We will be putting together some videos this fall, but here is a short clip I produced during the run, but we never had a fast enough internet connection to allow me to upload it. This was taken a few days into the run, well before the heavy rains began.
It feels like such a luxury to have working Internet connection again (though I do have to admit it was somewhat of a blessing to be disconnected for a while)! Our final stretch of the actual Run was last Wednesday through Friday, and we crossed the finish line at 2pm in Jaisalmer on Friday. WE MADE IT TO THE GOLDEN CITY! We're now in Pune but wanted to share the stories of our final stretch of Run for now, with more on the victory parade and final days later...
After spending two nights in Jaipur we decided to take Soni up on her suggestion to check out Pushkar, a tiny little desert pilgrimage town on a lake. It was the most unbelievable setting. It was only 150K from Jaipur (all awesome desert scenery with hardly another car on the road...aside from the tourist van that stopped to take pictures of us) so we finished about 2pm, got hotel rooms set up for us and the 3 other teams in our convoy since we were there first (Jim "The Wrench" Matheson ensured our tuk didn't break down ONCE!...the 5 flat tires on the trip - including 2 within 20k of each other - were easy compared to what some of the other teams had to deal with!). Bit of an adventure finding an okay hotel in Pushkar (the one with Mickey Mouse patterned curtains was a bit much for us), but we ended up having a great hotel owner with a nice room barring the 1 double bed we all had to share, but hey, rooms were 400 rupees. Pushkar's a funny little town - you have to pay 20 rupees just to enter the town and no alcohol is allowed within town limits yet they sell "special" lassis openly throughout the town at all the cafes. Strange stuff! Got there by about 2 or 3 in the afternoon though so we were able to watch the sun set over the lake. Then we were in for a real treat as we happened to be there for the Ganesh Festival, a celebration of the god Ganesh (the elephant god that also happened to adorn our dashboard for 2K miles). It was absolutely spectacular with the music, the colors and the dancing passing through the streets around us, though one of the fireworks got a bit too close...we think we're still a bit hard of hearing between that and the constant "tuk-tuk-tuk" sound!
The drive through the desert of Rajasthan was incredibly beautiful - it was almost like the American Southwest or driving through Arizona with all the red rocks and open space...and, as a bonus, we only saw 1 giant snake. Luckily it was dead and in the middle of the road prior to our arrival. That's how we like to roll.
Leaving Puskhar Thursday morning we headed to Phalodi which we're quite certain is a town no foreigner visits (have you ever heard of Phalodi?) but we stayed at Lal Niwas Hotel which was also recommended by our new friend Soni and it worked out well as a stopover town. We've learned that sometimes uneventful is the best kind of evening here in India! In India we've had to rely on strangers which is definitely something that takes some getting used to. A stranger offered to lead the way to to our hotel which we had driven around for a while trying to find. We were hesitant to follow at first but soon started following him on his motorbike since we realized we really had no other option in terms of finding this hotel. As he started driving us down dark alleys and twisting side streets through seemingly residential-only areas we naturally got a bit nervous and slowed down to ask someone else if this was the right way. The man on the motorbike turned around, came back, and urged us to follow him...about 5 minutes later there we were in front of the Lal Niwas Hotel. Bri and Kate did some hardcore negotiating and we locked in a room that had THREE beds (2 doubles AND a king)...a very nice change from our 1 double bed from the night before!
Having dinner that night we had a lot to talk about, and a lot more to think about. It was our last night on the Run. We woke up, had some coffee and chatted with our Scottish friends who stayed at the same hotel before setting off together for Jaisalmer about mid-morning since it was only a 160K drive from Phalodi to Jaisalmer.
With Jim's Mexican wrestling mask (and our Scottish friends ironically bringing with them matching masks) we had an awesome last stretch of driving through the desert in Rocky. We busted the tunes on the rigged up iPod dock and just enjoyed the last day together in our little tuk-tuk. There had been highs, lows and a whole lot of together time over the 2 weeks of driving, and here it was coming to an end. Was it possible we may actually miss Rocky??? And driving in a small, loud and uncomfortable tin can through the villages of India??
We arrived in Jaisalmer and found out our finish line was actually INSIDE the centuries old fort! We drove up the steep hills inside the fort and when we said earlier in this post that we never once broke down, I guess we really should have said, we didn't conk out until..our last 100 meters leading up to the finish line. Luckily Rocky was just being tempermental (separation anxiety, perhaps?), we got the ol' gal going, and alas, reached the top of the fort!
Upon arrival we signed in with our time, date, and best story from the road ("Running into the cops...quite literally" - congrats to Kate for winning the best tale of the road story!) Raiders of the Lost Tuk officially crossed the finish line in the heart of the Jaisalmer fort at 2pm on Friday September 24th as Team #26 of 66 to cross the finish line.
What an adventure it was. Or, as our Irish friends would say..what a GRAND adventure it was!!!
Checked into a hotel nearby in the fort shared by many of the teams we convoyed with throughout the trip and shared some stories, victory beers and laughs (we were finally able to laugh about certain things once we crossed that finish line!) up on the rooftop overlooking The Golden City. VICTORY!!!!
More on the victory "parade," finish party (and trophy ceremony...yes, Raiders are coming home with some trophies thanks to all of you...., and post-Run excitement next post!
Cheers!
So for all you wondering where the heck we are...we are here in India still, we've made it over the finish line in Jaisalmer (as of last Friday) and we are stoked! Between long days of driving and Internet connectivity problems during the last few days though (along with no working smartphone), we didnt get to update with as many stories from the road as we wanted, so now we're going to make up for it.
Here's what went down driving from Agra to Jaipur (photos already up) around days 8-10....
We woke up before dawn to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise. We walked over to the West Gate to get a closer look at this forgotten world wonder. Words cannot describe the sheer beauty of this monument dedicated to lost love. It rained as we walked around the the area barefoot and proceeded to the inside of the marble tomb. Lots of great photos posted.
We trudged through the flooded streets and after one last rooftop picture of the Taj, we pointed our Tuk (Rocky) towards Jaipur. Highway miles went well despite the rain. Note to self: try not to sign up for an event that takes place during Monsoon Season.
One of the Irish teams got a flat and we stopped to help them. The second rule of Tuktuk club is No team left behind. Since they were back on the highway we had to find a path on the road to bang a U-turn (yes we were on another road that had actual dividers between traffic!). We found one back were the guys were and went to go through. What looked like a 2 inch puddle was actually 2 feet. Oops. Even Rocky couldn't crawl out of this one easily. With the engine dying, Jim and Bri got out to push as Kate took over to steer. With ponchos on, pouring rain and tractors careening down the road it was a shame one of the locals didn't have a GoPro rolling...Once out, we pulled over to find Paddy & Jim had found a tire place across the street.
After a few hours in the rain the sun came out. Another one of the rickshaws had stopped with a breakdown. It happened to be next to a field filled with monkeys with red faces. We later found out these are the dangerous kind- awesome. The monkey started coming towards our tuk and Bri jumped out the side. Because of the bar on our rickshaw, Kate had to jump into the front and then out the side to see the monkey go right into Rocky. Luckily, rather than going for the CamelBak, our cash or expensive video equipment, he (or she- not sure) went for a near empty bag of chips. Or crisps for our British friends. Apparently no one, not even monkeys can eat just one Lays.
Oh well, onto Jaipur.
Upon arrival into Jaipur we found something very strange. There were stoplights that people were actually stopping at when they turned red. Seemed very organized and resembled an actual city. Needless to say we were excited. Jim ran out to get some flip flops and was very excited to get out of soaking wet shoes.
We got up in the morning and hired a driver to take us around town - not a rickshaw. We headed to Amber Fort where a group of women asked for a picture with Jim and the boy scouts of India wanted photos with Kate & Bri. The Fort was massive and you could walk wherever you want. Bri & Kate encountered some bats in a random hallway so quickly decided to go another way. We tend to have a knack for finding these animals! After this we went to the City Palace and the observatory where astronomy discoveries were made centuries earlier. Even though the history of these scientific devices were all in English, it was still a little beyond our level of comprehension. Next time, we'll need to hire a fifth grade science teacher or keep wikipedia open. Yet another monkey was guarding the exit out of the observatory. Gotta love it.
Our last night in Jaipur we went to dinner with Soni, Bri's mom's neighbor's cousin (gotta love playing 6 degrees of separation). She was amazing. We went to Spice Court for traditional Rajasthan fare and Dessert. Yes. DESSERT. Soni has a T-shirt business in Jaipur and is yet another example of why we love India.
Next we prepared for an easy day up to Pushkar based on Soni's suggestion.
We'll post soon on what went down the next few days of the Run from Puskhar to the finish line in Jaisalmer (taking us some time to catch up here but now that we have Internet we are back at it!). Until next update....
With a short final day we got going around 9:30am and cruised into Jaisalmer and up the hill to the fort where we hit the finish line and signed the board. We finished in a group that was 25th across the line (out of 62 teams). 2618km later and we were finished!
Lots of driving and some cool desert scenery, but not the most exciting photos of the trip. We were on our last legs and arrived in Phalodi with a short 150K left to the finish line for day 13
We decided on the fly to make Day 11 a short one (150K) and took a small detour to a little town with a lake called Pushkar. What a great find!
We took the day off in Jaipur for some sightseeing and R&R. Amazing stuff.
We got up bright and early on Day 6 and headed out of Varanasi. The flooded roads now looked like puddles and the traffic was relatively light. We got video on the way out, but not on the way it. It always seems as if when the crazy stuff happens and the gloves come off...the cameras go off as well. Still, with the combo of the GoPro and using Xshot mounts for our video work, we do have some great stuff we will need to produce when we are back on true broadband.
Once we got back on the road we headed up towards Kanpur which was our stop for the evening. The highways treated us well, but we got a later start than normal with our caravan (the 3 Irish teams plus the fighter pilots from the UK) as we shoved off at a late 8am. Fair sailing all day (only a few minor breakdowns in route), but was about another 300k and we found ourselves arriving in the dark with rain starting. We did not have a hotel lined up, but found out without too much trouble (30 min of driving around). We also discovered the power of having a handful of teams rolling together and how good the Irish are a negotiating deals. This hotel was called "Menage Hotel", which made perfect sense when the guy at the hotel gave Jim a big smile when asing if the room was "ok" (it had one big bed). After the typical couple of Kingfishers with a formidable group of Rickshaw Run teams (I think it was over 10 at this point) we headed off to bed with dreams of the Taj in our future.
We got up the next morning headed out as a group again. This was a great day for Jim as the girls did about 75% of the driving on the day. This allowed Jim to take a nap, play some road games like water bottle bowling with fellow teams and shoot some great video along the way. Also was able to bust out Dwights mexican wrestling mask for some fun as well. The fellow travelers were much more friendly in this area and Jim was even asked for a fist pound with three guys riding a motorcycle. Yes, it is perfectly normal to have 3 on a bike in India. The odd one is when you see a family of 5 on a bike including a baby ...women side saddle and all - no helmets of course.
Before we hit Agra, Kate sorta hit a guy that appeared to be some sort of officer. I mean it was only his hand and on our mirror/winshield at 15kmph, but hey he looked like he was going to ask for a bribe - and, well, we only have one rule in Tuk Tuk club - DO NOT STOP EVER NO MATTER WHAT. Jim hopped in to take over driving when fellow teams pulled over for mechanical problems and we saw a tuk that had 5 officers in it pull up. Not sure if they were after us or not, but we were not about to find out. As we neared town the rain started coming down very hard. We weaved our way thru the city and then it appeared to our left. Off in the distance was the Taj Mahal. All our aches and pains went away as we pulled up to our $1200 rupie a night ($24) hotel that had a rooftop view of the Taj. At this point it did not matter that the door was held with a padlock and there technically was not a shower in the room. A couple of Kingfishers, bad food and power outages later we were off to bed to prep for the sunrise tour of the Taj in person!
We are in the lead for most charity money raised, but The Armchair Loafers are not too far off from us. We certainly will not be the first team to arrive at the finish line, but we'd love to be the top of the list for money raised, so if you'd like more information about or to contribute to JDRF please head over to http://www.firstgiving.com/losttuk
We hit the Taj bright and early and then headed on a wet but fairly straightforward drive to Jaipur (excluding the 3 foot deep mud puddle we got stuck in).
