deccan odyssey 2016 – Rickshaw Challenge

The Final Flag-Down: The Deccan Odyssey 2016 Has Ended

veronika — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 13:11:43 +0000

We loved every minute, every second of it, but now it has come to an end. The last few days of the Rickshaw Challenge – Deccan Odyssey 2016 were surprisingly uneventful… well, except for some instances, like the final flag down and the announcement of the winners! Here is Princely’s update:

Day 7
The Aurangabad rest day has really proven to be a break for the participants from driving a rickshaw. I gave them the option of riding with their rickshaws or a local taxi to Ellora during the previous day’s briefing. All the teams preferred taxi, and that is hard evidence for the longing of a break from driving for all the participants. The teams visited Ellora and they came back before 3 pm – they took the rest of the day off. The organizing team went around Aurangabad and visited a few temples and finally went to see a picture in local language. They rest day came to an end and we were prepared with next day’s challenge sheet and everything. The scoring was eventually done and Team 1 was the only team which was meticulously doing all the challenges. During the night when I was checking the Facebook pages, I saw that teams posted a lot of photos in Ellora, provoking lot of curiosity about the caves among their friends.
Day 8
The destination for Day 8 was Nasik. During the briefing, I told participants all about places worth visiting, like the vineyard and the old town of Nasik. The Road from Aurangabad to Nasik is a mix of rural and semi urban routes, comparatively bad roads. All the teams started early and during the whole day I did not receive any calls from the participants. The eventless day finished early before 6 pm. Team 1 complained about some engine trouble and I asked Chennai Garage mechanic Babu to attend the fault. We then left the hotel around 8.30 pm.

Day 9
Final day morning was a casual one, and all the teams were excited about the finish. The weather was overcast with slight drizzle in the morning. Teams started from hotel before 8.30 am and the first call was from Team 1: they were facing sort of the same problem as the evening before. Finding the Team became a little tough as they had pulled down from the main road to a service road to the right side. We wasted about 45 minutes to search for them… Eventually we found them and they were quickly back on the road. We drained the petrol in a can and saw some particles in it; we concluded that the bits have blocked their flow of petrol. To be honest, after 5 years of experience, this was the first time I went to the hotel without missing a road… I was in the hotel well before 3 pm. As usual, the Sun ‘n’ Sand team and Management staff were totally cooperative and did the best to welcome the guests.

Toot-toot!

Team 4 was the first to arrive and Team 1 arrived about an hour later. For the last bit, a problem came up and they couldn’t manage to touch the line without any assistance. Team 2 & 3 arrived simultaneously and we had our Finish Ceremony at 6.30 pm. Team 1 was declared winner and the rest of the teams received their mementos, all of them spoke about how they enjoyed the run. Turns out, the biggest challenge for all in the challenge sheet was finding the petrol filling stations, even they said that some of them does not work anymore.

Say Cheese!

Lovely rally came to end and in Mumbai, the rain started immediately. It was pouring during the time the support crew travelled… It almost looked as if the rain wanted to wait and see that the teams are safe; then it started to its merry pouring. See you for the next adventure!

Are you crazy enough to come along for the ride? Then join us on the next Rickshaw Challenge. Get a team together and let’s see you at the starting line! If you want to join us in spirit, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to keep up with our latest antics.

The Toughest Day and Falling Phones: Days 5 & 6 of the Deccan Odyssey 2016

veronika — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 14:56:58 +0000

Days 5 and 6 of the Rickshaw Challenge – Deccan Odyssey 2016 has rolled around, and boy, did chaos and destruction come with them… Here are Princely’s account of the events:
Day 5
After a short day from Belgaum to Kolapur, Day 5 happened to be the toughest day in this year’s Deccan Odyssey rally. As usual, the teams were well on time and they were briefed about the tough traffic in Pune. I asked the teams to keep the timing based on their two days of experience. On average, a team can complete 30 kilometers per hour. That is a solid 8 hour-drive and if we include the stops and time to do some challenges from the sheet, 8 hours can quickly become 10. Without calculating in unexpected breakdowns.Team 3’s problem from the previous day was repaired by Chennai Garage mechanics. All the teams left the hotel well before 8.15 am.

On the Gooo!

Team 4 was the first one to call around 10.30 am; they had an issue with starting the engine. By the time the Chennai Garage team reached them and set it all straight, it became 11 am and I received a text message that they were back on the road again. I reached the hotel with the luggage car at around 3 pm. To my surprise, Team 1 landed in the hotel at 4.30 pm and they had already checked in. Again, they went out to complete some of the challenges mentioned in the day sheet. Around 5.15 pm , Team 3 and Team 2 arrived at the hotel.
What seemed to be an easy day turned out to be an entirely different story in the end. Around 6.30 pm, I called up the Chennai Garage team to find out their whereabouts. They informed me that they received a call from Team 4 regarding a breakdown. The team had tough time finding them in Pune. Eventually, they caught up (it was 8 pm by that time.) They were 15 km away from the hotel. The CG team found out that an inner part in the engine was broken and they decided to change the engine. It was a quick fire change by CG mechanic Babu. He did the whole job in just about half an hour and they reached the hotel at 10 pm.

Safe Arrivals.

Before that, the rest of the teams that went for scouting a pup came back to the hotel. They were surprised to see me there still hanging around and all of us sat there and shared some stories before they hit their beds. When Team 4 arrived , the team members looked stressed out. I knew for sure that next day would be a better day for them. I bid them good luck and good night and left the hotel.

Day 6
Pune morning started off in a normal fashion until Peyman from Team 4 dropped his phone while coming out of the lift and it went right into the gap between the lift body and the door. Perfect. It was an unbelievable feat to drop a phone correctly in that slot. But, the reality is, if it’s bound to happen, then it will. We informed the hotel reception and they told us that the lift maintenance personnel will arrive only at 9 am. All the teams had their breakfast and the briefing was done by 8 am. Team 4 had to wait until the person came and recovered the phone for them. It was 9.15 am when we got the phone and it was smashed in completely. Peyman was happy that he recovered the memory in phone and they started without wasting much time.
During the lunch time, I met Team 1 who stopped in the same hotel and had ice-creams for lunch. Unusually the day was extremely hot and we heard from the hotel person that the monsoon has still not set in this part of the state. I reached the hotel around 3 pm and the first team to arrive was at 5.30 pm. Team 1 was the first team to arrive, followed by Team 2 and Team 3 with a difference of 1 hour in-between. Team 4 arrived about 6.30 pm and they also had a smooth day except for the incident in the morning.
Team 2 and Team 3 had a rough time with the military museum in Aurangabad, where they had to flee from the place – literally. The reason was that they (locals) demanded more money for their parking . Team 3 also had a flat tyre to deal with during the day. Thankfully, the hotel had a bar, and all the teams settled in and shared their wacky stories.

Moments to Relax.

Being a rest day tomorrow , teams were informed about the open day. My plan is to visit the hotel at 11 am and then some touristy activity.

Thieving Monkeys and the Monsoon: Days 3 and 4 of the Deccan Odyssey 2016

veronika — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 14:40:21 +0000

The Deccan Odyssey 2016 is well on the way, with teams exploring the beautiful Kolapur today. So far, the weather isn’t too forgiving, and it turns out that future paticipants of the Rickshaw Challenge should be aware of hairy, small thieves… Here is Princely’s account.

Day 3
Driving to Belgaum was the task for the day. It started with cruel weather; the rain did not show any mercy and it was pouring like hell. The crazy participants of Rickshaw challenge did not mind a challenge like some petty water pouring from the sky and they were ready for the day well in advance. The route was mainly in the mountains with lots of turns and swirls.
The Organizer Team and the Support Team of Chennai Garage started half an hour after all the teams left for the day. I picked up with Team 2 and Team 3 well before 11 am. I met Team 4 up in the mountains before they reached the Karnataka entry.
The day turned out to be a no petrol day. Almost all the teams ran out of petrol and the only team that did not have any problems was Team 4. It is amazing to know that all of the participants managed to fill petrol from local shops rather than gas stations. I saw Team 1 before Ramapur and they were getting local help to fetch petrol for them.
After that, it was pretty much a smooth day and all the teams reached the base well on time. Teams showed the pictures they took for the day challenge and had their own plans for the night.

Day 4
By Day 4, the teams had started feeling their vehicles and had understood their tricks very well. They started to get a taste of Indian Hospitality – in fact, they were getting more than what they could take. Too much attention from locals, tons of waving people, greetings and strange friends from nowhere came as a surprise to them. Slowly, however, they are coming to terms with what it feels like to drive around India like a celebrity.
“Detour” was the order of the day. It was the smallest distance of the whole rally. The whole distance between Belgaum and Kolapur is within 130 odd kilometres. All the Teams had started to religiously follow the drill of baggage drop and breakfast right to the letter. The briefing was at 8.15 a.m. and the focus was to make them aware of the recommended detour of water falls, which has been mentioned in the day sheet. The morning was bright and sunny, but the overcast of Monsoon followed soon. So, it was mix of rain and sun throughout the day.
The Travelscientists, and Chennai Garage staff had breakfast after the teams started and that gave some time for the teams to gain lead. When I first saw a team – in fact, a couple of them – it was 11 a.m. and Kolapur was just 40 km away from the wher we were. Team 3 a.k.a. Third Wheel waved a distress sign when I went past them in the luggage vehicle. I slowed down and pulled over to see what was wrong. The complaint was that the vehicle was losing power and the break efficiency was much less. I told them that the mechanic team is 40 KM behind us and if they catch up they will work on it immediately. If they were to make it to the hotel early, then their rickshaw would be attended to in the base hotel. From my experience, it looked like they had burned their clutch.

Side of the Road… With a View.

I reached hotel well before 12 noon. Being a hotel which has been booked for the first time, I had some difficulty to make them understand my system of work and it took me some time, sign language and lot of slow explanation to get what I required. The first team to drop in was Team 3 and it was 2 p.m. by then. Team 2, the other team of the same group of participants from Australia and Newzeland, lost their way and took them extra half an hour to find the hotel. They drove straight to the hotel instead of the recommended challenges because they had couple of people who felt ill. It is called the Indian food syndrome delly belly (invention of new name for an upset stomach). I spoke with them regarding any requirement of medication and they said they are fine and they will take care of things themselves.
The next team to arrive was Team 4 at around 4 p.m. and they were sharing their filming experience. They were happy to find a lot of material for their documentary and they did a lot of detours to rural places from the main high way. They visited a dam on the way and explored lots of places before they realized it was getting late (and they still needed to reach the destination.) Once all but one team was there, the teams went out to explore in Kolapur.

Go, go, go!

Team 1 was the last to arrive and they dropped in at around 5.45 p.m. The Chennai Garage support team arrived before Team 1. I guessed that the Team 1 will be inside Kolapur and I instructed the Support Team to drive straight to the hotel. Teams sat at the bar in the hotel and shared their stories. I had a chat with Team 1 about their day and they had many stories of getting in and around villages and their feel of India. The most interesting story was about stealing monkeys of which they shot photos – they showed them to me. After that, they shared a similar story about the Monkey Island in Indonesia. The conversation went little bit further with politics, monarch and world order before we realized just how short life is. We were amazed by the opportunity to meet each other in a place which is far-far away from respective homes. I bade them good night and retreated to my resting place.

The First Two Days of the Rickshaw Challenge – Deccan Odyssey 2016

veronika — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 13:24:58 +0000

The Deccan Odyssey 2016 has started, and our adventure operator on the scene, Princely, is here to update us about wacky happenings.

Day 1
It is Monsoon time in the Western parts of India. Rain has come to relieve the pain of the drought. But it is a different story for the Rickshaw challenge organizers and the Participants. As an organizer I landed up two days before the start and the rickshaws were pretty much ready except some last minute makeovers. The rain started pouring from when I started from Chennai up to the time when I landed in Verna, where the Chennai Garage station is situated in Goa.
Next day we took the rickshaws to our base hotel and the organizers prepared the survival kit for next day’s registration. The first day started with an urgent mail from Travel Scientist, Guy Zucker, who forwarded a mail from Team 4 Makshat who had issues with the room booking for early check in. Thankfully, the issue was quickly sorted out and they were guided to a hotel nearby till the rooms where ready in our base Hotel: Crown Goa. I was at the hotel at 9 a.m. and heard that the hotel was totally booked for the previous day and the staff was waiting for people to check out so that the rooms would be cleaned and made ready for our participants. Team 1, 2 and 3, arrived at 10 a.m. and we started registration right away. Team 4 did not turn up till 11 a.m. and we called them at their hotel and found out that they will be coming only at 2 p.m. So, I decided to start the briefing and get on with the schedule. As the check-in was delayed the practice was rescheduled to 3 p.m. Team 4 arrived at 2p.m. and cheeked into the hotel.

Practising the Moves.

At practice, because of the rain, the ground was soaked, but that did not dampen the spirits of the teams. Practice went on for two hours after which the teams went to fuel up and finished at the base hotel well before 6 p.m. After that, it was pretty much beers and stories. Official welcome drinks where arranged at the pub ‘Down the Road’. Team 1 ran out of petrol before they could reach the first petrol station, but fortunately they broke down near another auto rickshaw. Team 3 followed them in their vehicle and the petrol was drawn from them and filled into Team 1’s tank so they could reach the fuel station. The ice breaking party went on well without incidents and Teams were sharing their stories with one another.

Day 2
The day of the Mini Challenge started at 10.30 for organizers and 11 o’clock for the participants.
The teams were enjoying their breakfast together at the base hotel, then started out to tackle the Mini challenge. Team 4 is documenting the whole rally, so they were taking their time to shoot videos and pictures. It took them 3 hours to complete the whole activity and the teams were back well before 1 p.m. except for Team 4; they came back at 3 pm. All the teams showed their pictures they took at the St. Francis Church.

Time to Relax a Bit.

After that, there were rumours that Teams 2 and 3 went to a Goan speciality restaurant and had a great time enjoying the local cuisine. And it’s no surprise – Goan cuisine is divine!