Have you ever wondered.....

......what came first, the Chicken or the Egg but failed to find conclusive proof? Has there always been that small nagging doubt in the back of your mind that there remained a few loose strings that needed resolving?

Well you're in luck! Our next fund raising event plans to solve the mystery once and for all, as well as provide ample entertainment for the visitors to Deers Leap Country Park. On Sunday 27th April, Mark and I will be entering the 2nd round of the Southern XC mountain biking racing series.
One of us will be dressed as a Chicken the other as an Egg. We will then attempt to complete two laps of the race to see which did in fact come first, while desperately trying to avoid the cooking pot and frying pan in the mess tent!

So if you fancy witnessing this world changing experiment in person, come on down to East Grinstead in a few weeks time, maybe even join in? Failing that check back soon to find the answer, and remember you heard it here first!

Four wheels good, three wheels...

...inescapably awful if past Rickshaw Runners are to be believed.

Still we've had an email inviting us to our first encounter with a tuk-tuk! I say first but actually I have ridden in one before in Bangkok, so it's first time in the driving seat. Thinking about it we were involved in a (minor) collision on that occasion so based on experience so far we'll be lucky to get out of Kathmandu!

The test drive is happening on Saturday 12th April in Mayflower Park, Southamption. We'll hopefully have some footage of the event to post but in the meantime here's a clip which neatly illustrates why we might need some practice.



- Mark

Team T-shirts

We might not know where we're going, we might not know where we'll sleep and we've never even driven a tuk-tuk before but we've got team t-shirts so that's alright then!

You can also see the designs "in the flesh" so to speak, by taking a look at our car wash photos in the sidebar on the right-hand side of your screen. ->

Interested in owning your own Raiders of the Last Chapati t-shirt?

E-mail us at: ChapatiRaiders@Googlemail.com

Tuk-tuk facts

1. Tuk-tuks are widely used as personal transport and as taxis in southeast Asia, particularly in India and Thailand.
2. In India they are called auto-rickshaws, and they are also popular in Guatemala and Peru.
3. They are built around a three-wheeled scooter, and have a two-stroke, water cooled engine.
4. The driver sits up front in the centre and steers using handlebars while passengers sit at the back under a canopy or metal shell, often open to the sides and front.
5. Many tuk-tuks are highly decorated, either painted or with hammered metal good luck charms.
6. The noise of the engine while idling gives the vehicle its name.

Our story so far...

You might have noticed that I didn't start this blog until March, which means that at this time our Rickshaw Run experience is already 3 months old! Here's a catch-up of what we've been doing so far:

In the beginning

The adventure began, as they often do, by chance. Whilst browsing the internet last autumn I came across the adventurists website and something struck a cord. In fact it was uncannily similar to a conversation I once had at university. The gist of which was...

Joe: "Do you ever think you we're born in the wrong time?"
Me: "Come again?"
Joe: "You know, like you might've been an explorer but these days all the exciting stuff has already been discovered."
Me: "Yeah, cheeky buggers. Where have all the maps with those blank areas marked 'Here be Dragons' gone?"
Joe: "Dunno."

No doubt the conversation meandered on for a good while after this, lubricated by an alcoholic beverage or two. The point being that I instantly knew this was something I had to be involved in.

A good cause

Whilst the challenge of successfully piloting a tuk-tuk 2,000 miles across India is reason enough to be enthusiastic, it is doubly the case when we can raise stacks of cash for a very worthy cause or two. Our Rickshaw Run effort will be supporting two charities;

• Mercy Corps India, and


• Frank Water Projects

Both of whom work tirelessly for poor and disadvantaged communities in India.

We have committed to raising a minimum of £1,000 to help these causes so if our madcap antics amuse you in any way please head over to our fundraising webpage and give generously.

Because the website uses Paypal to take donations (you don't need an account with Paypal) it's totally safe and you can use either a credit or debit card. It will even accept foreign currencies so you can donate in Swedish Krona if you want to!

The donations start rolling in

The first donations came when I had the idea to auction off my fantasy football squad at work. I've never been much good at these and some of the other guys seemed very keen on a player or two of mine. Putting two & two together I spotted a way to get some quick cash. So cheers to all in the Norwich Union Marketing Investments Fantasy Football league.

I must also doff the proverbial to the guvnors (Mick, Rob & JCO) re: the organisation and even the collection the cash for me (if it had been work related I would have nominated you for a VIP award, I guess you'll have to settle for a pint), fundraising has never been so easy.

What's next?

Plans are currently being formed for future activities but I'm not going to divulge any details just yet, we do want you to keep coming back after all!

- Mark

The Rickshaw Run

I could simply say that the Rickshaw Run is an adventure challenge for charity but that would not do justice to the scale of lunacy involved in driving a tuk-tuk the length of India.

I’ll start by stating the blindingly obvious; it’s a heck of a long way. Over 1800km as the crow flies in fact! But how many Himalayan mountain passes do you think conform to the Roman school of building in straight lines? I’ve not been to Nepal before but I’d be pretty confident in guessing the answer would be none.

Next, let’s consider the roads, if you can call them that. With potholes the size of small children, animals roaming wild (even in the towns and cities), and a right-of-way system based on whoever has the biggest vehicle interspersed with whoever chickens out first life on the road will certainly never be dull.

To top it all off June is monsoon season in India when flash flooding can transform roads into raging rivers and rural areas become cut-off until the waters subside.

Our trusty steed for this trip will be a humble auto rickshaw, also known as a tuk-tuk. Its 145cc engine outputs half a horse power and allegedly has a top speed of a G-force inducing 35mph. Being open-sided it won’t offer much protection from the rain (nor anything else for that matter since it's sturdiness is on a par with that of a coke can) and it doesn’t even have enough wheels to be four wheel drive!

I don’t want to come across too critical of our tuk-tuk, to be fair it was never designed with anything like the Rickshaw Run in mind. I just want to impress upon you that this is going to be no picnic in the park. If anything goes wrong we’ll be on our own. There is no support crew to help us out.

- Mark

Welcome

Welcome to the Raiders of the Last Chapati blog.

Tom and I have set this up so our friends, family and supporters can follow our exploits as we attempt to drive a tuk-tuk 4500km from Kathmandu (Nepal) to Pondicherry (India) in only two weeks. That’s not to say that if you’ve stumbled upon this page knowing nothing about our little trip that you won’t find something of interest here. Take the time to look around and find out more.

This is the place to find out all about our fundraising events, our plans for making it to Pondicherry in one piece and for on-the-road updates direct from India.

There will also be links to the charities’ websites so that you can find out more about the great work they’re doing to improve the lives of so many people in India.

Keep checking back to see what’s new!

In the meantime, keep on tukking!

- Mark & Tom