Luxury stop over

We decided to stop over in Kolkata for a night of luxury before heading back to Mumbai. We booked the Park hotel and got ready to be pampered! We had initially thought we'd do some sight seeing in Kolkata, but so far we've barely left the hotel grounds. We are both coming down with a cold and our bodies are finally yelling and screaming with how they were treated for the last 2+ weeks!

I went for a massage this morning only to find out that I have too many injuries to really enjoy it! I have so many bruises all over my body that the therapist kept asking 'what are all these purple dots'! haha. But as she dodged the purple spots I seemed to relax a bit.

Still have a head cold that is trying to become more so lots of rest and water is the recipe for now. Heading back to Mumbai today and will hopefully have time to go through the 800 photos and gazillion hours of video!

We made it!

It was a long tough journey, but we reached the finish line in one peice and still together :)

I can't even begin to describe the state of shock, excitement and sadness that we felt when we crossed the finish line. We couldn't believe we made it here, clocked in at number 19 out of 59 teams, excited to see other teams and share our stories and sad that our little karma kab would no longer be constantly in our thoughts!

Our route was tough and we didn't see anything we wanted to see, but we really did have the experience of a lifetime. It was really amazing. Days out on the road we thought we'd never make it and wondered about just giving up to all the obstacles, but we powered on for our donors and for ourselves and man we feel great now!

I've had almost no access to internet and hardly even the phone due to our remote locations. I thank Stacie so much for updating as she heard from us - I had no idea when/if she was updating, so it's great to see all of her updates! We also thank Kevin for loaning us his video camera. It got a lot of use and will hopefully help you guys get a sense of the insanity that we faced along the way.

For now I am off to bed an hour later than most nights (10:30 pm!), getting ready to head to Kolkata tomorrow for one night of luxury before heading back to Mumbai on Sunday. I have hundreds of photos, stories and hours upon hours of video to share as soon as we get back.

Thank you all for your support - Stacie let me know all of your thoughts were with us along the way.

It took so long to reach shillong!

Not really, I just could not think of anything clever to rhyme it with....hehe! They reached, a day early!! After all the fretting and feeling behind schedule, I received a text at around 5pmish, that they arrived.

I have not spoken to them, so we will have to await for the last days adventure stories across assam. Great to know they are safe and sound : ) Looking forward to photos and stories of their wild adventure!!

Day 12 & 13 - Reached Siliguri - only 2 more states to go!

So apparently the 'strangers' I mentioned in the last post they had to stay with was actually a roadside restaurant, like truck stop. They often call restaurants "hotels" in India and this was where they were directed it would be possible to sleep. There were no rooms, but they had to sleep, it was dark, foggy and were told there may be some place 6kms behind them or 60kms ahead. They opted for the roadside 'hotel'!

When I spoke to them today they had already experienced a mechanical mishap, the starter cable fell onto the carburetor and burned up, they had to stop to have it replaced. K. said that the Steering was messed up, in order to go straight they had to hold the steering to the left...making it more challenging to avoid pot holes. (which i could here in the background, the auto shaking because the road was so bad and potholed).

The map they had turned out not to be much use in the North. They at this point were having to completely rely on roadside signs or stopping and asking people. They roads were either not on the map or if they were, in wrong places. At one point on the 12th I believe, they took a road that was on the map and they ended up in a tiger reserve! They ended up backtracking to get out of there. A few days back she said they drove through rice fields, for 5 or 6 kms.

What looks like a National Highway on the map turns out to be dirt road. When they try to ask for directions many times the people on the side of the road (or in it) are drunk and can't give proper directions. This is at 11am. I have seen this in the villages i have worked in, alcoholism is one of the more prevalent problems in the rural areas. They often drink toddy, a cheap homeade liquor.

They slept in Siliguri on the 12th, they met up with 6 or 7 other teams there. So far, as far as repairs they have had to:

• repair the carburetor 5 times
• Exhaust pipe 3 times
• had the engine rebuilt
• Steering repaired
• Windsheild wipers (does not even sound worthy of mentioning! ha!)
• Sidebar
• Had flat tires
• Spare tire stolen

They were not sure if they were on the correct road when i spoke with them around noon on the 13th. Karilyn was asking paul if they were going north, she was afraid they may have crossed over into Bhutan! ha!

They had hoped to complete about 300kms by the day end, leaving them about 60 to 80 on the final day to reach Shillong by mid day. This was the first day they had phone coverage and thought that once they reached Assam they may loose it again! The adventure is almost over, I am sure they will have great photos and stories to share once they are back.

Day 11 & 12

The kab was still in Bihar last news I received. And they are freezing their $#*% off! ha!


K. said they will be going through Assam, but not really looking forward to it. They stayed with strangers again because there was no where to stay for 60 more kilometers and it was getting dark.

Short post, hopefully longer more interesting one tomorrow when I have a chance to call them in the morning.

Day 8 to 10 - Nirvana anyone?!

Well I did not hear from team karma kab for a day, yes, I was a bit concerned but they were fine, just out of network coverage. They made it thru jharkhand fine (thank goodness saw in today's paper there was naxalite activity yesterday - eek, not to scare granny! they are fine : )!!).

On day 8 they were in jharkhand and heading toward Bodh Gaya in Bihar, it is the "most important of the pilgramage sites for Buddhists". Going still rough and slow, bad roads not allowing them to go at any consistent speed, causing sore butts and putting them behind schedule.

Day 9 I received a message that they were almost to Bodh Gaya and planned to end travel for day and stay there. Good for them, I know Karilyn was looking forward to seeing this sight. Perhaps retracing Guatama Buddha's steps will lead them to enlightment.....then they can come back and share the secret of attainment with me : )

And yesterday, day 10 they were hoping that another team, Simon and John who had been caught up in some Maoist trouble, would catch up to them and travel together for a bit.

They must be heading for the hills as I type and very cold!! Will update with more when I hear from them.

Day 8

Still waiting for my day 8 update, I know they have been in some remote areas and not always getting phone coverage. I guess in Chattishgar they hardly had any network coverage, when they crossed over into Orissa immediately had their bars!

I did get a text msg later in the day announcing brighter times, they had run into another team along they way. Think it is good for moral support!

One team, with Simon and John from the UK had run into some maoists, they were being delayed a bit. I hope no news is good news!! and they are moving on.

They had hoped to get into the state north of orissa, jharkhand. They were aiming for the middle route if you look at the two possible routes suggested by the Adventurists. http://rickshawrun09w.theadventurists.com/index.php?mode=route

Also, some teams are sending in updates to the coordinators via SMS, you can check out what they are doing and where they are at the event main page - http://rickshawrun.theadventurists.com/

Video of day 1 driving

What better time to learn driving than in a rickshaw, in India!!

Prepping and Day 1 photos

Other team's designs

Tetris themed auto...Brendan and John, guys from the States. Karilyn and paul waiting to take off on Day 1!

Horn ok please, the back of Karma Kab. Paul, waiting to take off. All the teams qued up on Beach street in Pondicherry for the send off.

Blessings from local officials before the send off!

Paul driving!! if i can figure out how to add video...hmm i see an icon. I have day 1 driving of karma kab, it is of paul getting lessons!! perfect time to learn driving, not only did he take lessons for the first time in India, his instructor did not speak english - Action, Action! was the common statement heard, go!

More Day 7 updates and photos from prep/day 1

Was just on the phone with Karilyn, she had to go because the police were pulling them over. It had been a rough morning, after skipping the truckside dhaba dormitory room because it felt "sketchy" and people with machine guns were walking around and snipers outside of town and they decided to drive 25kms on a dirt road in the dark to get to a larger town. It was slow and scarey but they made it fine and are now in Orissa.

The roads are still horrible and they are trying to take it easy, they had cracked their engine - something about pistons. There was no oil in the engine. So they had the engine re built, I think that was day 3 or 4, K. will have to edit and get the days corrected. She said Paul hit a bus this morning, it caused a scratch on a state bus and more damage on the karma kab, but the bus driver was trying to get Rs 3000 for damages. Karilyn yelled at them and offered Rs 200, but I guess Paul gave a 500 up before Karilyn could snap it back....the guy ran off with the money.

Yesterday there run off the road at least 10 times, it was a high shoulder and trucks and some cars would cut in too close and run them off, so they were going slow and cautious. Will update what I hear about the current police stop - K. was worried that they would take their petrol. I guess near the borders of states they had taken other teams fuel.

The adventure continues....I will make a seperate post of the photos as to not confuse! They are safe and sound, hoping to make some good time today, feeling behind schedule. Still having fun, although having a couple of frustrating days. Karilyn's knees were hurting as they banged into the bar on the auto after Paul had to slam on the brakes.

They are in heavily tribal areas of India at the moment......police wanted a fine of Rs 100 for not having a "black spot" on their headlight. But guess it is equal treatment, all the cars are getting tickets...

Day 7 update

Sticker from Rickshaw run, put on both sides of all the autos.

Roads are bad!! and the team is feeling a bit behind schedule, so have changed the route a bit. I am awaiting a phone call with further details. But here are some photos from the prepping days and first take off day i had with the team!

Registration
Me & my cast in the karma kab!

My brother mike and his girlfriend aliya, practicing driving. This photos gets some of the design well, it turned out great! I did not capture all sides of the auto, wil have to wait for Karilyn's photos. Team member Janikka helped out in the design - there were painters on site to help with the 2 days of prepping, Karilyn had him add a few things and then she got in and was painting it up herself on the final day of prep!

In line to head out of town, on beach road in pondicherry.

Day 3 to 5

I have been in touch with the karma kab via mobile. I get these great text messages - "can't find a place to sleep, staying with strangers tonight!" (they are fine, that was 3 days ago!) or "our rick is being towed across rural andhra. Our spare tire was stolen last night. Great day so far!" or in regards to another team they were traveling with for a bit - "other team at police station, not sure what for?"

They say although they were far off from everyone, taking the inside route through rural areas, people have been extremely helpful and curious wherever they have been. With 50 or more people gathering around the auto in villages. Making it difficult to get through the village with any speed. Last I heard they were reassing the route, may need to head to the east and coastal way to make up some time.

Will update tomorrow with photos and more karma kab excitement!

day 2, updates via mobile!

It was great to join the team for the first day - I was there at the start to see them off and get some video/photos of the event. My brother Mike and girlfriend Aliya had to leave before the teams were ready to go, they had a train booked to hyderabad already - I decided to take a bus on my own to chennai and see the karma kab off!

In good auto-rickshaw spirit the karma kab offered me a ride, we were all headed north the same direction! It was fun and K. has accounted for most of the experience in her "Day 1" post, she did fail to mention Paul's struggle with first gear and getting the little miracle machine ....going! K. and I were enjoying a flaky croissant in the back seat as Paul was restarting the auto, K. and I were chatting/eating and just as we try to take bites or our buttery treats we break into fits of whiplash causing jerks - Paul is learning, irish lad...less clutch, more gas and let OFF the brake! ha!!

After our 30 seconds of awkward dance moves in the back, K. and I bust out in chest pain causing laughter - paul did get it going and may not like me sharing this story - he did get much better as the day worn on (ok, at the toll booth it did take a few jerky turns to get us going and the autos behind were all honking - and laughing! as you can only do to enjoy a crazy adventure such as this!) .

I am in Bangalore now, waiting for an overnight bus - I get my cast off on Monday in mumbai, after re evaluating my finances I may join up with the team in Varanasi. I got a phone call from K. with a status report on today's rickshaw adventure - they had already broken down once and were mid flat tire repair with the Auto leaning against a tree she said! Some nice man had stopped to help : )

Even with a 6 am take off from mallalpuram (or did she say 5?) they had only made it 40 or 50 kms in 3 hours! The engine just needs some wearing in I think, at the moment it was not going well over 40kms/hr for long durations - especially cold early morning starts. I will try to upload some photos when back in mumbai from the starting and beautiful paint job - Team Member Janikka's design (well guess we all worked on it, but majority was her design) turned out fabulous.

Day 1

Whoa. Chaos and insanity at the warehouse, then at the petrol pump where 60+ teams were attempting to fuel up. many had already learned the lack of a line in India and freely jumped the line to my utter annoyance!

Finally made it to the launch site only to find it wasn't really a launch. No megaphone, loudspeakers or speeches. A small band playing and people offering puja flowers and well wishes. Paul got interviewed for ages by a reporter from the Indian Express. Hah.

Launch time came and went and it seemed that teams just started heading out, so we did as well. We had no idea where we were going, but just followed the road! The cops at the junction pushed us right, which I guess is where the other rickshaws went. But thats not where we wanted to go!!

I drove getting us out of Pondi since Paul was having stalling issues all morning. Man it was hectic. Within 15 minutes I had a total meltdown when a dog ran in front of the rickshaw. In typical Karilyn fashion, I freaked and pressed all gas, brake, and clutch at the same time. Luckily it just made the rick do a funny little shake and slow down a bit! haha. Scared the daylights out of me, so Paul took over for a bit. Oh and the thing kept shutting down when you went over 40km per hour. that was scary!

Got out of Pondi to find we were on the coastal route. Thought we'd take this one turn off but right before our rick completely seized and wouldn't start again. Within seconds locals from the bushes had appeared to help and another team stopped. took out the spark plug - all ok, fuel ok. so must just be too hot. Did a running start and were back on the road!

Paul drove for a while, getting the hang of it all. Luckily Stacie had come along with us for the ride and helped us with map reading, guarding the bags and keeping me company in the back. It was so great to have her with us for a while. We almost kidnapped her so she'd stay the whole time. Hopefully she'll meet us in a while though once her cast is off.

Had a second dog incident. a tiny 1 week old puppy was in the middle of the expressway. Amazingly all the cars swerved to miss it. And of course we had to stop to make sure it was off the road. all in the name of karma kab!!

Made it to Mammalapuram - not on our route, and not in good time. but it was day one. Today we are setting off at the crack of dawn to make up time. Hopefully heading further inland to get back on course.
Still alive and well and getting the hang of it. It's tough, but fun.

Recap: 2 dog incidents, 90 km in 4 hrs

Happy New Year

Happy New Year. Welcome to 2009. This must be the year of great things.

Yesterday we spent the entire day running from here and there getting last minute items. Filled the spare petrol cans with petrol, got a fuel dipstick, did a little painting on the rick ourselves, etc. Busy day, but was fulfilling.

The party last night was fun, but a bit much for me. I was ready to leave at 10:30, but since we had been bused in, we were stuck until 1:30. Had a blast chatting til i was hoarse and playing with the stray dogs that were all over me.

Now we are packing up and getting ready to head off. We will be setting off as it is New Years in the US. Crossing our fingers that all goes well today as we don't really have any idea where we are heading once we get out of Pondicherry! Hope we can update soon.
Until then, Happy New Year!