Happy New Year! And apparently “Rum! Rum!” here? We had a gentleman sign our rickshaw yesterday who instructed us that new year here is ‘Rum! Rum!’ and proceeded to sign it that way. Meh… I’ll go with that.

Locals signing D.B.

We are in the rickshaw right now, so incredibly bumpy and rough. The New Years Eve costume and launch party was great. Lots of laughs from those dressed up in costume. Mario, Luigi and Toadstool Princess, kitty cats, the tuxedo team, Aussie team in local threads, and so many more. Kels even partook with the Davey Crockett coon hat, nice! Met the maharaja of the palace. That was interesting. After asking me to dance it got down right creepy and I quickly descended to a friends table, the TukTukTrifecta team. I enjoyed their company very much as they are originally from the US though working through the Peace Corps in Ethiopia. One of the best parts thus far is the meeting all of the other rick-runners.

Part of our entertainment at the New Years Eve Launch Party.

With the maharaja of  Jawahar Niwas Palace.

Dinner.

Good times and good friends.

New Years Day – Yesterday – Launch Day … it went great. We set off from the palace at 1 in the afternoon after being given the green flag from the maharaja. We took a long right, short left and one more long right (hahaha!) and began to boom down the highway towards Barmer. The teams taking off (over 60 tuk tuks) was a hoot. All off like a herd of turtles going all different directions.

Kelsey looking all sorts of prepared for this trip.

We received bindis and flower leis for good luck. We’re going to need it.

The funniest little mechanic. He made over 2,000 rupees in tips by the time we all took off and had to show me.

Kelsey drove us to Barmer, approximately 150 kilometers and it took us close to three and a half hours. The drive itself was quite slow and uneventful as it was a major highway with little traffic. In the afternoons it is very warm but after 2 pm, the sun begins to set and it becomes very cold very quick. Desert weather and I’m not sure I’m in love with it. It gets dark at 6 pm on the dot, not a minute before and not a minute later.

And we’re off.

“…ridin’ along in my automobile…”

Once arriving in Barmer, we found a hotel that had moderately decent rooms and the bathrooms even included their own personal hot water heater. No bigger than a 5 gallon bucket but still hot water, in which I have found to be a very precious commodity over here. Upon waiting for our dinner, more rick runners entered the hotel. I believe there were 6 ricks by the end of the night. We had a wonderful time visiting with the others in the dining room.

FREEZING cold in the mornings.

Today we set off at 9am with a goal of reaching Palunpur. Arriving in a small town this afternoon, Sanchor, we faced the reality of knowing that we would not be able to reach Palunpur before dark. While in Sanchor, we met up with several other teams and we all had different game plans. We have since paired up with The Little Master team, Bridget and Gareth and we are making plans of getting to Mount Abu. It is suppose to be very nice as that is the popular place for locals to go on their honeymoon. Drove the Dung Beetle this morning and it was nutzo. Pretty scary at first but oddly enough, I began to get used to the crazy traffic, crappy roads, and horns blaring at me constantly. Along the highways there are always many cows, dogs, peacocks, goats sheep and even nomadic camels. It has been an adventure already and it has only just begun.

January 3, 2012 - Himatnagar & Ahmedabad (Gujarat State)

Well, we made it to Mount Abu. But more importantly, we made it out of Mount Abu. The maps of India all differ and regardless of what map you are looking at, it is poorly done with limited amount of roads appropriately marked or even marked at all for that matter. Getting to Mount Abu was a bit of a task. Along the way, poor Gareth had lost his coat with his wallet inside. I felt so horrible for he and Bridget. All of his cards, ID and about 800rps. He did however still have his passport and plenty of cash in his possession so that lessened the blow.

On our way to Mount Abu.

Let’s see… what else happened? Oh – we drove under a camel. No joke. He was walking across the road in front of Bridget and Gareth, they had to swerve a bit to miss him. I guess we thought he was walking slower than he was… by the time we got to him we had nowhere to go! Right under the neck. I could have easily stuck my finger out the side and touched his wobbly knee. Stupid camels. It was funny and we laughed for a long time about it.

Upon reaching a toll booth on our highway to Mount Abu, we were informed that no rickshaws were allowed and we would have to go about 30 kilometers BACK and to the left. (Is it always to the left in India when getting directions? I wonder.) We had no option as it was getting dark quickly and we decided to opt for the first hotel we came across. No such thing! We drove for a little under one hour in the dark with Chala and myself hanging our heads out the sides of D.B. to help determine where the edge of the road was and just what exactly was ON the road as Kelsey had difficulty seeing out of our smeared windshield. At the time, it was petrifying. Looking back, I laugh to myself thinking about how incredibly ridiculous we must have looked. We did make it to Mt. Abu Road (a smaller town than the real Mount Abu city I guess?) and located a couple hotels with the help from locals. The first hotel was FOUL. I would not have even let a mange dog lay in it. The second hotel worked much better and with Bridget’s help, we even managed to score a wonderful suite. It was much appreciated after our night driving venture.

All of the petro stations have fire buckets of sand ready and waiting.

We left Abu this morning, traveled to Palunpur by major highway and followed it down to Mehsana. Grabbed a smaller highway that took us east to Himatnagar. We are now between there and Ahmedabad, a large city of 4.5 million. Tomorrow – our goal is to conquer Ahmedabad by the main divided highway and follow it to Surat on the coast. From there we are hoping to take smaller roads back east to Ellora where the cave carvings are. It is so dangerous to drive here. We met up with English friends Andrew, Jacob and Mirek from the Agracadabra team this morning at a chai stand along side the road and they had smashed their rickshaw into a truck. The whole front end and windshield had to be replaced. One large but minor cut between the three of them which is good but scary nonetheless. The main highways that we have been traveling on are comparable to our interstate system, a 4 lane divided highway but it makes no difference as people drive which ever direction they please. Oncoming traffic in the southbound lanes while steering around camels, tractors, dogs, people, etc.

Roadside chai stand. These kiddos were so very curious.

Roadside chai stand. The ladies were friendly and allowed Chala to snap some shots of them.

Our hotels are crazy ridiculous. As of today, we have not had a hot shower in almost three days. A bucket of cold water is the best option for getting clean. The room itself is always dirty and questionable. The pillows can be covered in dirt from occupants past and the bathrooms can be rancid. I am thankful to zip up and tie up in my sleeping bag liner every night and remain cautious of what I touch in the bathrooms! Tired of this, we have decided to splurge on a proper room (if we can ever find one) in the next couple of days.

Hoping for Surat tomorrow, good juju at getting around Ahmedabad as it is a huge city and well… we’re are nothing more than just a little tuk tuk.

Planning process:  ”…we just need to get around Ahmedabad…”

Since arriving, my body has continued to sway to the movement of the train though standing on solid ground. Regardless, it feels wonderful to be at our launch point. Jaisalmer has proved to be nothing short of a wonderful city. 70,000 pop. and everyone is so incredibly friendly. Our hotel (Hotel Suryja) located within the Jaisalmer Fort is been a inviting place to call “home”. We have met our lovely rickshaw at it’s temporary home, the  Jawahar Niwas Palace.

0 miles to Jaisalmer.

Jaisalmer Fort

Jaisalmer City

Home to us for a few days – Hotel Suryja within the Jaisalmer Fort – Rooftop Restaurant

Enjoying some beverages in the courtyard behind the Jawahar Niwas Palace (click for link to their website)

“Chalaaaaaa? Will you take my picture in front of the palace?”

The rickshaw itself is a real hum dinger. An absolute riot to drive. It’s a crazy little cart with no doors, no windows, brakes that might work if I can ever remember where they are, and a spark plug wire that is questionable. Our little mechanic friends, young boys no older than 12 years, have been helpful in some senses but more enjoyable to visit and interact with than anything. Big duties for us the next couple of days before the launch. The good thing is that we don’t even know where to start. Winging it seems to be the best method for these 3 indecisive adults in a foreign country.

Meeting our Dung Beetle rickshaw for the first time. A little less than love at first sight

Our little mechanic friends quick to help us out with all it’s major glitches. They were helpful and very amusing.

 No one knows what is going on or what to do. Oh Dung Beetle…

December 30, 2011 - Jaisalmer (Rajasthan State)

“Hello! How are you?!” … “Good, thank you. How are you?” … the locals love practicing their english on us however when given a reply, they have no answer. So incredibly curious as to what we are doing and so incredibly anxious to be your friend. But not on the haggling side, just sincere in their words and actions, never aggressive.

The little kids are too cute. Always waving and yelling “Hello!” to get your attention.

Last night we enjoyed the company of other rick-runners at the palace. The King Fisher beers over here are like 40’s at home, so it is always a great time when visiting with others. It was so great to meet the people that have joined this crazy adventure and learning their stories. Among the first things this naive South Dakota girl has learned:

#1:  Kiwi’s are absolutely crazy. Any native New Zealander will do the craziest thing you can think of. Adrenaline junkies and adventure seekers. A hoot to watch and listen to.

Kiwi story telling around the bonfire.

#2:  Aussies love their money. When you get a chance, ask to see some money from Oz. It’s good stuff.

Chala never tires from hearing about Australian money.

#3:  The Brit’s way of talking is priceless. I could listen to it all day and night long. “Bloody hell”, “Bloke”, and the ever present “$@*!%ing <insert any word here>”. They kill me with their humor.

And #4:  No one has ever heard of South Dakota. What??? Word association of “prairies, cowboys and indians” summons deep laughter and jokes of being a “proper indian in India.” Well, I guess that it’s somewhat true… I’ll go with that.

All of the fellow runners are wonderful people and they are so excited to exchange emails immediately so as to follow one another’s blogs while we are all on the road. You become best friends from the start. “Alison in India Rickshaw Wonderland” – a clever name given to me by London friend from the “Agracadabra” team. It’s an amusing atmosphere filled with lots of laughs and stabs at one another’s nationalities.

Today we found ourselves wandering through the city and all of the amazing markets on the streets. Stopping here and there for little things for the Dung Beetle. The colors are brighter here, the people are friendlier, the culture is thick and the smells – though strong, are much more pleasant than Delhi. We attempted to find the necessary tools for the race but found little luck. They people here crack me up… while looking for a measuring cup for our oil/petro mix, one man assisting us belted out “No hurry, no worry! No chicken, no curry!” I love it. I still find myself in awe when my eyesight catches a camel dressed in fringe or a random cow walking along side me on the street. What a wide, wide world.

December 31, 2011 - Jaisalmer (Rajasthan State)

We have tried our best at becoming accustomed to driving the rickshaw but have shown far more success in our decorating abilities. Locally purchased chimes, garlands and little bit of personal paint touches have perhaps made it easier to imagine the three of us bombing through India in it? Driving the little Dung Beetle is a whole different story. Today we all three mustered the courage to drive it out of the palace’s compound and onto the highway. Ahhh… I suck at it. I can keep the greasy side down so that in itself makes me feel better I guess.

“we can do this.we can do this.we can do this.”

D.B. receiving it’s official name.

Aussie team with their inflatable roo strapped to the top. It was awesome – made it all the way to the finish line with it!

All the little tuk tuks getting ready for the big day.

We took a couple hours this afternoon to explore the city a bit more. Kelsey read up on the palace/temple located by the lake that we can see from our hotel balcony and it’s story definitely grabbed our attention. The lake, Gadisagar is simply a rainwater reservoir and as we are here during their dry season, it is not much to look at. The beautiful gateway and temples leading to it are interesting enough though. Supposedly built by a prositute while the city’s maharaja was away? Upon his return it was demanded to be instantly demolished since it was built by an audacious prostitute. In order to save her work, she immediately had a statue of Hindu god, Krishna, installed on the top, ensuring that not only would the gateway remain standing but that everyone would also have to bow before passing through it. I enjoy the story.

“Chalaaaaaa? Will you take my picture with this camel? I love him.”

Gateway & Temples to Lake Gadisagar 

Lake Gadisagar 

Tomorrow is D-Day and I am excited to see what all it brings. New Years Eve costume and launch party at the palace tonight. Based on the “proper indian” comments, I shall don my feather head-dress. Let the games begin.

Christmas in Seattle, I cannot think of a better way I would like to spend it. The addition of Bill to the mix would be great but as he says, “it’s just another day.” My niece and nephew have kept me smiling since I arrived yesterday and that makes my heart feel huge. Seeing my sister and Kelso makes my smiling muscles ache. Packing and repacking my beloved backpack over and over again has proved to be beneficial. Feel like I might be able to make this work. Judy has put the fear of toilet paper and train restrooms in me. I hope she’s wrong but stories from her trip to Cambodia have convinced me that she knows what she is talking about. The west coast of India awaits our arrival. Chicago and Abu Dhabi bound bright and early tomorrow morning. What in the hell am I thinking?

December 28, 2011 - Delhi, India (Capital City)

Aboard our train to Jaisalmer from New Delhi. The last couple of days have been crazy. The 14 hour flight from Chicago to Abu Dhabi went well. I mean, other than the 14 HOURS in flight. We arrived in Abu Dhabi around 8 p.m. local time and though we wished to go into the “richest city in the world”, we opted out due to only having close to a 4 hour layover. Sitting in the airport was better than I anticipated. Beautiful architecture and design. It is just an airport in the U.A.E. and I already feel awe stricken. A couple of Budweisers, a couple of trips to the glass smoking booths, a couple cartons of smokes for Kelsey and I and a bottle of rum from the duty free shop, and it seemed we were boarding our last flight of the day (to Delhi) in no time at all.

After the three and a half hour flight to Delhi, there was no doubt jet lag had set in on all three of us. I hadn’t seen the sun or even breathed outside air for over 30 hours. I was anxious to step onto Indian soil for the first time and take a deep breath… My feet did meet Indian ground for the first time and the deep breath did happen. Just… not the way I had imagined it. I walked out side of the Delhi airport and was greeted with a blast of cool air, cool.heavy.dirty.air. I wasn’t sure if it was fog, smog, smoke – what is this haze!? You couldn’t see 50 feet in front of yourself and the smell… oh the smell. What were they burning that could ever create such a rancid smell? I immediately thought back to Judy mentioning that in some Indian religions, they would burn their dead on certain days of the week. God, please don’t let it be this day. Chala put it best when she described it as “an assault on the senses.”

Kelsey arranged a taxi to take us to the New Delhi train station where we would confirm our tickets for the next leg of our adventure. We nervously climbed into the renovated ambassador style car and within seconds all three of us were holding on for our lives and fighting emotions on whether to laugh or scream. Traffic – all types of traffic – everywhere. No lanes per-se, no rules, just horns. Blaring horns, oncoming trucks, buses close to sweeping over you, it was pandemonium! One minute I would be laughing so hard I couldn’t see straight and the next minute I was squeezing the life out of Chala’s hand. It was a race of the quickest and most brave. No stopping for ANYthing. Well, except cows. What a riot.

Our train to Jaisalmer was to depart from what-we-thought, the New Delhi station. We arrived and the stench was unbearable. Poverty – no, worse than poverty. This has to be below third world. I was in disbelief that India is considered a developing country. Nothing could have prepared me for what my senses picked up. People were laying on the ground, some covered in filthy rags – if they were lucky. Others laying on the cold concrete with nothing but dogs surrounding them. The amount of people and animals – monkeys, dogs, cattle – it was hard to grasp. 16 million is the determined population of Delhi. Certain that one half of that figure lives at the New Delhi train station.

The layers of filth, smell, and garbage will remain something I will never be able to put into words. We walked and walked, and walked. With our backpacks in tow looking for… nothing. Initially looking for the ticket office to confirm our reservations, we quickly learned that this culture keeps farmers hours (open late, close early). We walked more in a desperate attempt to gather our bearings and allow enough time for the shabby ticket office to open. We watched the millions of people pass through with bags balanced on their heads, mange stricken monkeys run along the platform and men attempt to sweep the walkways with nothing more than several small sticks tied together. Once the “Office of the Ticket Superintendent” opened we were surprised, and perhaps relieved?, that we were at the wrong train station. Whaaa? We learned that we needed to be at the Old Delhi train station. If the New Delhi train station had the feel of a bomb stricken war zone, I couldn’t help but wonder what the old station would behold for us.

So we hopped a ride, our very first ride, in an auto-rickshaw taxi. This is what we would be driving the next 3 weeks. It wasn’t bad… but I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was better than the ambassador style car. To our surprise, arriving at the Old Delhi train station was a welcoming sight. It was much nicer. And by “nicer”, I mean that it had a McDonalds. The smell of urine and garbage remained, however the McDonalds was a sight for sore eyes. We indulged in a much needed lunch of chicken Big Macs (veg mostly in the North and non-veg is strictly …. chicken, goat, dog, mutton or ‘mystery meat’) and found relief in knowing that we were now at the right place.

We found a “Cloak Room” where we were able to store our backpacks for 10 rupees each (rupees – also known to we three as ruby doobies – an approximate exchange rate of $0.50 to one US dollar.) We were then able to escape the train station (as our train didn’t depart for another 7 hours) to Delhi’s historic Red Fort. A red sandstone citadel constructed over nine years beginning in 1639. It was here that the national flag was hoisted for the first time when India became an independent nation in 1947. It was a beautiful compound and it soothed us with it’s quiet environment for nearly 3 hours. Well… regardless of the teenagers taking my photo for some very bizarre, odd and irritating reason.

Back to the train station to await our departure to Jaisalmer. Sitting and watching the people. Watching the small children run on the tracks after the train has left the platform, and they are collecting coal. The restrooms on the trains are merely holes in the floor, no stool whatsoever. The tracks are covered in feces. The kids collect their coal loot and then wander the platforms and dig through the garbage looking for food. It is painful to watch and at times I have to close my eyes. Our train finally appears and it is a crap shoot. The “Sleeper” cars are no more than cattle haulers with no windows. They instantly remind me of the trains in which the Jews were hauled to concentration camps in. I praise God that Chala had reserved us a berth in “3 AC” class. A somewhat proper train berth with 3 bunks on either side on 2 bunks on one end. Once we located our berth and adjusted our backpacks, we sat and reveled in the fact that this is the very last leg of our journey to begin the race.

While celebrating our victory thus far, a local man entered our berth claiming to have a ticket for one of the bunks. He sat for several minutes as the three of us visited and then he simply got up and left.

Twenty minutes later we would learn that he stole my camera pack with camera and all additionals inside. Of course, a very serious tragedy at first but I was quick to be thankful once realizing that my money and passport bag had remained safe. It happened right in front of all 3 of us. Shit happens.

We cracked our bottle of rum acquired in Abu Dhabi and cheered to the idea of being able to physically lay down for the first time almost 4 solid days. Chala and Kels have offered their Nikon D90 for me to use the remainder of the trip. Though I have my Playbook which allows me to still capture images and video, I am SO thankful they understand my desire of photography and what a blow to the heart this all is. The train ride is 18 hours with 36 stops…. I am too tired to care at this point which may be a good thing. We were just pleasantly surprised to meet a fellow Rickshaw Run team in the berth next to us, the team from Omaha that I read about it the paper – Cats in Hats - it is a welcoming touch.

This event ended up raising £75,000 which equates to over $116,000 USD. Awesome. Photos still to come.

….and in just 8 years of doing these silly things it can really add up:

The Adventurists

I’ll post photos and more detail when we get home but the one thing I will say I have come away with is that the Indian people are absolutely the friendliest we have EVER met.  No contest.

Love to you all and thanks to everyone that followed and supported us on this silly adventure.

Chala

Kids and Bill – no wifi yet but hoping for tomorrow. We love you all so much and thank you for supporting us on this silly ride.

Talk soon. Love, Chala.

PS – Alisdair, thanks for the advice on the fenny – we are steering clear.

We’re just happy to have a place to stay for two nights, get some laundry done and most importantly, call home.

We figure we have three or four long days of driving yet to go so we need to get going in the morning but for now, relaxing feels pretty nice.

Love to you all -

Chala

Had our first flat tire today after a short little ferry ride across some channel. The people are SO friendly – we had nine guys helping Kelsey get the thing sorted.

Stayed in a home stay last night with a wonderful family that really looked after us well. They called a mechanic for us as we had to have the gear oil changed and add some transmission oil. Charges us all of 30 rupees – less than a buck.

Haven’t had wifi since last post but are really hopeful to find something tonight so we can call home.

Love and miss you all -

Chala

Alisdair – we now know what you mean about needing a bit of quiet time away from the madness

We are all good – will post more when we can find a decent computer or something.

Love to you all – truly.

Chala

So far the driving has been pretty wild – cows and camels in the middle of the highway, trucks coming down the wrong side of a divided highway, you name it – anything goes.

The rickshaw is holding up well except for a broken horn which happens to be the most critical piece of equipment in driving here. We will be looking for a mechanic to fix it sometime soon.

We are doing well aside from some pretty severe cheeseburger cravings.

Love to you all -

Chala