Deccan Odyssey Day 9

 

The final day euphoria struck all the teams; I do not know how they all made it to the maddening traffic of Mumbai in such a record time. All the teams made it to Mumbai before 5 pm and we made our finish ceremony at 5.30pm at base hotel. All during the day we got just one service call, regarding a broken clutch cable for Team 9. Team 6 N Gold was judged the Champions for their extra effort on doing all that was recommended in the day sheet and for their absolute stunning photography.
 

The Mad Brits Team 5 ‘The Rickshaw RAMraiders’ won the Bonkers award for their crazy stunts.
 

Team 4 ‘What can go Wrong’ won the charity for their effort in fund raising.
 

All teams were given medals for their achievement which shouldn’t be thought of as inferior. Driving Indian roads for 1000 km in various stages is a champion act and by that criterion all the teams that finished the rally are champions. See you for the next adventure and until then, bye!
 

 
 

Deccan Odyssey Day 8

 
If you had read the final update on Day 7, I mentioned about the Team 12 ‘Dushi’ and their wish to continuing the rally. On the 8th morning when I sat down in the reception before the start of the briefing, I was casually chatting with the teams who had assembled early there. One such team was Team 12 and Adam narrated a story which was horrifying to an Indian. Yes, the day we came to Aurangabad they had a good hotel booked by themselves, as they had not taken accommodation with us. They had their prescription from their doctor, back home and wanted a clinic to execute the medicine for them. Their search brought them to a small clinic close to the place where they planned to stay. The place was dingy and they decided it’s all right and wanted to finish the prescribed stuff and leave. To theie surprise they were not permitted out of the clinic till next day afternoon, with various reasons cited. It was a nightmare from Adam and they finally had to spend an exuberant amount of Rs.8, 000/- as the stay rent and Rs.3,000/- for the advocated drips. That is almost a hostage situation.
 

 
Getting back to the rally story, we had our briefing at 8 am that morning and all the teams were there. The day plans were explained and all the teams left in 15 minutes. As usual the luggage and support teams had their breakfast and started from the base hotel at 9 am. At around 12 noon I wanted to check the whereabouts and I found out that we took a different route than that of the official route. So I made adjustments to get to the official route and that took an hour and then I got a call from Team 2 for service; they were 40 Km further down in the official route. It took us one hour to reach them. By that time a local had invited them home, serviced the rickshaw and cultural exchange pictures had happened. However, the service they rendered was not up to the mark and we had to do it again after another half an hour of driving. After that it was pretty much a straight drive to Nashik. The vineyard tour was enjoyed by all and Team 9 had to be reminded that they had to drive back to the hotel. The penultimate day came to an end.
 
 

 
 

Deccan Odyssey Day 6

 

 
Another long day but we had our usual timing for the start. That was because Aurangabad is not a town like Pune. Aurangabad is relatively easy to navigate. The day was filled with many service calls. During the briefing we celebrated the birthday of Najwa Bowman of Team 3 ‘Alice in Rickshawland’. Following the celebration, we had a bad news as one of the Team members of Team 12 ‘Dushi’, Miyoung Ryu had fallen ill and incidentally both the teams are friends who signed up together. Quickly they were advised to take a taxi and the rickshaw was driven by the support crew to the next station. Team 5 were the first to call and it was near Ahmednagar ‘Cavalry tank museum’. They had spark plug issue and it was sorted out in no time.

 
After that me and the team stopped for the lunch and continued our plan to the destination. By 3 pm I received a call from Team 2 that they had the clutch cable broken and they were at the same museum place mentioned earlier. By the time we were 30 km ahead of them. So to reach them it took 4 pm and the repair took no time. Before that the team was surrounded by 4 to 5 locals helping them in every possible way. If we had delayed for another 10 minutes they would have got fixed and started. Such is India and that is what the participants relish. Then it was pretty much a smooth drive to the base hotel. All the teams made in time and were excited about the rest day in Aurangabad.
 

Deccan Odyssey Day 7

 

 
Even though it is considered a rest day, the mysterious Ellora caves did not allow me to pronounce it as such. Aurangabad has such many things to see around. Even though we did not had any briefing, we had day sheet and challenges to do. The teams were informed about the late start and all of them came to the reception around 10 am. They day went without any issues and it is evident from the photos that all had a great time in the caves. Team 11 had also messaged me that they are ready for the next day trip to Nasik. More to come, until then it’s bye from me and the teams.
 

 
 

Deccan Odyssey Day 4!

 
A short drive of 130 km to Kolhapur did not go without many exiting stories. Team 10’s jinxed luck continued for a second day. Despite a few new parts the vehicle still did not run smoothly. Most of the teams came straight to the base hotel and then they went inside Kolhapur to complete the day’s challenge. Team 4, Team 7 and Team 6 ‘N Gold’ did the water falls which were recommended in the day sheet. They explained it was some tough drive with a mix of bad roads and steep climbs. However, the amazing tuk tuks mastered it perfectly and all of them came in to the base hotel around 6 pm. The short day had gone well and everyone was looking forward to another exiting day and beautiful surprises.
 

Deccan Odyssey Day 5!

 

The departure from Kolhapur was planned as an early start due the long distance; the challengers needed to drive all day. By 7.30am the briefing was done and before 8 am all the teams left the base hotel. I had no calls till I reached the Auga Khan palace. Team 9 ‘Txikas tikka’ were the first team to reach the palace to do the challenge for the day. Team 10 ‘Double Deccan’ followed them. It was a great relief to see them reach Pune without any issues, as they had so many problems after problems the previous day. After couple of hours the Palace entry was closed and we had to leave the parking of the palace. By the time I reached the base hotel there were 5 teams which had to make it to the hotel.
 

Then I had a call from Team 5 ‘The Rickshaw RAMraiders’ that they had broken down and they were just 3 km from the hotel. But it took more than an hour to negotiate Pune traffic, finding them, make it ready and to get back to the hotel for the mechanic team. By 7.30 pm all the teams arrived. The previous day there was an incident I would like to mention here. Team 11 ‘Bocholt Sunrise’ went to a restaurant for food in Kholapur and one of the three member left their hand bag there. The hotel people collected the bag and found out  rickshaw challenge shirt and called our office in Chennai and informed them about the missing bag. In turn my office people gave my number and the restaurant people contacted me and I collected the bag from them. It was given to them in the morning and they were super overwhelmed by the Indian honesty. To my mind they were just lucky.
 

 
 

The Deccan Odyssey 2018 Day 3!

 

 
Belgaum is 130 km from Goa and is in the state of Karnataka. The real test of adventure is the mountain roads en route to Belgaum. The day started at 7.30 am when the teams dropped their bags and had breakfast. The briefing was at 8 am and we had photo session at 8.20 am. The costumes and colourful outfits ofthe  participants created an energetic environment. The day started out smoothly. The first call was from Team 9. I started from the hotel at 9.30 am and after crossing Ponda I saw team 9 were talking to police and the same police officer stopped me to check  documents. Luckily for Team 9 my visit helped the officer understand our adventure and he waved us off with good luck.
 

 
Before I reached Ramnagar, I met Team 7 ‘Flying High’ and they were worried about their fuel condition. They guessed the kilometres wrong and the uphill consumed more petrol than they predicted. Luckily I remembered a spot where we could get petrol in bottles. The team was guided to the spot and they resumed their journey further. The real trouble started after this incident.
 

 
Simultaneously two things happened which made the day tedious for the next two hours. One was that the luggage van had some problem and got stranded on a different route. Secondly, Team 9 called for service at the place called Mollem. The service team were 30 km ahead of them and they needed to cover the mountain path again to catch them up. I went in search of the Genio to make a recovery or plan an alternative. The time was 2 pm and the next two hours I went completely out of coverage area. When I came in to coverage area there were couple of mixed news. Happy news is that the Genio got back limping to the hotel in Belgaum. Bad news was it was then that the service team reached Team 9. By calculations I know it will take at least 7 pm for the team 9 to reach the base hotel.

 
Meantime Team 10 ‘Double Deccan’ had broken down at Belgaum and they could not reach me. So the available call reached Aravind and he had to call all the available sources to reach me. But it was only after I got to the coverage area all things slowly settled down. As expected the Team 9 reached the base hotel at 7.30. Team 10 had some kind hearted Indians to help them and made their way to base hotel They were in very bad mood as they expected all to be smooth and their frustration increased due to non-reachable mobile help line situation. Finally all of the teams sat down for dinner and they all the tough times were laughed out with “King of good times” – Kingfisher beer.

Deccan Odyssey 2018 Day 2!

 

 
Team 11 Bocholt Sunrise came late on the first day and they missed all the session. So on the second day a special training was planned to make them drive the rickshaw. It was planned at 10 am to start their training session. By 11 am rest of the teams gathered to do the Mini challenge: drive to St. Francis Xavier Church, take a team photo, and report back with the answer to a testing triva question. Team 9 ‘Txikas tikka’ was still one person short until the other team member was cleared to visit India and it was happy news for the all-female team.

 
By 5.00 pm all the teams finished the mini challenge and got back to base hotel. Second member of Team 9 joined her team mate at 6.00 pm. The day was not uneventful, however. Team 1 were the first to call for service; there was some block in petrol tank which was cleared by the mechanics. Team 4 ‘WHAT CAN GO WRONG!!!’ went to a wrong place which was 30 km away from the original pin! That’s the problem of blindly following Google Maps. Check and recheck till you are sure the place you visit is the key and finding place by human positioning system is the fun way which is missing nowadays in the rickshaw challenge. Technology kills our imagination by spoon feeding information.
 

 
 

The Deccan Odyssey 2018!

 

Welcome to the new edition of Deccan odyssey, the rally in to the heart of Deccan plateau. The first week of every June is considered as the start of Monsoon in the west cost of India. The 2018 Monsoon has started a week earlier than its normal start and by the time I landed in Goa it was raining cats and dogs. The prediction of more rain for the coming days dampen my mood a bit. But the enthusiasm of the participants from 10 different countries during the registration kept the spirits high.
 

As punctuality is habit of Rickshaw Challenge, we started the registration exactly at 9 am in the lobby of base hotel in Panaji, Goa. Team after team finished their registration except team 11 and one member of Team 9. The briefing started at 11 am and as usual some introduction to what to expect and explained the arrangements for the next 10 days were briefed. Participants were warned enough about driving on Indian roads. All this was happening inside the hotel but outside the rain kept pouring.
 

At 2 pm training was scheduled in a parking lot at Mercers church. Miraculously, the rain stopped. Training went well and all the teams had some quality time behind the wheels to take the treacherous Indian traffic. The first challenge was to find the base hotel from the practice ground. Team tcano. 12 was the first one to call. Their first fueling had bad mix of oil to petrol and that blocked the carburetor. It was fixed in no time as the mechanics were close to them. Thus the whole day came to finish with welcome party at local goan specialty restaurant. All the teams unwind their day with beers and loosened up after an anxious day of training and driving on the Indian road.
 

 

Day 7: Aurangabad – Ellora

 
There was no briefing for that day. It was planned in such a manner that the support crew would travel to Ellora and back as the day had challenges based on Ellora. Personally I went to the Ajantha caves as I had been to all the touristy spots other than Ajantha, considering Aurangabad as base. The teams started the day activity around 11 AM. The Bhaji boys did not take their vehicle and one of the team members was confined to their room due to delhi belly. The rest piled with the other teams to visit Ellora. The teams came back to Aurangabad at around 3 PM. The rest day was winded up nicely and the anxious time of laundry came to end in the evening.
 

Day 8: Aurangabad to Nashik

 
Fresh from the rest day the teams were really looking forward to another day of driving more than 200 km. The teams were confident on all types type of road and any distance as the tuk tuk and drivers had struck a harmony between them. I reached the base hotel at around 1.30 PM. The teams fell in place before 4 pm and the plan was to go to Sula vineyard. I went along with them and it ended up in a fun night. Like the movie hangover, we had to ask with in ourselves what had happened the previous night. There are some amazing pictures from that night, which can be shared only with the group who was there. The fun night had no impact on the people next day as everyone was ready for the next day without fuss.
 

Day 9: Nashik to Mumbai

 
The last day of Deccan odyssey 2017 had a smooth start. Usually the commercial vehicles entering Mumbai city have to go through a tough drill of bureaucracy. That day there was no check or stop for the Chennai garage tempo van till it reached the sun n sand hotel (base hotel in Mumbai). As expected the teams started arriving at 3 PM. The teams convoyed with each other to Mumbai and they lost a little bit of time as teams stayed for lunch. Team 4 had a small gear cable problem which was sorted out by the locals. They were seemed to have enjoyed the warmness they got through the process. All the teams mentioned that India is amazingly friendly country and especially in rural areas they felt like celebrities. The beautiful pool in the hotel mesmerized them and I had to literally drag them all to the award function. Most of them were in their swimming attire to receive the awards. At 5 pm the award ceremony and closing of the Deccan odyssey 2017 was held at the business center of the base hotel. Team 1, the Flintstones, did the challenges in a religious fashion and they were judged the Champions. Team 2 The Bhaji Boys who had fun altogether and made the other teams happy, were judged the Bonkers. The teams thanked our service team and organization for the fun time they had in Deccan odyssey 2017.
 

 

Day 4 Belgaum to Kolhapur

 

The fourth day of Deccan odyssey 2017 started from Belgaum. It had been a long night for many of the participants and when the teams came to the Lobby they were sharing the stories with me. Michel, one of the Bhaji boys (Team 2) was the earliest for the breakfast. The rest of the teams arrived at 8 am. for briefing. Being a short day of just 120 km, Team 3 the French connection decided to take a detour to a water falls recommended in the day sheet. Before 8.30 am. all the teams left for the day from the base hotel. The tempo traveler in which I was travelling took just 3 hours to reach the base hotel in Kolhapur. The first team to arrive in Kolhapur was team 2. They checked in first and went to look around the town. By 5 PM all the teams checked in the hotel and the uneventful day came to end. In the night teams searched for a good pub and the recommended bar in the day sheet was selected to wind off.
 

Day 5 Kolhapur to Pune

 
As per the day plan this was the longest day in the whole trip. The base hotel on the day was located in the outer suburbs on the Bombay bypass from Pune. Considering that in mind I briefed them at 8 AM at the hotel and explained them what is it going to be to find the hotel. Everything went smoothly and the teams arrived at the base hotel around 5.30 PM. The teams had no outing that day and all of them went to bed early. Me and support crew had tough time finding a hotel nearby and eventually landed up in a hotel which was 3 KM away from the base hotel.
 

Day 6 Pune to Aurangabad

All the teams were early to the breakfast and briefing was at 8 AM sharp. Ferrying out of Pune was a challenge that day and I gave them a rough idea how the roads were going to be. There was no evidence of rain on the road from the previous as the sun was bright and shining on Pune that morning. The Support crew and I had breakfast and started at 8.30 AM. For me to get out of Pune traffic took about 3 hours. When it was around 1 PM, I received a message from Team 2 that their ‘engine died’. The support crew got to them just minutes later. Eventfully we found out that the team had lost the fuel tank and covered it with tape. The act had choked the fuel flow and caused the problem. It was really a long day and teams were really tiered when they reached the base hotel. The base hotel had a lovely bar and the teams got up there and had fun.
 
 

 

Cardamon

 
Both green and black cardamom seeds are essential South Indian spices and are popular all over the region. Green cardamom is the most popular, and most versatile,  used in everything from spice mixes (like garam masala) to desserts. Black cardamom has a powerful, smoky taste, and the pod can be incredibly spicy. As well as its delicious flavour, cardamom is revered for its health benefits: it’s said to possess numerous favourable qualities, including being anti-carcinogenic, anti-depressant, a detoxicant, and a cure for gum disease! By weight, it is the world’s third most expensive spice.
 

Tamarind

 
Tamarind is actually a fruit, whose insides are sour though they can become sweeter, depending on ripeness. Often used as a paste, it’s an important feature of South Indian cuisine, particularly in Andhra Pradesh, where it’s mixed with chilli powder, and Tamilnadu, where it is the most commonly used souring agent. Used in everything from stews to sauces, desserts to drinks, it’s also prominent in the West as an ingredient in Worcestershire sauce.
 
 

Red Chilli

 
Perhaps the most famous of all essential South Indian spices is red chilli. Brought to India by the Portuguese, their former colony of Goa is still known for its chilli-based curries like Vindaloo. However, chilli is now an important part of cooking all over South India, and three-quarters of chillis exported from India actually come from Andhra Pradesh, not coincidentally known as home to the spiciest food on the subcontinent. Chillis are usually dried and ground up into a powder, though can be used whole, for example in tadka. If you can handle the spice, they also regarded as good for your health.
 
 

Turmeric

Black Pepper

 
Though popular worldwide, black pepper is native to South India, originating in the Western Ghats and the Malabar Coast. The heavy, regular, rainfall of the region provides the perfect conditions for growing the spice, which the area still exports to much of the world. Usually ground straight onto dishes, black pepper is also very good for your health: it speeding up the metabolism, strengthening bones, and protects the liver!
 
 

Clove

 
Though originally found on Indonesia’s Maluku islands, cloves are now one of the essential South Indian spices. The dried flower buds provide a characteristicly warm flavour, and the whole bud is often cooked in oil or ghee to spice a dish, though too much can overpower other flavours. Cloves have long be known to be healthy, and play a role in tradition Indian Ayurvedic medicine.
 
 

Nutmeg

 
Nutmeg is the seed of the Myristica fragrans tree, which also originated in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia; another spice, mace, is derived from the seed’s dark red shell. Ground then dried, nutmeg adds warth to a dish and is often used in biryanis, although, unlike in Western cuisine, South Indians rarely add it to desserts. While nutmeg contains many healthy nutrients, and in medium doses is an effective anti-depressant, avoid consuming large quantities: it’s actually a dangerously powerful hallucinogenic!
 
 

Cassia (or cinnamon)

 
Cassia, derived from the bark of a Chinese evergreen tree, is one of the essential South Indian spices, and is often sold abroad by the name cinnamon. True (Ceylon) cinnamon, derived from Sri Lanka, is rarer. Cassia, sometimes known as Chinese cinnamon, has a slightly sweeter taste than its namesake and is another spice that Indians use to flavour savoury dishes, while being a popular dessert topping in the West.
 

Taste the essential South Indian spices!

If you want to experience true South Indian food, as well the region’s glorious scenery and thriving culture, why not join us for a Rickshaw Challenge adventure rally? The next race is the Classic Run, a week long trip from Chennai to Trivandrum, beginning on December 28th 2016. You’ll have the chance to experience the wonderful cuisines — and essential South Indian spices — of Tamilnadu and Kerala, while having the adventure of a lifetime!