Rickshaw Run Update From the Road #2

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I’m traveling 2,000 miles through India by motorized rickshaw, raising $15,000 for charity: water. While I’m sweating buckets, becoming one with my horn, avoiding cows, and getting grease under my nails on the road, you can follow along with my Instagram updates.

Day 2 update

We started with an issue, which seemed to be the theme of the day. We took off with our convoy mates, Stephen and Peter, and I promptly broke the metal rod trying to start it. I clearly don’t know my own strength. Two hours later, a LOT of stares, and less than $4 later, we had a welder come and fix it, and we were on our way again.

Today’s heat was completely oppressive – a rather boring drive through fields, though. We added a little Madonna to the playlist, and that helped a bit. We had more night driving, which made me a little nutty, but it was necessary. I think my Asian motorbike driving skills are coming back as they served me well as I wove in and out of traffic at the top mind-numbing speed. We lost ground today, but are of course hoping to make it up tomorrow!

Food on the road

Serious weight loss is happening here. This was lunch today – an egg & chapati. Charlie also managed to find a coconut and some fresh orange juice for us. We pretty much eat at little local spots that any Western traveler wouldn’t ever try. So far so good – it’s super cheap and the interaction with the locals is priceless.

We stopped at a great roadside masala chai shop this morning for breakfast. It was sort of like Starbucks. We even bought eggs next door, and he added them to our dosa.

Day 3 update

At the end of every day, I feel like I ran a marathon. My body hurts, my eyes sting from the dust and pollution, my ears ring from the noise, and all I really want to do is take a nap. No real major breakdowns today with the rickshaw; however, I think I had my share of mental breakdowns. I’m really tired, and it’s only been 3 days, and I have had a headache and an issue with an allergy or something now for 3 days. But – the race must go on.

We got an early start at 8 am and had a full day of driving until the sun had set at 7 pm. With 11 hrs on the road, we made it 315 km. It’s slow going and stops are required to not go crazy. Indian traffic no longer surprises me – trucks, cows, goats, oxen are just a horn beep away. We are still fighting the heat, and today one of our convoy’s tires burst, and we had a whole army of local men interested in helping. A little shoeless boy ran off with the tire and had it fixed. Soon our three little rickshaws were surrounded by Indians taking pictures.

At the end, hands were shaken, very little money exchanged, and everyone bid us goodbye. We have chosen to go around the big, big cities and try to stick to the smaller ones – the smaller cities are definitely challenging enough – and it’s certainly challenging to stay together amidst the traffic! Sometimes the sites in the rickshaw are beautiful, and sometimes they are just dirty and rundown. But it’s the people we’ve actually met along the way that make it special. I’m ridiculously proud of us for doing this so far…But I still want a nap.

Our team

We make a pretty good team – pediatric doctor (MacGyver mechanic) & lawyer from Australia, three finance professionals from NYC (they keep all the Indians happy in tips), and Charlie and me – writers. Lots of laughs and lots of grinding through the gears!