Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast

With Tom still off gallivanting around Asia I guess it's left to me to fill you in on our last days in India.

When we left you last we were enjoying a well earned cold beverage with a few of the other teams who had rolled into Pondicherry that day. Not wanting to give up the rickshaw just yet we had decided to hang on to it for one last day. This almost proved to be a costly mistake.

Buoyed by a sense of achievement and fuelled by a not insubstantial quantity of cocktails it was decided that what was really needed to mark the end of our epic journey was a sort of victory lap along the seafront promenade. It would be one last chance to see the rickshaws, individually fantastic looking but as a group a real spectacle.

Well that was the plan but as usual things have a way of changing without anyone really noticing or realising why (ok so it was probably the drink in this case). The next thing we knew was that the parade had morphed into a drag race to decide the greatest rickshaw driver. In a rare moment of restrained adventurers spirit and sobriety a number of teams dropped out, us included, figuring it was a far better plan to watch from the hotel balcony where we could continue our merrymaking.


So five rickshaws roared off into the night and a minute or two later, following a close battle between two clear leaders, the winner was crowned (though they almost blew it rounding the final corner on two wheels and looking for all the world like they would plough into a group of parked motorcycles). We waited for the remaining teams to return, and waited.

Now drag racing rickshaws down a road which is a popular evening hang out for locals is not a bright idea in itself, however when your intended route (a there and back course) twice passes by the local law enforcement headquarters you know you really have made an error of judgement. One of the remaining teams, having seen the police station on the way out, decided discretion was the better part of valour and continued on into the city not to return that evening. The remaining two, caught up in the race, turned their chariots for the return leg. They might have made it too if the third place rickshaw had not run out of petrol, slap bang outside the police station.

Almost instantly a large crowd gathered and following brief questioning the guilty parties were escorted away, and their rickshaws impounded. The news that emerged the following morning was that they would have to attend a court hearing and in all likelihood pay a 500 rupee fine (about £6).

The big event on Sunday was the Rickshaw Run finish party held at an Eco Resort on the edge of town. We were welcomed with flower garlands and tikka'ed (marked on the forehead between your eyes) which is believed to bring good luck. Following a fantastic 12 course meal we were treated to some traditional Indian music and dancers. The beer flowed freely and we all had an amazing evening which was topped off by us winning an award, one of only four handed out. The award was for best team name and technically we were chosen as second best but since 'Pirates of the Currybean' didn't make the finish party we got their prize, hard luck lads! Still the history books will forever show 'Raiders of the Last Chapati' and we each were given a ceremonial khukuri (the daggers carried by Gurkha regiments). It was an incredible end to an incredible two weeks.


Over the next couple of weeks we'll be posting all the photos and video footage we took and generally doing all the things we hoped we'd be able to do on the road but were thwarted from doing by dodgy internet connections. So, we may have returned unscathed from the Summer 2008 Rickshaw Run but you'll still want to check the blog every now and then.

Thanks for all your support and good luck messages.

Mark and Tom

Race For The Finish

Another leisurely breakfast and with only 100km to go we cruised down the coastal road admiring the sun, sea and sand.

To spice up the last couple of kilometers Paint It Black lead us into the back streets of Pondicherry, Amelia taking Joe's instruction of take the next left a little too literaly. It turned into a cracking back street rally, benny hill style with dead ends and driving through a wedding party relaxing in chairs outside a cafe to get back onto the main road.

We pulled up outside the Promenade hotel, the finishing post and that was that. We'd made it and have since become known as "the team that only had a single puncture". It appears others have had a much more difficult time with their steeds. Four teams have abandoned their Rickshaws in various places around India, two teams have merged into one after writing off one Rickshaw. At least three other teams have managed to roll their Rickshaws and virtually every other team has had a succession of seized pistons, dodgy spark plugs, exhausts that fall off, blocked fuel lines and constant overheating engines.

We had a few drinks to celebrate and now are free men until tomorrows finishing party at the Dune Eco Resort on the coast out of town....Indian dancing, internationally trained chef and a private beach...it's going to be hell! :)

Current location: The Promenade, Pondicherry....forgot the piece of paper with the coordinates on so we'll do it tomorrow.

Rocks And Crocs

AAAahhhh a lie in and no driving. It's long over due and we almost didn't know what to do with ourselves. Need to drive tuk tuk...can't stop driving......

After a very leisurely 1.5hr breakfast we wandered into the town park area where there a hundreds of boulders strewn around a small hill. A lot of these have been carved into all manner of animals, temples and other hindu mythelogical scenes. The largest being the size a small house and very impressive.

We couldn't resist the draw of the tuk tuk any longer so we made the short drive out of town 10km to a crocodile bank. The exchange rate was 25 rupees for as many crocodilians as you cared to watch. For a little extra you could even chuck dead animals at them. Until you did this most of them were doing very good impressions of the stone carvins we'd seen earlier in the morning....grey stone covered in bird poo.

Also saw soom snakes being milked for the venom, Cobras, Kraits and Vipers. Unusually these are captured in the wild, only milked a couple of times and then released back to the wild. A lot of other places milk the snake until it dies.

Lots of other teams were in the area so had fun moving Rickshaws around the village while others weren't looking. Ate a lot of really good fish, and tried to drink a relaxing glass of beer. That was until the cry of Police went out and the waiter came running to grab the beer back, and Joe tried to hide a bottle under the table but broke it in the process. It's apparently illegal to sell alcohol in restaurants in Tamil Nadu.

Current location: Still at Greenwood Beach Resort, Mamallapuram 12N 37'09.7" 80E 11'49.8" 32m

Not Far To Go Now

Excaping the hordes of pilgrims we headed south over the Eastern Ghats. After yesterdays driving this was particularly pleasing. With only 200km to do we also took it easy and enjoyed the views of small hills covered with odd rock formations.

We've decided to take a rest day before our final dash to the finishline in Pondicherry on Saturday so headed to the coastal town of Mamallapuram. This time it doesn't smell of fish and so far seems rather relaxed. There are also a lot of other teams in town, most it seems having had a much harder time of it than us.

The town is known for it's stone carvings, including huge boulders and man made caves that have been sculpted into various forms mainly to celebrate the skills of the locals who have been doing it for hundreds of years.

Looking forward to the beach tomorrow.

Current location: Greenwood Beach Resort, Mamallapuram 12N 37'09.7" 80E 11'49.8" 32m

Pilgrims Path

With a long way to travel we ventured out onto India's equivalent of the M1.

Things you see on an Indian national highway:

1) Tractors towing huge trailers of hay coming the wrong way up the fast lane.
2) Lorries doing 3 point turns on the highway.
3) People stopping in the fast lane to have a chat with someone else on the other carriageway.
4) Not working out you are on a contra-flow until you are faced with a police car hurtling towards you.
5) Mind numbingly boring driving....pretty much like UK motorways then, but still only at 50kph!

Our destination was Tirupati, which according to our guidebook is the most visited holy site in the world, attracting more visitors than Mecca or Rome. It was busy, and also the first place that we've been to that has a thriving tat market. Psychedelic tat at that.

Current location: Hotel Grand, Tirupati 13N 37'34.1" 79E 26'00.0" 137m

To The Coast

Leaving Paint It Black behind yet again for more repairs, we were heading for the coastal highway and Ongole. Friendly locals couldn't understand why, and via PIB suggested we actually head further north to Chirala which supposedly had a nice beach resort.

It turns out not quite like that, more stinking of fish. Abondoning the sea we went inland to the main town to find accommodation. We didn't get far before we realised we had a problem steering. Turning the handlebars wasn't having much of an effect. On closer inspection we found a flat front tyre. We were immediately swamped by 8 year old kids speaking amazing English but oblivious to our plight. They were more interested in talking about cricket. While we were still stood discussing how best to jack the front of the rickshaw up (without a jack) a bloke apeared wrench in hand and started unbolting the front wheel. He then promptly lifted the Rickshaw up and jesticulated for us to swap the wheel, which we hurridly did.

And that was that...our first mechanical, and although I'm sure we could have fixed it ourselves we weren't allow to so I guess as far as the sweepstake goes it counts. So Lisa Bolton congratulations you guessed correctly. Email us at chapatiraiders@googlemail.com with your request for duty free otherwise we shall pick something at random.

That evening on searching for food we were ushered up to a "roof top garden restaurant". I don't know whether there is such thing as trade descriptions act in India but they definitely fell foul of the English version. We would actually decribe it more along these lines "NCP roof top Restaurant....with cricket, but only serving biryani". Still had our first beer in India.

Current location: Sai Krishna Residency, Chirala 15N 49'49.5" 80E 21'18.3" -20m???? GPS on the blink????

And Relax....

With Paint It Black supposedly fixed and trying to catch up we treated ourselves to a 45 minute lie in...waaaahoooo

At breakfast Mark found toast, butter and jam. He thought he'd died and gone to heaven! Ok, Tom also had toast, butter and jam and wasn't complaining too loudly, in actual fact it was rather nice.

Having failed to meet up with Paint It Black we were now behind them (you can't rush toast and jam) and again in the chase. We took a short cut which actually worked out, and we think we overtook them at some point because when stopping to refuel we think we caught a glance of them hurtling past as only a Tuk Tuk can.

In the end the race was won by the Raiders of the Last Chapati, who made it to Nagarjuno Sagar first, courtesy of yet another failed gearbox and clutch for Paint It Black. Nagarjuno Sagar is a huge lake and dam that sits on the site of a large archaeological site with remains from the stone age. The lake now covers most of it but some still remain above water.

Current location: Nagarjuno Resort, Nagarjuno Sagar, 16N 33'40.5" 79E 18'25.4" 188m

Bandit Country!

The day started a cracker...we went the wrong way! Mark is claiming that it was the fault of the road that went from nice smooth tarmac to mud track in 30m, me well I'm just undecided on the cause.

The end result was more Colin McRae style rally off road action. Picture this.... 100m wide river... no bridge.... just a 3m wide raised mud ridge winding it's way across... a few Indians working on something, but suddenly distracted and then watching with faces of shear incredulity... and then a 45degree mud slope to negotiate.

What was our decision? Mark looked over his shoulder at Tom in the back seat, who just nodded. Mark gunned it and we were off! At this point it would be good to say we got stuck, but no the mighty off road Tuk Tuk took it all in its stride and roared up the bank and on to the next special stage!

A top the bank we were met with a field and no road...so we continued mud splashing as we went. At the first hamlet we reached a friendly local flagged us down and kindly told us where we ought to be going and drew us a map. He also invited us in to his house for a cup of Chai and a chat, and pretty much the whole village showed up. Good Chai.

Up to this point we had been travelling still with Paint It Black and once back on the open road they took it upon themselves to make life more interesting and breakdown in the middle of nowhere. The problem no gears. After staring under the proverbial bonnet pretending we knew what we were looking at we gave it up and gave the Tuk Tuk a shove. Miraculously Joe found 3rd and he shot off down the road. We picked up the bemused Amelia and took chase. All was going fine until a bus blocked the path in a village and we had to stop. At this point nothing worked but Joe and Amelia did find a mechanic who started to dismantle their gearbox.

2 hours later and with Tom almost having lost all his worldly possessions to a rather insistent chap we left Paint It Black to their fate. Not very chivalrous but this is the Rickshaw Run and we had a destination to get to.

Due to the delay we revised our overnight stop to Karim Nager, but found only flea pits or places that refused to show Mark the room before he would book in. At 5:30 with Warangal 60km away we made a dash for it. Cue another race against the sun.

And another loss, this time with the added fun of rain....great! However to up our nerves just little further along the road as the sun was setting we were overtaken by a jeep full of men with guns...big f'off guns! As if in the movies 2km down the road they had stopped and flagged us down..errrr cue squeeky bum moment! We were duly surrounded by men with no uniforms, old large guns (probably AK47s as that is what all militia seem to use in the movies) and a leader with a rather large pistol asks to see our documents. As Tom rummages around in the rucksack trying not to show we have cameras etc, Mark jumps out and using his best International sign language and a healthy dose of optimism tries to get them interested in the map on the front of the Rickshaw that shows the route we are trying to take. Repeated use of the word "charity" and Tom flashing some paper and they seem pacified. A swift round of handshakes and we were free to continue. This time as they re-passed us we waved, smile and tried desperately to look confident!

The hotel we found served tomato soup. Mark was ecstatic.

Current location: Hotel Ashoka (it was actually quite nice), Warangal, 18N 00'29.5" 79E 34'02.0" 268m

Curry, Curry, Curry

So as today was relatively uneventful, just good roads a brief rainshower....we got to try out our windscreen wiper (singular and found it virtually useless) we thought we'd describe the food....

A typical breakfast consists of a Samosa, or an Onion Bhajee but these are more uncommon, and a cup of Chai which is basically a shot of very sweet spiced milky tea.
Lunch is then two Samosa, or a couple of Onion Bhajees, with more Chai and maybe a mango.
Since the vomit episode, Mark is sticking to Mango or.....sweet f a.

Dinner is where it gets exciting! We've had curry, and more curry followed by sweet curry for desert. In reality we have mainly been ordering Thali, which is very similar to the old school dinner trays with lots of compartments. Each filled with a different curry, rice in the middle and chapatis on tap until you are stuffed. All very tasty and quite varied as we have traveled down the country.

Current location: Hotel Girnar, Jail Rd (gulp), Chandrapur 19N 56'47.2" 79E 17'54.2" 200m

In Search Of Tigers

With Mark feeling a little better we decided on a short day so that we could get in a safari and hopefully see some large cats.

The location was Pench National Park, and unfortunately they wouldn't let us do it in our Tuk Tuk :( As it turned out that was probably quite a good thing. We arrived in plenty of time, checked into the hotel and arranged the safari for 3pm. At 2pm the rain struck, but being true Brits, we opted to go anyway. Tom with his trusty hat as the only rain protection, and the belief that "it was passing" and would be over soon.

In actual fact it wasn't just passing and Tom was completely soaked for the entire trip. We didn't see any cats but we did see.... Samba Deer, Spotted Deer, Monkeys, Elephants, a Scorpion, a few Jackals, Peacocks and lots of other unknown but brightly coloured birds. Despite being in a 4x4 several of the tracks seemed impassible justifying their decision to refuse us entry via our own transport.

Current Location: Heaven's Garden Resort, Pench Tiger Reserve. 21N 43'26.5" 79E 22'27.3" 432m

The Dreaded Delhi Belly Strikes!

Ricky Martin did warn us not to eat in the "restaurant" we picked in Khajuraho, but his suggestion of Italian food didn't seem quite right either.

So Mark took one for the team and spent the entire night keeping Tom awake!!!! GGRRRRrrr.....yes that is a distinct lack of sympathy....I need my sleep!

Luckily we only had 329km to do that day, in surely the hottest day, with Mark utterly dehydrated and worse than useless in the back of the Tuk Tuk! On the plus side the roads were cracking, minor on the map but good tarmac for a change and great views alond the way. With an offer of some black bananas we made friends with some local monkeys....needless to say they didn't share them.

Spent the night at Bheraghat, Marble Rocks just west of Jabalpur. After abandoning Mark to the hotel room, Tom went off with another team "Paint It Black" to get a boat ride up the river to some waterfalls through a marble canyon. Rather picturesque, and using rather a lot of imagination could just about make out all the animals and faces in the rocks pointed out by the guide. Nodding and feigning comprehension covered the rest. Saw a real water snake.

Current location: River View Hotel, Bheraghat. 23N 07'52.6" 79E 48'01.1 274m

We've Met Ricky Martin

Ok so it wasn't the actual crooner himself, but this guy did sing and dance....sort of. He was also rather hard to shake off and sat and watched us eat dinner....errrrr.

So anyway we did indeed decide to change our route and avoid both going north....kind of the wrong direction, and big cities....they take forever to cross despite being great fun to drive through.

Instead we headed south to the Erotic Hindu temples at Khajuraho, where we met the afore mentioned latin pop sensation. The place is a World Heritage site, and the whole town lives for tourists.....we were it. So we felt duty bound to do our bit and went for a swim in one of the 5 star hotels which we had to ourselves!

Current location: Hotel Gaudana, Khajuraho, 24N 51'00.9" 79E 55'27.1" 207m

Keep On Trucking

So day three has been completed and after yesterdays antics we've taken it a little more easily, to steady our nerves.

Unfortunately we've not made it to Agra as planned, but have found a great hotel in an old colonial House in a relatively quiet area of Kanpur. The city is famous for numerous uprisings and a massacre of the British Army after agreeing a cease fire. Good job we're not driving a Rickshaw with a big Union Jack painted on the back....whoops!

May need to re-consider our route but that job is for this evening.

Current location: The Attic Hotel, Kanpur, India, 26N 28'40.8" 80E 21'02.0" 124m

We Need A Valium :-S

Day 2: Narayanghat to Ayodhya

Now we really know what we have taken on.

We covered 344km today which sounds quite good doesn't it?....But in 15 hours?.....Maybe NOT!

To entertain ourselves during today's mammoth drive, and because we like to pass on a little information for you folks back home, we came up with a witty infomercial entitled:

"8 Ways to know that you've driven a Rickshaw in Nepal and India"

1) Have you been forced off the road by oncoming lorries in your lane? (Yes, too many times to count.)
2) Have you gone through any official checkpoints and been asked to pay a "fine"? (No, they just wanted to chat.)
3) Have you gone through any "official" checkpoints and been asked to pay a "fine"? (Yes, but we did a runner and left them in our dust ha ha haaaa.)
4) Have you eaten unidentified fried food from the street stalls by the side of the side of the road? (Yes, and it was delicious.)
5) Have you got lost and had to rely on local directions? (Yes, it got even worse! On the upside we found out that a Rickshaw DOES make the perfect off road vehicle. Four wheel drive and suspension are mere luxuries.)
6) Have you got lost and persuaded a local to show you the way? (Yes, twice. Some people have gone out of their way to be helpful.)
7) Has your Rickshaw broken down in the middle of 8 lanes of downtown city traffic during rush hour? (This is just a guess as drivers here haven't really grasped the concept of lanes - imagine the worst congestion and multiply that by 10 to get somewhere near what it was like.) (Yes, but after Fred Flintstoning it to the side of the carriageway, we found out we'd actually just run out of petrol!!!!)
8) Have you raced the sun to your next destination because you really don't want to be driving on these roads in the dark? (Yes, and we lost big time.)

The day started well, albeit a lot earlier than I ever imagined it would, at 5am. A quick check of our fuel situation revealed a stark truth - either we manage to purchase some more or we would have to leave Nepal by the nearest border crossing and a lot earlier than planned.

Buying petrol isn't the sort of thing you usually worry about no matter where in the world you are it being about as ubiquitous as Coca-cola and Starbucks. However Nepal is in the middle of a severe fuel crisis and the Army had to be drafted in just to ensure we all started with a full tank. The petrol stations we passed resembled Wembley Stadium on match day and despite the best attempts of one team we were travelling with we were unable to get black market supplies from an eight year old girl so we headed for the border at Sunauli.



Once across the border things took a turn for the worse. In an attempt to save ourselves a few km we set off on a road that wasn't marked on our map. The locals assured us it was the way to Faizabad, our planned overnight stop.

The reason for the road's absence from our map soon became clear as within a few miles it disintegrated into little more than a dust track with the occasional large rock to liven it up a bit. It was so rural the only locals we came across were washing their water buffalo in a lake. Rather than the usual chimes of "hello" they just froze solid when they saw us, their mouths wide open.

Eventually we came upon a settlement that was marked on our map and we estimated we were only 50km from the National Highway and Faizabad was only another 80km from there. Still a good two and a half hours driving but it was still the middle of the day and so our confidence improved.

India, as always, had other ideas however. The road began to infuriatingly alternate between dirt track and a covering of rubble akin to large, rough cobbles. Neither of which allowed us to make good progress so it took three hours and a guided detour around a town called Basti to get us on to the National Highway.

It was getting late with only a couple of hours daylight left but surely now, on a dual carriageway, we would find out what the Rickshaw was really capable of. Again the roads let us down.

Although marked as a dual carriageway on our map the road appeared to be still under construction with only two lanes available most of the time. Bizarrely the two lanes that were complete alternated every 500m or so which meant frequently having to slow down to cross a narrow section of the central reservation. With no obvious priorities competition for the right of way was particularly cutthroat and on a number of occasions we were faced with the unappealing choice of ditching the Rickshaw off the side of the road or being sideswiped by a bus.

Deciding that we'd had enough for one day we stopped at the first town and asked around for the nearest lodgings. We were pointed to Ayodhya, only 10km short of Faizabad!

As dusk settled we fired up the headlights and gunned the engine as much as we dared. Driving after dark was truly terrifying. Many Indians do not use their lights and ours were only powerful enough to see a few feet in front of us. Those that do use their lights have them on full beam permanently. Either way it was like driving blind in a vehicle which was definitely at the bottom of the pecking order.

After a few bowel loosening encounters we came up with a last gasp plan. We found the biggest, meanest looking truck we could that was managing a reasonable speed and tailgated it all the way to Ayodhya.

Still alive, just!

Current location: Ayodhya, India, 26N 47'22.7" 82E 12'07.8" 76m

We're Off :-)

Day 1: Kathmandu to Narayangadh


With the start point decided as Durbar Square, the spiritual heart of the city and the place where until recently all the Nepalese Kings were crowned (Nepal became a Republic two days before we arrived), we were primed and ready....or so we thought.


After a brief ceremony with a few local dignitaries and the cutting of the start line ribbon we raced off into the confusing maze of streets that is Kathmandu...and promptly got lost. What should have been a procession behind a police escort turned into a chaotic "every Rickshaw for themselves" fight for survival.

We ended up stuck in a one-way system which felt more like being in a river with all the other traffic flowing past on both sides. Eventually we were spat out next to a small group of other 'Runners stopped by the side of the road. Fortunately one team had the foresight to bring a map of Kathmandu with them and so we managed to work out which direction we needed to be heading in.

Showing his usual gusto Tom leap to the front of the pack and taking the lead from the locals began to assert himself on the other road users. This worked a treat and soon we were on the ring road heading out of Kathmandu.

Once we escaped the city we were treated to glorious mountain scenery intermingled with roadside carnage courtesy of a few less fortunate lorry drivers proving that overloaded vehicles and sharp bends do not mix.


(Thanks to team Paint It Black for this photo)

As has since become the norm we missed the turning for our intended route so began making up it up as we went along. We finally stopped for the evening in a small town called Narayangadh having covered 165km.

Current location: Royal Hotel, Nepal, 27N 41'47.2" 84E 25'14.9" 167m