In the misty hilltops of Shillong the 6th edition of the Rickshaw Run launch was flagged off on in perfect weather. Downpours had dotted the week leading up to the Run and after wobbling down the mountainside on start day, they soon returned.
“HEAVY RAIN” reported team Kiwi Rickshaw, “we've stopped in a little hotel on highway with 3 other teams. Road alternating from mogals to dirt lakes.”
Sticky Bandits reported that after they “nearly slipped off a cliff edge” they “drove through a torrential downpour and thunder and lightning.”
For team 2 Blondes and a Tuk Tuk the early rains were the cause of their first breakdown, a respectable 2 days after launching!
“Day 3 phew! A 13 hour drive from guwahati, driving through a night time thunderstorm in a jungle with light&boombox failure, has left the tuktuk in need of an over night repair (& additional pimping) perfect excuse to sip tea in darjeeling! Tea in darjeeling!”
Quite a few teams opted for a brief diversion into the stunning Darjeeling hills as they travellled up and over Bangladesh – and who wouldn't considering the splendid quality of the tea in them there hills – the champagne of tea no less. By this point the updates were coming in fast, and spicy tales of the first few days driving began to emerge.
“Just had low speed rickshaw hongi with truck. When checking gap for sneaky overtake judge by rear width of rickshaw not front width. All ok,” reported team Kiwi Rickshaw!
A theme had begun and the honeymoon period was over – as is the way with every Rickshaw Run, the first few days take their tolls and the three wheeled wonders begin their first complaints!
“Serious rattles”, and “ the rickshaw is being held together with duck tape, wire & paracord” were among the vehicular related posts coming in as the first week rolled past. Unfortunately they also included the odd self induced hiccup:
“Despite a small run in with a truck (luckily wing mirrors are easy to replace) and being pulled over by the police (who cadged a lift, bought us cold drinks and were relieved to hear we haven't been driving in the dark), we've made it to Jalgaon. We're leaving Highway 6 tomorrow, to begin the drive south.”
At this point the teams had a routing choice, to head south down the East coast and then across the country later on to Goa, take a direct line straight from West Begal to Goa or a popular choice – head towards Varanasi and then over and down to the finish line in Goa.
To see team photos from the road click here