And away we go! (from goodbyes to near collisions)

[John Bodycombe]

I am currently sitting in the internet cafe of a luxury resort in Mahabalipuram about 60 k south of Chennai.  How I ended up here will now be relayed.

 

I woke up this morning at 7:00 unable to sleep anymore due to anxiety/excitement for the beginning of our adventure.  At about 9:00 Brendon woke up and we got everything together and rolled on down to the port trust compound to put the finishing touches on our vehicles (including our luggage) and head out.  Our finishing touches included curtain doors, fake flowers and a trophy to name a few but I won't attempt to describe what can't be put into words.

 

At about 11:00 we all started rolling out of the warehouse and cueing at the gas station.  After a minute wait and a short little drive up beach road we all parked, lining up 60 rickshaws with various awesome paint jobs and pimping decor in front of a 10' Ghandi statue on the Bay of Bengal beach.

 

The entire send off turned out to be a coordinated event with the Pondicherry Department of Tourism and we had everything from dancers to a band to large numbers of onlookers who were there taking photos and sending us off.

 

The experience was completely amazing.  Everyone who saw us immediately had a smile on their face.  There were many "Happy New Years" shared along with well wishing and before long we were off.  My only regret being that the camera wasn't rolling as we pulled out through a tunnel of cheering locals all clapping and trying to give us high fives.

 

Although we started out in a large group we quickly became scattered when the rickshaw's started dropping like flies.  Canada Whoa's rickshaw was having break problems at the starting line.  Team Jackal, the lone Spaniard, broke down about 500 feet down the road and from there on out about every 1-2 kilometers we would pass a team on the side of the road.

 

We were doing pretty solidly until we pulled off the road when we saw Team Zissou stopped and jarred our battery loose.  Having lost electricity the vehicle still ran but the lights and the horn did not (lights we could problably live without but the horn in India is a necessity for survival).

 

The battery was hanging sideways (apparently we never had a clamp holding it on) spilling battery acid and had melted the wire going to the negative contact point.

 

Our solution? (With help from the Zissou mechanics)

 

Set it upright, twist the contact wire together and duct tape/clove hitch the battery back on to the frame.  BRILLIANT!

 

Back on the road we only had a few more problems with the engine cutting out but it seems to be mainly because the autos had been sitting in a warehouse forever. (I have just been informed that I only have 5 more minutes so I'll make this quick)

 

Driving in India is an experience akin to nothing I have ever known.  Right of way is defined purely by engine size which means that trucks and busses just go straight down the middle line honking and everyone else just gets out of their way.  Cows and stray dogs along with people are regular and seemingly uncaring obstacles but so far we are clear (Brendon almost hit a stray dog, I scared the crap out of a cow and we talked to a team who gently hit a bike with a policewoman on it..... although she was apparently rather unhappy about it).  The amazing part is that with our ridiculous look about half the people who see us immediately smile and start waving and high fiving.  I've never been so loved for honking my horn before.  We even had a rickshaw full of like 10 Indian girls blowing us kisses and waving for us to follow them (we declined much to our own dissapointment in ourselves).

 

As we moved along we would occasionally pass a team on the side of the road, would ask if they needed help and then continue putt putting on down the road.  We stopped at a random roadside stand with a few other teams and ate some questionable looking yet delicious tasting food and so far are still in the clear (knock on wood).  Eventually we decided to stay in a small beach town (which I previously mentioned) and tried to find a hotel mentioned in Brendon's Lonely planet book.  After asking many many people (including two cops) all of whom just pointed down a street which we followed till we were out of town.  Eventually we saw the Ideal Beach Resort which according to Brendon's book had rooms available from about 1400 Rs. a night (28 USD).  We thought that sounded reasonable and started heading down the driveway.

 

As we got further and further down it became cery clear that the resort was fancier than previously mentioned and while the had low budget rooms for 2500 Rs. (50 USD) the only available room was a room with a balcony and fancyiness abound for 4000 Rs. (80USD).  While at first against the idea I quickly replayed the last 5-10 minutes of driving after dark and decided to bite the bullet.

 

Indian roads are an adventure at best during the day but after the sun sets, all the motorbikes and tuk tuks disappear to be replaced by large SUV's and busses.  While not death on a platter, it certainly is not a relaxing experience because you have to ride the outside yellow line and are constantly having headlights or dark shapes fly past you.

 

So here we are in what will undoubtedly be the fanciest place we stay the entire time and completely by accident.  The Indians here have been very friendly (the europeans kind of suck) and have even helped us in finding maps.  We have decided to enjoy it and live it up for the night (they may even have a hot tub!)

 

Hope everyone is doing well

 

ps. I'm not sure if the frequency of these e-mails will be able to continue as the we are having some cell phone issues and the internet cafe's are becoming more and more sparse.  So if you don't hear from us (Mom) we are probably still alive.

 

Thanks!

John

[Ilona]

Hey Guys,
If the $80 hotel room also got you good local advice and maps for
your continued trip, it was more than worth it!
A tip from our Indian neighbors: Look for "Government Guest Houses"
for acceptable and inexpensive accommodations. Just ask around when
you roll into any town.

Go Duct Tape! ...or is it Gorilla Tape?

Ilona