Donations raised so far....£5,282.61

We have now exceeded our target for £1000 for Frank Water Projects (£610) and Mercy Corps (£575), so we are now aiming to raise as much money as possible for Education for All 

Thank you for your donations!!

SMS Update

arrived into Nellore after dark for some gnarly night time city driving. A good few near misses, u turns across 6 lanes, animals, slightly stressful!

SMS Update

Seen 3 bad crashes so far tday, most caused by trucks going down wrong side of highway. Sour. Hot hot highway, Major Lazor full blast. Sweeeeet!

SMS Update

power cuts last night meant no pics. Few beers in a spit n saw dust joint- dirty, cheap & local. Guys r pretty touchy feely here so Si started putting his arm round me @ fuel stations to fit in. Aiming for 400k tday - long stint. Ricks holding up so far apart from back seat came off-fixed now.

SMS Update

just met a guy along the road who runs an orphanage & school. Gave him a load of Edwin pens. Nice one Edwin!

From there to here via somewhere else

Please check out the gallery (click to the right) for a loads of new photos from the last few thousand kilometers. The folder is calkled "morte pictures from the 1 %ers".   Also check out the "comic" gallery to see Al O'Shea's drawings.

Here is an update from the dusty roads of India....  

We're coming to grips with the Indian head wiggle. This side to side wiggle of the head is the most important of gestures used all the time. It means many different things such as hello, goodbye, thank you, yes definitely, I haven't got a clue, ok, a friendly gesture and probably loads of other things we can't understand.  The difference in movement is subtle but we've figured out some of them and use it loads.

Crash rules in India are very different to back home. Here if you cause a crash, regardless of injuries, a crowd will form quickly and take revenge by a mob beating. Passes by and people from the other vehicle will all get a fist in. So we are advised to scamper sharpish if anything happens. Pretty scary.

We've been travelling up the east coast on highway 5. Its a dual carriageway with central reservation which you'd expect to mean two roads of unidirectional travel. Very wrong. It basically means two roads running parallel with traffic going in all directions in all lanes, people walking all over, and herds of livestock milling about. Its absolute chaos!

Driving is all about the beep.  All the lorries have got 'Sound Horn' on the back to let them know you're there. Honking isn't aggressive as back home, its just the language of the road.

All along the road people on motorbikes, lorries and buses pull alongside us to have a close look at us, with a wave and head wiggle. Even shaken hands with guys on motorbikes as we hurtle along the road!  We stop every few hours to rest the engine and grab a coke or a coconut and we always pull a crowd. The rickshaw divers love it and want to see the engine of our superior vehicle i.e. less dinted and broken. We even managed to close off one lane of a city road with the amount of interest in two white boys driving the very indian of indian automobiles.

Our interview with a reporter from the Indian Express was printed yesterday, slightly wrong in some of its detail and blantently fraudulent in its quotations, at least we are as big as a bollywood star now and that literate know who we are and why we are here, the rest are still very confused.

Days driving endlessly along the road does tend to get a little tedious, so we have invented a little game to occupy our time - the banana balancing challenge - place a banana on a part of the rickshaw and see how many km's we can go before it falls of. Fun times!

We had both rucksacs on the roof for the first few days allowing for lots of room in the back seat area. Yesterday we realised that due to all the bumps and shakes, not to mention 2 missing roof supports, the roof rack is now in danger of collapse, we have already bent the supports that hold it up. We also have a steadily failing clutch, I'm sure this will get more attention in later updates.

Friendship and camaraderie has been all good so far, although as we left a hotel Dylan drove off down the road and around a corner set to head back to the highway, the issue was that I wasn't on board, I got out to make sure we could pass under a low roof of the hotel carpark. He only realised a couple of streets away when I wasn't answering any of his questions or joining in on the conversation (so he said). Upon realising this he slammed on the brakes, which in turn launched the stereo, maps, day bags and fuel!!! forward collapsing the back seat (which still isn't quite fixed). As I ran around the corner to find out if I had to walk the rest of the way, there was Dylan looking confused at my missing presence and trying to rebuild the poorly tuk tuk.

So since we went to the festival in Trichy we then went on to Mamalapuram a backpackers seaside spot with some seriously aged India traveller victims. Then onto Nellore where we drove at night for the first time which was gnarly. We couldn't find anywhere to stay so ended up in 3 star up market (for us) hotel. Si very nearly reversed the rickshaw into a mercedes!  Then to Vajayawada where we went to a dodgy local bar to see if Thursday is the new Friday in India. I think every day is Friday for those guys!
Then we hit the road hard and did 437km to get to Waltair and a skanky hotel on the beach. It was like a 70's Butlins that hadn't been renovated since the 50's. En route we had the cheapest meal so far, a roadside thali for 25rupees (30p) that came free with flies. The investment paid off with some toilet stoppage.  After a play on the beach we got back on the highway 5 to Gopalur-On-Sea (love the name) from where this is written on a veranda overlooking the sea. Its a quintessentially Indo-british promenade town where the Kolcatta middle classes come to spend the long weekend of easter. We just had the new record cheapest meal at 15rupees (18p) from the pavillion.  As we helped ourselves to sauce a rat ran into the kitchen! Still it tasted good.  With a bottle of Indian rum and the crashing waves its very romantic!

Big love to all
Dylan & Simon

This isn't working!!

Hi- the wonderful website is not working at all.  Just spent 2 hrs uploading photo's and only a tiny percentage have arrived into the folder. Unfortunately many of these are duplicates. We promise to get the rest up sometime soonish. 

SMS Update

We're now waiting in a pin dot village for a boat to take us across Lake Chilika to Puri (Orissa). Without 1st gear getting on the boat should be fun!

SMS Update

We've just hit rural India. A 60km dirt track through tiny villages. People sleeping on platforms, washing in ponds etc. Potholes have killed 1st gear!

SMS Update

Some toe rag stole our spare wheel, jerry can & siphoned the tank! Led to an eventful morning. Over 40 degrees, Si's forehead is glowing red!

SMS Update

Engine cut out. Hopefully it only over heated. Fitted spare spark plug. Its started again now so fingers crossed we'll get to Chandipur before dark.

SMS Update

We're skirting an area where Maoist gorilla's are waging war. There are trucks clad with red flags packed with men going past us. Heads down, carry on

SMS Update

We're still travelling with Holy Cow Express. They broke down 3 times in 20k. We've been here about 4hrs fixing on a stretch of rural road. Been warned 3 times to get out of here before dark because of the Maoist rebels. Just got going again.

SMS Update

After another 2 breakdowns for Holy Cow we slowly made our way through bandit lands to Bishnapor before dark. It was a bit hairy as the dangers were made clear to us by several people. A communist rally in town nearly forced us back to highway but we found a hotel and had first hot shower yet.Ace

up to Weds lunchtime ish

(this was written Weds lunch time (ish(), so there is continuity issues with the sms updates)

After we blogged last time, we left the internet place to see a night time festival of traditional Orissa dance and songs. All the women sat on the left, the men on the right and the holy men it the middle. Not realising this to start with, we sat down in the middle. After a couple of minutes and a few stares we quickly moved to the right. A friendly local explained that this festival was a very erotic affair where the opposite sex came to "say hello".

We left Golpapur - on - sea and fancied a break from the highway and death gamble of oncoming buses and trucks, so on hearing there was a ferry across a large lake to our next destination, Puri, we decided this would be a good rest for us and the tired little machine. The road started off fine and very picturesque, this soon changed to a heavily pitted track that continued for over 2hrs. We were getting very lost on the rural tracks with no signage and whenever we asked anyone they would always say 50k in any direction. So when a motorbike pulled alongside and asked if we'd take a guy to the ferry we jumped at the opportunity to have a guide! The relentless pot holes took out first gear so we had to negotiate getting on/off the boat in second.

On Easter sunday and monday we stayed in Puri, a great super friendly seaside town split into two parts. One side was for the travelling foreigners, the other for Indian holiday makers, this side was the better of the two with an amazing night market selling all kinds of useful and not so useful items for the home and for personal decoration. Dylan bought a couple of things, a garish picture that lights up for his flat and a skull with glowing red eyes for the tuk tuk.

There are stray dogs everywhere, with varying degrees of mangyness. Every block is patrolled by a pack of them and on several occasions we've been chased down backstreets by dogs gnashing their teeth either side of the rickshaw trying to bite our legs off.  We now carry two big sticks on board.

We got the rickshaw gear fixed by the friendliest rickshaw drivers who also tweaked and greased various bits and would accept no money. We now part of the rickshaw gang. We also went to the welders to get the roof structure fixed which was about to collapse.  Again the guys were brilliant and we had a good laugh. They were trying to get us to drink and smoke with them, but as it was only 10am we declined.

We went to the Sun temple in Konark on sunday, a totally stunning place, built around 800 years ago in a way to align the suns rays towards a temple sactum, it was like something from Indiana Jones film. The whole structure is covered in intricate sandstone carvings, a lot of them from the Karma Sutra- very saucy! Got a swim on a nice beach with crashing waves then had a few beers with some locals. We watched some night fishermen catching crabs from the shoreline, only two guys but they we pulling in hundreds.

After a reasonable nights sleep we started to load up the tuk tuk to set off again but realised that we had our spare wheel, funnel for the fuel, along with Dylans new items stolen in the night, they also syphoned our fuel...(Expletives)!!! After we weren't getting any help from the place we stayed at, we carried on to find some water, it was around 9am and was aleady mid-30's. Whilst at the stall, around 1km away, the manager from the hotel pulled up on his motorbike holding Dylans passport...with all the goings on of that morning, the manager forgot to give it back. It was so lucky we stopped, as the next time we would have realised would be a days drive away north.

The morning didn't get any easier. We then ran out of fuel as we didn't yet know the tank had been syphoned.  With no jerry can and nowhere to buy one we turned to litre water bottles. In the fuel station a beggar boy leaped onto Si's leg and wrapped himself tightly so he was walking along with the kid. The petrol station attendants were going mental at the kid.  It was a dark moment. Then Dyl went to get some much needed coffee from a stall and a guy tried to steal cash out of his wallet.

Finally we got on the road. Its definitely getting a lot hotter, over forty, so mid day is sweaty time.  We got a few hours up the road and the engine cut out. After a spark plug change and a rest she started again. Then we had another 20k of bumping around in the dark, which broke the roof rack, then got lost in the dark we accidentally drove into a military base.  Finally we got to a small hotel on the coast, very weary.

This morning we set off early but the hotel guys hampered our start as they wanted to photocopy our passports, the nearest photocopier was an hour away!  After 12k we broke down. We pushed the thing to a mechanic who changed the oil filter.  After 2k we broke down again. We stopped and started, spoke to loads of people until we found another mechanic. We got all our oil changed and various other bits fiddled with and it seems to work again.  After some roof rack welding we're off up the highway.

Whilst at the last mechanic another team got towed in. They've spent 3 days going up and down the same 30k of highway constantly breaking down. The  poor couple are at their wits end. So we're now heading north in convoy as we want to make sure they get to the next stop.  Their engine cuts out every 20k and they can only do 35kmh so its slow progress.

The temperature has dropped as dusk descends, we're passing lush green fields as the sun sets again to our left.

Banana update -its now black putrid, but still hanging in there!

We've heard news along the way other teams have been caught in the middle of Mauist terrorist and held in police cells for questioning. Another team have been hospitalised after rolling their rickshaw. And so many breakdowns.

Ciao for now

Friday Evening in a dusty sweaty little town.

After yesterday's shenanigans with breakdowns and rebel territory (see sms posts below) we ate and drank well in a decent hotel- we even treated ourselves to air con.

Holy Cows rickshaw died this morning so they jumped in with us and left the rickshaw at the hotel. We went to see the terracotta temples in Bishnapor which were nice but difficult to enjoy much in this heat. Made our way up the N60 through tiger country.  We drove past wild fires caused by the extreme heat. And obviously the engine over heated. We took off the back door to the engine, a local trick to keep it cooler. We dropped John and Louise of Holy Cow off at a train station as they need to get up to Gangtok quickly.
So all in all, we haven't made it very far due to our good Samaritan work and the engine over heating, but we aim to get up early tomorrow and eat through some km's.

We opened the door to our bathroom in our room to find a rat staring back at us..after a bit of "persuasion" he soon left.

Peas out

x

happy snapping

1%'s and the Holy Cow Express...sadly now RIP.  Mable gave up the fight and died this morning after severe enging problems...Good Luck to John and Louise

We are now part of the Rickshaw Drivers family

We crossed Chilika Lake by ferry...we had just broken 1st gear trying to get to the boat...all fixed now thanks to the man sitting next to Dylan in the Rickshaw in the picture above.

another minor technical problem

SMS Update

We're crossing the river Ganges! Its massive.

SMS Update

Saw a bird that would tower over Izaak and we just drove through a swarm of locusts.

SMS Update

We're climbing the Himalayan foothills to Gantok. Its absolutely stunning. People are super nice, waving & chatting, & more oriental in features.

We made it!

We left Raniganj and headed towards Siuri on saturday morning. The road changed from reasonable to non-existent, it was more akin to off road quad biking, minus the 4th wheel...bouncing around all over the place through a desert waste land. That was a heavy 70km!

The area we drove through in West Bengal was extremely dry and hot, and both physically and mentally draining, with even basic addition to work out distances being a challenge. The wind was like a hair dryer but with added dust.

The back door of the tuk tuk to the engine has now been removed to keep the engine cool, so hopefully no overheating breakdowns.

We headed back towards the highway which will takes towards Darjeeling, then the finish at Gangtok. This road follows the border between India and Bangladesh, and we stayed in a busy border town.  From there we got an early start and headed for the hills. The road was good so we made good time and decided to head straight up to Gangtok. As said in the sms update the drive into the Himalayan foothills was stunning. Lush greenery and winding mountains roads. As soon as you get to the hills its like going into a different country as the people look Tibetan. The styles here are far more western too. People all along the route up shouted hello and had really good english. The women here will smile and chat unlike the rest of India where women will avoid eye contact and conversation. We hit a storm coming up the hills so had to get the bags off the roof.

We crossed the border before dark but it took a while to sort the visa's. By the time we set off for the last 40km night had fallen and we realised that all the bumps the previous day had taken out our lights. So we had to find a mechanic quickly and new bulbs. So the last stretch was in the pitch dark, quite an intense drive on the steepest windiest climb yet. Fun though!

The road signs on the way up such as "Bro can make it better" and a truck driving into a condom??..random safe sex advice for truckers. Favourite was "Drinking tea at home is safety on the roads".

We arrived safe and sound just in time for the finish party...a couple of drinks to finish off an epic adventure.  It was an amazing which we both thoroughly enjoyed. Pretty knackered at the end of it so its been nice relaxing in Gantok where its clean and the temperature is perfect, and the momos dumplings are superb!  We have a view of the worlds third largest peak to the north- this is definitely the Himalayas!  We lucky to have met some brilliant folks along the route too so we've been sharing stories and catchingt up. We're heading up the mountains for a few days then down to Darjeeling after.

Once again thank you to everyone who has donated! (And thanks to those who are about to too!)

Over and Out

x 

Pics to the finish line

A goat herder on the dual carriageway gave us a little dance

A lot of staring into the back of a broken rickshaw (Mable died the next morning) on bandit road

There are already 50 people inside and still more getting in

A communist rally marches through Bishnapor

Si's feet after a day on the road

Dyl's fingers

Louise ad John join the One Percenters

Another beautiful hotel room after a long day. Send the boy for beers then....

The river Ganges...too massive to capture from a moving rickshaw

The banana after around 1000km on the number plate

Himalayan roads

Giving back the machine, going to miss that thing

Looking down on to Gantok

Third highest mountain in the world (above biggest tree)

For Rey. Selvedge after 3700km of Inidan roads

Another evening storm over Gantok from our hotel