The Rickshaw Challenge in Lonely Planet’s 10 greatest adventures.
RACE A RICKSHAW
To paraphrase the office sticker cliché: you don’t have to be mad to drive here, but it helps. India’s roads aren’t for the faint of heart; whether you’re on foot, pedalling a bike or jammed into a bus, the mayhem of packed city streets and truck-crammed highways is enough to bring on palpitations in anyony… except rickshaw drivers.
Helming a canvas-topped, unstable three-wheeler with questionable brakes requires the kind of unshakable confidence and offensive driving tactics that would make a Manhattan cab driver kneel in awe.
The autorickshaw is such an icon of the Subcontinent, that it was only a matter of time before someone dreamed up the idea of a pan-Indian rickshaw odyssey. And so, in 2006, the first Rickshaw Challenge was born.
The other 9 adventures:
CANYONEER UTAH’S PARIA CANYON
CLIMB MT RORAIMA, VENEZUELA
DIVE ICELAND’S TECTONIC PLATES
ICE TREK ARGENTINA’S MORENO GLACIER
KAYAK MOSQUITO BAY
MOUNTAIN BIKE MOAB’S SLICKROCK TRAIL
ROW ACROSS SIBERIA’S LAKE BAIKAL
TRAMP THE MILFORD IN NEW ZEALAND
WALK WITH WOLVES IN YELLOWSTONE
This is an edited extract from Lonely Planet’s Great Adventures © Lonely Planet 2012. Available in stores now.
Via: Herald Sun