foundation”. This project will help to construct an urgently needed building with better facilities for 25 underprivileged girls at ATMA Gurukulam Girls' Home in Thrissur District, Kerala, India, and also support their care, boarding and education. Any donations however small will be gratefully appreciated. Thanks for reading this and hopefully for some dollars. Click here to donate please.
And wish us luck.
Let loose ... Prologue, part two
April 7, 2019
Too tired to write much, desperately need sleep. Another great day, though, which started off with a wee pre-breakfast spin on my Brompton down the coast to Kovalam Beach and then we were let loose in our chariots on the town of Trivandrum to hone our driving skills. Tomorrow we start in earnest with Stage 1 to Alleppey, a jaunt of 173km. Should be fun.
Personal discovery of the day: While Keralan food is great, it’s not a patch on the cuisine from its eastern neighbour Tamil Nadu. So my oft-repeated slogan of southern Indian veggie food being the best in the world needs a tweak.
For details of my crazy trip to Goa and to help some homeless Indian kids, click on this link. Cheers.
Too tired to write much, desperately need sleep. Another great day, though, which started off with a wee pre-breakfast spin on my Brompton down the coast to Kovalam Beach and then we were let loose in our chariots on the town of Trivandrum to hone our driving skills. Tomorrow we start in earnest with Stage 1 to Alleppey, a jaunt of 173km. Should be fun.
Personal discovery of the day: While Keralan food is great, it’s not a patch on the cuisine from its eastern neighbour Tamil Nadu. So my oft-repeated slogan of southern Indian veggie food being the best in the world needs a tweak.
For details of my crazy trip to Goa and to help some homeless Indian kids, click on this link. Cheers.
And we're finally off ... Stage 1, Trivandrum to Alleppey
April 8, 2019
So we finally started the Malabar Rampage today with a 150km trip up the Kerala coast from Trivandrum to Appelly. It was total madness mixed in with an excess of exhilaration and a huge dose of wow! India is just such an incredible place and surely there can’t be many better ways to see some of what it has to offer than by driving an auto rickshaw through the morning city rush hour into busy, lawless highways, through a string of colourful villages and along stretches of stunning coastline. The people of Kerala seem just as amazed at the sight of a bunch of foreigners driving autos as we are with them and their unique and vastly varied way of life. Kids and adults alike do cartoon double tales as we drive by honking our horns and shouting out HELLO.
The highlights today are too many to list but one of my favourites was walking onto the stunning beach at Varkala and being happily told by one of the lifeguards that he’d been working there for 18 years and this was the first time “a man with a skirt such as yours has visited”. That was cool but you should have seen his face when he turned round a few seconds later to see two of my travel mates Ashley Woolf and Stephen Foxwell dressed in full Lady Liberty outfits. He laughed and laughed ... priceless.
As brilliant a day as it was, it was also long, physically tiring and more than anything, mentally exhausting, due to the concentration levels required on the roads. But me and my co-pilot Desmond Q survived it with aplomb.
And now sleep beckons with another belly full of Kingfisher beer and tasty but very rich food before we do it all again tomorrow!
Stay tuned.
So we finally started the Malabar Rampage today with a 150km trip up the Kerala coast from Trivandrum to Appelly. It was total madness mixed in with an excess of exhilaration and a huge dose of wow! India is just such an incredible place and surely there can’t be many better ways to see some of what it has to offer than by driving an auto rickshaw through the morning city rush hour into busy, lawless highways, through a string of colourful villages and along stretches of stunning coastline. The people of Kerala seem just as amazed at the sight of a bunch of foreigners driving autos as we are with them and their unique and vastly varied way of life. Kids and adults alike do cartoon double tales as we drive by honking our horns and shouting out HELLO.
The highlights today are too many to list but one of my favourites was walking onto the stunning beach at Varkala and being happily told by one of the lifeguards that he’d been working there for 18 years and this was the first time “a man with a skirt such as yours has visited”. That was cool but you should have seen his face when he turned round a few seconds later to see two of my travel mates Ashley Woolf and Stephen Foxwell dressed in full Lady Liberty outfits. He laughed and laughed ... priceless.
As brilliant a day as it was, it was also long, physically tiring and more than anything, mentally exhausting, due to the concentration levels required on the roads. But me and my co-pilot Desmond Q survived it with aplomb.
And now sleep beckons with another belly full of Kingfisher beer and tasty but very rich food before we do it all again tomorrow!
Stay tuned.
Backwaters, chai and the joys of fuelling an auto-rickshaw ... Stage 2, Alleppey to Kochi
April 9, 2019
Today’s Stage 2 of the Malabar Rampage Rickshaw Challenge was just a shortie from Alleppey to Kochi, a mere 54km in our little three-wheelers. But it was definitely a case of the calm before the storm because tomorrow we have a beast of a journey from Kochi to Calicut, which equates to 180km in distance. And we’re told the roads might not be as “good” as what we’ve encountered so far. But that’s for tomorrow.
Today actually started pretty badly for the kilted warrior as problems with the power in what was described as a “comprise choice of hotel” meant a hot, sweaty and sleepless night.
But things quickly turned around as six of us took advantage of the light driving day ahead to hire a boat and its captain for the morning and enjoyed a relaxing cruise around the famous Kerala Backwaters. The attached photos tell the story well of this network of canal-like waterways that feed off from a huge, flat lake teeming with wildlife. Life for the locals that have built their homes on the narrow banks of land looks idyllic.
Then it was time to hit the road. It was more of the Route 66 Wacky Races for the first half but then a turn left towards the coast brought a string of the sleepy but colourful villages that we’re so enjoying driving through. A chai stop at one such settlement turned into my first cup of Keralan coffee and it was good ... I don’t usually like the evil, noxious bean, but the simmering milk and lashings of sugar made for a palatable brew. And in that village I finally managed to donate my first batch of bidons. Once one kid had accepted my gift, they were like hotcakes. Kerala is actually making a big push against single-use plastics, which includes trying to persuade people to use refillable bottles. I brought about 100 or so with me to distribute, having built up a collection of freebies from bike races and triathlons over the years.
We’re getting used to our hardy three-wheelers, with our driving skills and confidence on the the roads getting better every day. Another skill we’re improving at is filling up the auto rickshaws with fuel. They run on two-stroke engines and need a mixture oil and petrol at a ratio of 50ml to 1 litre. A mechanical philistine such as I would have thought there would be two separate holes in which to feed the different liquids, but no, you put the oil in an empty water bottle, top that up with petrol, slosh that combo about a bit then pour it into the tank, before finally topping up with more pure petrol.
There are of course no fuel gauges to assist with calculations, instead there’s a dipstick which we have been urged to use at regular intervals. We obviously didn’t do that enough yesterday as with 30km to go we discovered that both our chariots were running on fumes. A lucky escape. Today we were given a couple of recycled 5L oil containers by a kindly garage attendant to use as jerry cans. They now sit nice and snuggly directly under the driver’s seat!
We did that upon reaching our destination of Kochi. What a cool place this ancient colonial town is. The Chinese, Dutch, Portuguese and Brits have all left their mark here, and the result is a fascinating blend, but Kochi is still distinctly Indian. The early finish allowed for a spin on the Brompton around the old town.
And finally, Kerala has redeemed itself with two-top notch meals today, especially the dinner. That was had at the waterfront Fort House Hotel and was one of the most memorable meals I’ve had in a while. There were none of the mushy, overly rich dishes that seem to have predominated in the previous few days, instead it was light and subtle flavours that still somehow packed a punch.
And if you’ve reached this far into this ramble, why not chip in a few dollars to keep me motivated to write updates every day. Click on the link to help homeless kids in Kerala. https://www.globalgiving.org/fundraisers/29123/
Our adventures even made the Times of India newspaper today!
Today’s Stage 2 of the Malabar Rampage Rickshaw Challenge was just a shortie from Alleppey to Kochi, a mere 54km in our little three-wheelers. But it was definitely a case of the calm before the storm because tomorrow we have a beast of a journey from Kochi to Calicut, which equates to 180km in distance. And we’re told the roads might not be as “good” as what we’ve encountered so far. But that’s for tomorrow.
Today actually started pretty badly for the kilted warrior as problems with the power in what was described as a “comprise choice of hotel” meant a hot, sweaty and sleepless night.
But things quickly turned around as six of us took advantage of the light driving day ahead to hire a boat and its captain for the morning and enjoyed a relaxing cruise around the famous Kerala Backwaters. The attached photos tell the story well of this network of canal-like waterways that feed off from a huge, flat lake teeming with wildlife. Life for the locals that have built their homes on the narrow banks of land looks idyllic.
Then it was time to hit the road. It was more of the Route 66 Wacky Races for the first half but then a turn left towards the coast brought a string of the sleepy but colourful villages that we’re so enjoying driving through. A chai stop at one such settlement turned into my first cup of Keralan coffee and it was good ... I don’t usually like the evil, noxious bean, but the simmering milk and lashings of sugar made for a palatable brew. And in that village I finally managed to donate my first batch of bidons. Once one kid had accepted my gift, they were like hotcakes. Kerala is actually making a big push against single-use plastics, which includes trying to persuade people to use refillable bottles. I brought about 100 or so with me to distribute, having built up a collection of freebies from bike races and triathlons over the years.
We’re getting used to our hardy three-wheelers, with our driving skills and confidence on the the roads getting better every day. Another skill we’re improving at is filling up the auto rickshaws with fuel. They run on two-stroke engines and need a mixture oil and petrol at a ratio of 50ml to 1 litre. A mechanical philistine such as I would have thought there would be two separate holes in which to feed the different liquids, but no, you put the oil in an empty water bottle, top that up with petrol, slosh that combo about a bit then pour it into the tank, before finally topping up with more pure petrol.
There are of course no fuel gauges to assist with calculations, instead there’s a dipstick which we have been urged to use at regular intervals. We obviously didn’t do that enough yesterday as with 30km to go we discovered that both our chariots were running on fumes. A lucky escape. Today we were given a couple of recycled 5L oil containers by a kindly garage attendant to use as jerry cans. They now sit nice and snuggly directly under the driver’s seat!
We did that upon reaching our destination of Kochi. What a cool place this ancient colonial town is. The Chinese, Dutch, Portuguese and Brits have all left their mark here, and the result is a fascinating blend, but Kochi is still distinctly Indian. The early finish allowed for a spin on the Brompton around the old town.
And finally, Kerala has redeemed itself with two-top notch meals today, especially the dinner. That was had at the waterfront Fort House Hotel and was one of the most memorable meals I’ve had in a while. There were none of the mushy, overly rich dishes that seem to have predominated in the previous few days, instead it was light and subtle flavours that still somehow packed a punch.
And if you’ve reached this far into this ramble, why not chip in a few dollars to keep me motivated to write updates every day. Click on the link to help homeless kids in Kerala. https://www.globalgiving.org/fundraisers/29123/
Our adventures even made the Times of India newspaper today!
See a gap and go for it ... Stage 3, Kochi to Kozhikode
April 10, 2019 – Day 3, Kochi to Kozhikode
Too tired to write in joined up sentences, but here's some thoughts:
- don’t have more than one chai for breakfast!
- two ferries are better than one
- detours (both intended and unintended) are fun
- see a gap and go for it
- Cochin to Calicut
- Kochi to Kozhikode
- change of driver
- route 66
- 180km
- pot holes
- speed bumps
- stalls
- emergency stops
- disobey every rule of the road but don’t jump the ferry queue
- what no dosa?
- bidons are the new pens
- passengers
- a kilt is the perfect attire for driving a rickshaw in India
- fishing boats
- beaches and backwaters
- dolphins
- chicken byriani
- chai or Kerala coffee
- filtered water is ok
- Action Bed House
- rush hour
- Knob Creek
- Kingfisher Ultra
- alcohol consumption is injurious to health
- atop and proceed
- level crossings
- too humid to walk
- Incredible India
- 230km ... Mangalore or bust
- charity fundraiser ... $812.30 so far
https://www.globalgiving.org/fundraisers/29123/
Too tired to write in joined up sentences, but here's some thoughts:
- don’t have more than one chai for breakfast!
- two ferries are better than one
- detours (both intended and unintended) are fun
- see a gap and go for it
- Cochin to Calicut
- Kochi to Kozhikode
- change of driver
- route 66
- 180km
- pot holes
- speed bumps
- stalls
- emergency stops
- disobey every rule of the road but don’t jump the ferry queue
- what no dosa?
- bidons are the new pens
- passengers
- a kilt is the perfect attire for driving a rickshaw in India
- fishing boats
- beaches and backwaters
- dolphins
- chicken byriani
- chai or Kerala coffee
- filtered water is ok
- Action Bed House
- rush hour
- Knob Creek
- Kingfisher Ultra
- alcohol consumption is injurious to health
- atop and proceed
- level crossings
- too humid to walk
- Incredible India
- 230km ... Mangalore or bust
- charity fundraiser ... $812.30 so far
https://www.globalgiving.org/fundraisers/29123/
Toll booth madness ... Day 4, Kozhikode to Mangalore
April 11, 2019 – Day 4, Kozhikode to Mangalore
Another hugely rewarding but tough day driving 250km+ up the coast of western India. Lots of funny/pathetic episodes to keep us entertained including both our teams running out of petrol, a drive-in beach (think of an autobahn on sand), the tastiest fried seafood n veg lunch ever, camels, the bewildered look on the coppers as we drove into a rural police station to get the required photo of the day, the search for roadside sugar cane juice, flirting with a thunderstorm, toll booth madness and rush hour mania as we reached our Day 4 destination Mangalore.
We also sadly said goodbye to Desmond Q, who had to leave two days early due to a big work commitment ... that got cancelled! But he couldn’t change his complicated, multi-legged trip back home to London, so there are just the three of us left to share the driving load today. It’s another long one, 175km to the town of Murdeshwar. Nae bother!
I’m just shy of the halfway mark of my $2,000 fund-raising target, so a big shout out to those who have donated. Anybody else feels like helping homeless kids in Kerala can click on this link. https://www.globalgiving.org/fundraisers/29123/
Another hugely rewarding but tough day driving 250km+ up the coast of western India. Lots of funny/pathetic episodes to keep us entertained including both our teams running out of petrol, a drive-in beach (think of an autobahn on sand), the tastiest fried seafood n veg lunch ever, camels, the bewildered look on the coppers as we drove into a rural police station to get the required photo of the day, the search for roadside sugar cane juice, flirting with a thunderstorm, toll booth madness and rush hour mania as we reached our Day 4 destination Mangalore.
We also sadly said goodbye to Desmond Q, who had to leave two days early due to a big work commitment ... that got cancelled! But he couldn’t change his complicated, multi-legged trip back home to London, so there are just the three of us left to share the driving load today. It’s another long one, 175km to the town of Murdeshwar. Nae bother!
I’m just shy of the halfway mark of my $2,000 fund-raising target, so a big shout out to those who have donated. Anybody else feels like helping homeless kids in Kerala can click on this link. https://www.globalgiving.org/fundraisers/29123/
And then there were three ... stage 5, Mangalore to Murdeshwar
April 12, 2019
Five down and one to go in the Rickshaw Challenge Malabar Rampage. Day 5 entailed 140km of driving from Mangalore to Murdeshwar ... don’t you just love the names of Indian towns and cities.
It was another sensational day driving out little tuk-tuks through the state of Karnataka. Beaches, temples, communal feasts and swimming in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean were the main offerings but once again just the act of driving/sitting in the back of the rickshaw and watching life go by was just as rewarding. My senses are overloaded with the majesty of colours, sounds and smells this wonderful country has to offer. But the cumulative fatigue is building and so can’t wait to finish it off with the drive to Goa tomorrow.
Thanks again to all the donors to my fundraising cause, I’ll reach out to you all when this adventure is done, but for now I’m happy to say we’ve already breached the $2,000 target. If you’d like to help homeless kids in Kerala just click on the following link.
https://www.globalgiving.org/fundraisers/29123/
Five down and one to go in the Rickshaw Challenge Malabar Rampage. Day 5 entailed 140km of driving from Mangalore to Murdeshwar ... don’t you just love the names of Indian towns and cities.
It was another sensational day driving out little tuk-tuks through the state of Karnataka. Beaches, temples, communal feasts and swimming in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean were the main offerings but once again just the act of driving/sitting in the back of the rickshaw and watching life go by was just as rewarding. My senses are overloaded with the majesty of colours, sounds and smells this wonderful country has to offer. But the cumulative fatigue is building and so can’t wait to finish it off with the drive to Goa tomorrow.
Thanks again to all the donors to my fundraising cause, I’ll reach out to you all when this adventure is done, but for now I’m happy to say we’ve already breached the $2,000 target. If you’d like to help homeless kids in Kerala just click on the following link.
https://www.globalgiving.org/fundraisers/29123/
Goa or bust ... Stage 6, Murdeshwar to Panaji
April 14, 2019
And so the Rickshaw Challenge - Malabar Rampage 2019 is over. What an incredible experience. What an incredible country. I wasn’t completely sold on the idea of driving a three-wheeler auto rickshaw up the west coast of India for 1,100km when the idea was first pitched to me, but I couldn’t pass up the chance of an adventure with my great friends Stephen Foxwell, Ashley Woolf and Desmond Quilty, so I signed up anyway.
I’m so happy and relieved to have made that decision. Kerala, Karnataka and Goa have delivered a whole new India to me and shed some previously held misconceptions. Sure there is still some poverty and an ordered chaos rules everything, but life in India is truly majestic. And I’m touched that my daily tales of India have earned over $2,300 in donations to help build homes for 25 kids in Kerala through the ATMA Foundation. You can still make a donation by clicking the link below, no amount is too small.
https://www.globalgiving.org/fundraisers/29123/
The last day yesterday from Murdeshwar to Paniji was a long one, 258km. And aside from a detour to the idyllic Om Beach where the masala dosa of my dreams was delivered, it was a hard slog of driving as we strove to make the 5:30pm flag down time. Three of us were sharing the load for two days but it was still loads of fun as we let life unfold in front of us.
We saw more wandering cows than on any other day. They just amble along the busy roads safely, unknowing that the drivers would rather kill themselves than a holy cow. That said, we only saw two accidents throughout the whole six days of the rally. The roads are truly nuts, but everybody is tuned into the craziness and there is no road rage, so it’s actually quite pleasant once you get used to it. I wonder if I’ll be more patient when back driving/cycling on the roads of Singapore?
It was strange crossing from Karnataka into Goa, almost like entering another country. For a start, the first road sign demanded “no horns”, which is the complete reverse of the norm in Karnataka and Kerala where beeping, tooting and blasting is positively encouraged. The roads too were much narrower and there was a dotted white line down the middle, how quaint! The countryside almost seemed somehow Mediterranean in places.
But then we hit the big towns of Goa for the final push and that was a shock after mostly countryside for the previous few days. We safely negotiated it, though, and pulled into the Crown Hotel in Panaji elated, satisfied, relieved, a little sad that it was over and very thirsty. An epic party followed which is why this post is a day late. Steve and Ash even “won” the rally, the Kings of the Malabar Rampage.
Now the three of us are chilling at Vagator Beach reflecting on the epic week we’ve shared before heading home to our loving and very patient families tomorrow. Come to India, shed your misconceptions like I did, maybe even do one of the five Rickshaw Challenges, you won’t regret it. And if you’re Scottish, wear your kilt! I wore mine the entire distance and it’s certainly a great item to start up conversations
😀
#incredibleindia
And so the Rickshaw Challenge - Malabar Rampage 2019 is over. What an incredible experience. What an incredible country. I wasn’t completely sold on the idea of driving a three-wheeler auto rickshaw up the west coast of India for 1,100km when the idea was first pitched to me, but I couldn’t pass up the chance of an adventure with my great friends Stephen Foxwell, Ashley Woolf and Desmond Quilty, so I signed up anyway.
I’m so happy and relieved to have made that decision. Kerala, Karnataka and Goa have delivered a whole new India to me and shed some previously held misconceptions. Sure there is still some poverty and an ordered chaos rules everything, but life in India is truly majestic. And I’m touched that my daily tales of India have earned over $2,300 in donations to help build homes for 25 kids in Kerala through the ATMA Foundation. You can still make a donation by clicking the link below, no amount is too small.
https://www.globalgiving.org/fundraisers/29123/
The last day yesterday from Murdeshwar to Paniji was a long one, 258km. And aside from a detour to the idyllic Om Beach where the masala dosa of my dreams was delivered, it was a hard slog of driving as we strove to make the 5:30pm flag down time. Three of us were sharing the load for two days but it was still loads of fun as we let life unfold in front of us.
We saw more wandering cows than on any other day. They just amble along the busy roads safely, unknowing that the drivers would rather kill themselves than a holy cow. That said, we only saw two accidents throughout the whole six days of the rally. The roads are truly nuts, but everybody is tuned into the craziness and there is no road rage, so it’s actually quite pleasant once you get used to it. I wonder if I’ll be more patient when back driving/cycling on the roads of Singapore?
It was strange crossing from Karnataka into Goa, almost like entering another country. For a start, the first road sign demanded “no horns”, which is the complete reverse of the norm in Karnataka and Kerala where beeping, tooting and blasting is positively encouraged. The roads too were much narrower and there was a dotted white line down the middle, how quaint! The countryside almost seemed somehow Mediterranean in places.
But then we hit the big towns of Goa for the final push and that was a shock after mostly countryside for the previous few days. We safely negotiated it, though, and pulled into the Crown Hotel in Panaji elated, satisfied, relieved, a little sad that it was over and very thirsty. An epic party followed which is why this post is a day late. Steve and Ash even “won” the rally, the Kings of the Malabar Rampage.
Now the three of us are chilling at Vagator Beach reflecting on the epic week we’ve shared before heading home to our loving and very patient families tomorrow. Come to India, shed your misconceptions like I did, maybe even do one of the five Rickshaw Challenges, you won’t regret it. And if you’re Scottish, wear your kilt! I wore mine the entire distance and it’s certainly a great item to start up conversations
😀
#incredibleindia