Fun with Signs

 

Lost in translation….
 

Inventive!
 

Some signs aren’t very useful.
 

Watch out for “rumbler”!
 

Everything is a photo opportunity.
 

Great advice… if you have seat belt.
 

Quite the scene.
 

Day 13

Only a couple of days before the Mumbai Xpress 2017 comes to the finish. The longest rally in our calendar never fails to excite the participants more than all the other rallies. It’s 14 days through 4 states and it goes from the west to the east coast. The day in Bangalore started overcast. The judging of the makeover challenge kept the competitive spirits of the participants high. First we had the school visit, where also the judging was to take place. The convoy to the school was blocked by the Bangalore police for a brief time. They wanted to check the Chennai Garage Service Van papers before they allowed us to continue. The teams were taking pictures and the ongoing heavy traffic was just crazy and the local people were all with their cameras. This had beaten the publicity in the previous day’s newspapers.
 

A very warm welcome

 
Finally after a big huff and puff we reached the school. The Round table school in Bangalore gave the teams a traditional welcome and the school band performed the national anthem of India. Then the school assembly dispersed and the teams visited the school classes and had a good time. Three upper grade class girls were volunteered to judge the makeover. The obvious choice was Team 3 Just in time. After this, it was a rather uneventful day. The highway driving was like a cruise, as all the teams had seen the tougher terrain of mountain roads.
 

The guests of honor in the front row

 
I had no calls in-between for service and all of the teams made it to the hotel around 4.30 pm.  Team 12 The Rickshaw Lady and Team 14 Spider Flamingos, skipped the school and drove straight to the hotel and they reached the hotel at 12.30 am.
I stopped in Ambur for the Briyani and I saw a couple of teams there. As the state has ruled that there are no bars allowed within 500 mt of the highway, the base hotel lost its bar license. But that is not the end for party, the innovative teams went and bought a quantity of beers for the night. The teams had a great time. Team 3 Just in Time went to a local circus to witness what an Indian circus looks like. We’ll continue with the stories of the final day and till then its bye.
 

On the road

Day 14

All that begins well will end well. Living up to those legendary words, the Mumbai Xpress 2017 has come to the final day. The overcast morning in Vellore  was not a dampener.  After a quite long briefing, being the last day, the Round Table India members arrived at the hotel around 8.30 am.  Then it’s convoying to the project visit. The place was an automobile accessory unit supported by Round table. They employ disabled and destitute women. Due to an economic meltdown, the unit was on casual leave. It was just the project, without the workers there. A naughty trick was played on the parking place of the project visit. Secretly some teams took the spark plug of all the rickshaws parked there. When the others came out from the project and wanted to continue all got starting issues, except Team 4 9 Inch Males, Team 6 Desert Gypsies and Team 7 Not Fast, Not Furious.  Now you probably understand who did it…
 

Still unsuspecting…

 
With this fun note the day started and I had no calls, thanks to the Chennai Garage team, to make it a minimum break down Mumbai Xpress so far. The schedule was perfectly maintained and the schools finish was perfect for the beautiful rally.  It’s award time there and Team 3 Just in Time was judged the Champions. Charity went to Team 5 Oh Yeahh!, Bonkers went to Team 7 Not Fast, Not Furious. The award evening was organized by the Round Table and I made Sandeep the chief guest and the activity challenge of the day of buying a silk towel to Chief Guest was given to him. The final drive to the hotel was braved by the teams by their own and it was smooth in spite of heavy traffic in Chennai.
 

Congrats to the winners of the Mumbai Xpress 2017!

 
Then we moved on to the last segment of the event, the party. The Elements Hostel terrace ‘Muthu mess’ has hosted several memorable parties and it lived up to its name. I just thanked the Chennai Garage staff and gave them mementos distributed by the teams. A surprise element to end the note was a romantic proposal of Team 13 Daft Trunk Garage. Rito, one of the friendliest persons on the trip, proposed to his partner in Rickshaw Challenge, Gudi. The words are still in my years, “If we could survive this challenge, we probably survive the life challenge and would you be my love?” As the team name is inspired by the Daft Punks band and their, theme song is “Getting Lucky”.
 

A very special occasion!

 
With such a lovely note I would like to wind up the whole rally with a great wave. Thank you guys for following this and kindly go and press your register button on Rickshaw Challenge page.
 

Day11

“Do something stupid and take a picture of it I”

 
The first school visit in the rally was planned for the day. The Manglore day was a bright start. Being a long distance, teams were well informed and we did an early briefing at 7.45 am. Team 12 Rickshaw Lady and Team 14 Spider Flamingo wanted to start early and they skipped the school visit. The other teams assembled for the school and we arrived there on time. The day is the Independence Day for India, so the school had planned for flag hoisting. The Round table India’s Manglore chapter arranged the event for us. After assembling in the school, the teams were introduced to the project by the Round Tablers. Then we moved on to hoisting the flag and the ceremony was witnessed by the teams. By 9 am all got over and 10 to 15 minutes were taken for Photo session. After photo session all the teams were on the way.
 

“Do something stupid and take a picture of it II”

 
By routine I had my breakfast and kept moving towards the next destination.  Team 4 9 Inch Males gave the first service call for the day, after two hours of drive. The service team attended them and found out that they had burnt the piston of the engine. It was fixed in 30 minutes and the team could get back on road. When I had lunch in Medikeri, I met Team 1 Axles of Ignorance and team 11 at the lunch place. After that, there was absolutely no call for the day.
 

“Do something stupid and take a picture of it III”

 
The final approach to Mysore had pouring rain and the teams had to drive slowly because of the visibility. Finally all the teams arrived at the hotel before 7 pm, except Team 12 The Rickshaw Lady and Team 14 Spider Flamingo. There were plenty of fun moments on the road and as usual Team 1 Axles of Ignorance had their part this day as well. Their handle bar was painted gold when they had parked it in the hotel for lunch.
 

Extra points for spotting an elephant

 
Team 6  Desert Gypsies had a lucky moment when they crossed an elephant and all the other teams were jealous of that.
Team 12 The Rickshaw Lady and Team 14 Spider Flamingo went the wrong way and entered another state called Kerala. Eventually they made it to the hotel around 8pm. The day witnessed many locals wanting photos with the teams as they were all high on Independence Day Celebration. The Rickshaw Challenge never had any dull movements and it lived up to the participant’s expectation.
 

Day 12

A great welcome

 
Another school visit in Mysore was on the agenda for the day. A Round Table member from Mysore joined us in the hotel lobby, 15 minutes before the start of our briefing. After a quick briefing we started in convoy to the school at around 8.15 am. There was a band to welcome the participants in the school. The school arranged a dance and we had some interaction time with the kids. Teams introduced themselves to the kids and spoke a few words on how they feel about India. After a request from the kids, participants sang and even danced for a song. It was a warm and happy interaction and all teams enjoyed the visit.
 

First the talking…

 
It is an easy day drive as the distance is less than 150 km. There was absolutely no service call for the day and the Bangalore traffic was the only challenge for all the teams. Some of the teams stayed in Mysore for the morning session as they visited the palace. All the teams arrived at the hotel before the flag off time, except 3 teams. Team 11 Sgt Pepper’s Submarine, Team 12  The Rickshaw Lady and Team 14 Spider Flamingo stuck together from the beginning of the day and they reached the hotel at 8.15 pm. 10 km for 1 hour was the only information they could pass on after they reached the base hotel.
 

… then the dancing!

 
The day came to end with Banglore Red FM taking interviews with the participants. All ended well and preparation for the makeover challenge has been finished by some teams. As there was some sudden pour of rain, some of the teams wanted some time in the morning before they start. With a long distance to go, teams are prepared to face it. See you tomorrow, until then bye.
 

Scores, scores, scores!

 

We have a new leader with Team 13 Daft Trunk Garage, but they are very closely followed by Team 1 Axles of Ignorance and Team 5 Oh Yeaahh. There are still some days to drive and some challenges to do, so nothing is decided yet!
 

Day 9

It was raining when we started the day in Goa. By 8.15 am we had our briefing for the day. Crossing border has been highlighted and there were several questions about alcohol in the bags – not always a legal thing in India. Finally all was answered and the teams were ready to go. Team 9 croissant Baguette had an issue with the police when they travelled towards Goa. The police man checked all the documents and he said there were still some papers missing. Finally they found out that the paper he is asking for is a currency paper. Rs.500 had finally set them free.
 

Always a good advice!

On the rest day sadly Team 10 Swole Team 6 announced me that they are quitting the challenge to get back to Thailand to be with their missing friend. So on the morning everyone gave them a hug to see them off.  Team 11 Sgt. Pepper’s Submarine, had Halla Mixa, who was driving all alone so far and she had developed a stress pain in her left hand through handling the clutch. So in the morning Team 2 3 Amigos, which has three members, agreed to help her by swapping Craig from their team.
The day was eventful, as I had three service calls. First one came right after we crossed Margoa around 10 am. Team 14 had their Silencer cut off and they were 20 km away from service team. It was attended and before they could start I already got a new call from Team 4 9 Inch Males. They also had the same issue and they stopped after crossing the border. It was around 12 am when the team was cleared and back on road. Final call was from 13 and they got themselves fixed with local help before the service team could get them.
 

Elaborate picture posing

I visited the detour place Gokarna to see whether any teams had been there as suggested in the Day sheet. I could not see any teams there. Finally when I arrived at the base hotel almost 7 teams made it to the hotel. The final team to arrive was Team 12 The Rickshaw Lady at 6.45 pm. Of course all the teams started to go to the place where beers were served and it was a quiet ending in the small town of Murudeshwara. Looking forwarded to another day!
 

Day 10

Murudeshwara start was a bright one and to cross the parking lot of the temple was the only challenge in the morning. Teams were briefed early and all started early. After sending all the teams I had breakfast with the Chennai Garage team and moved towards Batkal. The first call was from Team 7 and there was a carburetor block problem for them. It was sorted out quickly and I moved from there.
In an hour I had another call from Team 13 and the mechanic team could reach them in an hour. The issue was also a carburetor block due to excess oil. Rest of the day was event free and being a sort day all the teams reached the base hotel in Mangalore well on time.
 

Rickshaw thieves at work

They day’s challenge in Udupi had some funny movements. As it is Krishna Jayanthi day in Udupi, the crowd was out of proportion and there was long queue to the temple. So the teams were looking at it from outside and left. Team 1 Axel of Ignorance was also there and suddenly they found the vehicle missing. But that was an act by some of the mischievous teams to hide it from them. Finally all had good laugh at it over the drinks in the evening.
More fun and more stories will continue, until then bye!

Scores, scores, scores!

 
For the competitive ones, here is the latest ranking of the Rickshaw Challenge Mumbai Xpress 2017!  Team 12 The Rickshaw Lady took over the first place, closely followed by Team one Axles if Ignorance and Team 5 Oh Yeah. But nothing is decided yet, everything can happen during the Mumbai Xpress!
 

 
 

Charity

 

 
 

 
 

 
 
A big part of any rickshaw challenge is giving back to local communities and this year’s Malabar Rampage was no different. The event raised money for Round Table India’s Freedom Through Education programme, and participants also had a great time visiting schools and getting to know the young students.
 
 
 

Going the Extra Mile

 

 
 

 
 
One of the many challenges on this year’s challenge was to take photos with people with impressive moustaches. Many succeeded, but a couple of teams went one step further, and got moustaches themselves. Impressive work.
 
 

Beaches

 

 
 

 
The Malabar Coast is famous for its incredible beaches: here is just a taster of the golden sands that teams visited last week.
 
 

Great Sights

 

 
 
 

 
 
Here are two fantastic sights on the Malabar Rampage. First, the giant statue of Shiva at Mudureshwara. Secondly, lots of our rickshaws lined up. Both beautiful in their own way.
 
 

The Award Ceremony

 

 
 
Sadly, the Malabar Rampage had to finish sometime. However, the end of a Travel Scientists‘ event means one thing: time for the finishing party. There were three prizes awarded: the Bonkers trophy (for the craziest team), the Charity trophy (for the participants who raised most for charitable causes) and the overall trophy, for the team who, well, deserved it.
 
 
 
 

 
 

Beaches

The Promenade

The Cuisine

The French and Tamil Quarters

 

One of the greatest joys of Pondichery is to explore the French quarter, formerly known as “White Town”, with its French street names and colonial architecture. Like a proper European city it’s laid out in a grid system. It even has a Notre Dame (des Anges) which offers mass in French, Tamil, and English. Many locals still speak French, and the unusual laid-back attitude here attracts many bohemian types away from the high-paced cities. The Tamil Quarter, previously called “Black Town”, is an interesting comparison though it too retains French influence. However, the difference is clear to see: the streets are narrower and more disordered, the area dotted with temples and the occasional grand colonial mansion.
 

Cathedrals and Temples

Auroville

Visit Pondicherry with a Rickshaw Challenge!

 
If you like the sound of Pondicherry (and rickshaws!) then come along for a rickshaw challenge adventure rally! The Tamilnadu run leaves in two days time, with participants racing for a week including a night’s stop in Pondicherry. If that’s too soon, consider the Classic Run, beginning December 28th from Chennai. Over ten days the auto tuk tuk race will make its way South to Trivandrum, and there’ll be a chance to explore Pondi on the way. It’s a wacky way to explore the South of India, and you’re guaranteed to have a laugh, as well as a great adventure.
 

 

Day 9: Panaji to Murudeshwara

 

 
August 15 is Indian Independence day. To commemorate it, the Goa round table had arranged a school visit for that morning. This was planned well in advance and teams Two, Three, Four, Five and Six took part in it.
By the time we arrived, the flag had been hoisted in the premises and the kids were performing the skits they themselves had prepared. The Teams enjoyed the show and rewarded the children with the gifts they had prepared, together with the gifts from Round table. We waved them goodbye just before 10 a.m., and went on our way.
When I had crossed Karwar and was heading for Batkal, I ran into Team Eight who had a technical glitch in the vehicle. I checked it and it transpired that the tuk tuk had had this issue since day four. We suspected that a bottle cap was causing a blockage in the fuel tank, interfering with transmission and dampening Team Eight’s spirits. I called the service team, who promptly replaced the tank that same day. Thankfully, all went smoothly for Team Eight after this.
I’ve noticed that that there are two distinct clans that the groups have formed: the first comprises Teams One to Six, the second Teams Seven to Nine. The first one calls on the support team and staff as a matter of course, while the second one is more self-sufficient. They took care of all their own repairs as they came up and also ended up filming all the hidden treasures of India.
I reached Murudeshwara at around 2.30 p.m.; the first team to arrive caught up with me at 4.30 p.m. Some of the teams visited the beach of Agoda as suggested in our day plan. They found the big Shiva statue and the tower exciting. They also admired the view that the base hotel had. We wound up the day sharing our meandering Indian storied over a few beers at Naveen residency.

Day Ten: Murudeshwara to Mangalore

 
Driving through the state of Maharastra has made the participants experts drivers. They had negotiated some tough terrains, challenged by heavy rains and bad roads – all this had made them adept at handling any situation. In contrast to Maharastra, the drive from Murudeshwara is an easy task for everyone because it is pretty much a good road all the way.
Udupi is the stop in-between for a moderate challenge; most of the teams visited it and some even tried the food served in the local temple. Time just flew by on Day Ten, so we ended up discussing the next day’s drive well in advance during the debriefing. Teams were well aware that there was to be a school visit the next morning, followed by an 250-odd km drive to Mysore.

Day 11: Mangalore to Mysore

 
 

 
Only four teams, One, Two, Three, and Six took part in the Maglore school visit in the end, because the day is one of the longest day in the entire journey, and the rest of the teams wanted to leave early as possible. After the school visit, the teams were flagged off by the roundtable people.
On the road, I saw Team Nine attending to a glitch, and when I stopped next to them to offer help, they gave me thumbs up to show that everything was under control. They were soon back on the road.
I later learnt through Facebook that Team Eight had had some silencer issues and they had also taken care of it themselves. The long day turned out to be an uneventful one and all the teams arrived well in time and enjoyed the view of the lit-up Palace in the evening. Teams gathered in the Opium bar in the base hotel; it was a rocking session for them.

Day 12: Mysore to Bangalore

 
The morning in Mysore started with a school visit; we went there with all refreshed and reinvigorated. All the teams came and every one had a super time with the children at school. Many Participants danced and asked the kids to show off their moves. The kids happily obliged.
After this, Team Two and Team Six danced to a salsa tune and the kids enjoyed the small gesture from our Participants. Even though our distance from our destination was not a concern, the day’s drive ended up longer than planned, from having to negotiate the Banglore traffic and find the base hotel. In the end, all the teams made it in style except Team Three who needed some help with navigation to find the hotel.
Team Two participant Hector Gabriel from Puerto Rico had his birthday that day. He threw a party in Bangalore in the base hotel’s new pub space. All the teams went. I heard the next day it had been a wild party: some of the team members could not even get out of bed the next morning.

Day 13: Bangalore to Vellore

 

The morning in Banglore also kicked off with a school visit, but because of the birthday bash after-effects, Teams One and Six couldn’t make it. Nor did Teams Seven to Nine, who had stayed in a different hotel and decided to have early start. So in the end only four teams made it to the school. The school had a terrific band and the welcome no participant will forget. Such a warm welcome and greetings blew the teams away; everyone wanted to stick around for the rest of the day.
But we had to set off to keep to schedule. It was a smooth drive to Vellore. All teams wanted to arrive and rest early as they were still somewhat worn out from the previous day. The teams had mixed feelings about the last day: most of them were sad that the fun rally was coming to end.

Day 14: Vellore to Chennai

 
The final day started with a project visit and ended in a school. All had gone accoerding to plan and all teams had made it all the way through the rally. The school visit and the atmosphere the students created gave a fitting farewell to the great rally of Mumbai Xpress 2016. After the school visit, all teams gathered in the Elements hostel to celebrate. Everyone agreed that the countless memories from the 14 days of the rally will be staying with all the participants for a long time yet.

Day Four

 

Though all tuk tuks were taken and raring to go by the crack of dawn, proceedings were soon brought to a screeching halt by Team Four’s chassis issues, in need of emergency welding, unfortunately unavailable before 10 a.m. in Pune – far too long to wait around for the fired-up throng of adventure-takers that we are. Cue a round of jiggery-pokery by our star mechanic Tiger (Thyagu),  while we stood around in trepidation. And voila: his magic took hold, and the intrepid Team Four hauled the puny tuk tuk through the urban brew of Pune and bounded for a welding shop somewhere in the outskirts of town, while still holding the day’s challenge, a visit to Aga khan firmly in their sights.
 
Meanwhile, Team 3 (Just Married), apparently swallowed by the maze of the city’s streets, headed off in the wrong direction. Fortunately though, when I checked the maps, I spied that there is a way for them rejoin us on the road to Mahabaleshwar. Phew!
 
Slowly moving through the heaving traffic of Pune, we caught up with the Team Four. As if granted by a magic djinn, the wish of a welding shop on the edge of town did indeed materialize and their vehicle was duly repaired.

 
Team Eight was next on the Pune Problems list, with a rather nebulous fuel transmission issue, which first slowed their journey out of the city to a crawl, then forced it to a juddering halt in the mouth of a tunnel on the way out of town. The Chennai garage team had to rush to their rescue – a task made all the harder by the absence of U-turns anywhere near the tunnel. Once the glitch was fixed, the team moved on with the plan. While they were awaiting their rescuers, by the way, they too witnessed Team Three taking their unscheduled exit out of town. But hey, any successful  exit out of Pune is better than none, if you ask me!
 
Reassured that all was back on track, I breathed a sigh of relief, and, as I later learnt, so did all the teams. The rest of the day unfolded smoothly  and all teams started arriving at the base hotel after 4 pm. As it is a hill station, teams enjoyed the hotel views for a bit, then, to the surprise of  the hotel staff, spilled out on the dancefloor of the small disco joint and  showed their killer dance moves til lates became earlies – pics on Facebook! .
 

Day Five

The most eventful day in the journey thus far  started off as usual, with a briefing and breakfast at 8 a.m, and were on the road by  9.30 a.m. Heading towards Mahableshware, we hit a 5 km jam on the road.  I walked out my car to find out what had happened. On the way I saw that all the teams except Team Three and Team Five were stuck in the traffic. It transpired that a truck had skidded through and blocked the road all the way across. It was another half an hour before a recovery vehicle cleared the block and traffic started moving.
 
The next challenge was visibility in the mountain road. Due to the heavy monsoon, the roads were washed away in many places. This made the drive to Rathnagiri the most challenging day. Team Eight had developed the same sort of problem again with their engine: they had to clean the carburetor and the tank to make them work again. Team Four lost about half an hour due to running out of fuel. But  all the teams gradually started to pick up speed, and  the first team reached Rathnagiri at about 6.30 p.m. All the teams had to drive in the dark. Team One, who had sailed through unscathed thus far, took a bad hit – though they remained unharmed, their vehicle was not in a good shape after. They ended up getting half-towed to the hotel by around 10 p.m.
 

Day Six

Morning was spent on a general tech check and fixing of Team One’s vehicle. After briefing, all the teams set off for the day. Team Four immediately broke down, but pulled themselves up by the wheel spokes (as it were) and bounced back just as quickly, the troopers that they are. The rest of the day went smoothly: the teams enjoyed driving through the lovely mountain views and green fields. They only needed a little tech help from the support crew in the evening, as it grew too dark for them to drive.
 
With tomorrow being a rest day, the teams partied in different places. The fun night will bring lot of good memories for them all. They can be proud of themselves to have the first – eventful and dramatic – half of Mumbai Xpress 2016 already under their belts! Hopefully, their excitement will fuel their enthusiasm and keep them in high spirits all through the second one.
 

Justdial

This interactive app has everything in one place – from various bookings through pharmacy locations to restaurant reviews, you have an abundance of information at just the tip of your fingers. Like Yellow Pages, squished into one easy-to-use program. You can order flowers, book an appointment with a doctor, see a cinema schedule or search for flights. Basically, this app provides you with phone numbers and addresses to anything you might need during your trip – a very handy app for travellers indeed!

Book My Show

If you’re in the mood to see a play, go to a movie or just go crazy on a concert, Book My Show will prove very useful. You just have to choose your location and see the endless possibilities of entertainment that come up. Once you read all the descriptions, found one to your liking, all you have to do is press “BOOK” and voilà! you have a ticket. Enjoy!

Zomato

YUM! This food app was made for everyone who loves his or her stomach. They have a gigantic restaurant directory of nearly all the eateries in India, plus they have a recommendation service, too. You can search for type of cuisine, and rest assured: the app will give you a lengthy list of all the places which got good reviews. Quality eating at its finest!

AudioCompass

 Thanks, Indian Ministry of Tourism! This insanely useful app will be your audio tour guide for the whole length of your trip. Just pick a popular tourist location, select the audio tour, and learn all the interesting facts you need to know. There are more than 1,000 places in the program’s itinerary, and what’s even better: the app works offline, too! Time to discover India in-depth! 🙂

Tripigator

This, too, is an app made through a collaboration with the Indian government. This visually pleasing and straightforward travel app has everything to help you plan trips throughout India. It tells you the fastest way to get where you want, shows you where ATMs, pharmacies, restaurants and hotels are. It even gives you a heads up if there is some kind of show or other activity going on near you.

The Times of India

It never hurts to know what’s going on around you. The most popular news outlet in the country, The Times of India has released a wonderful app that will help you keep track of things happening in the city you’re visiting. Even better: it will also provide you with information about what’s going on in the world.

IRCTC Connect

Thrown onto the market by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (phew, long name…) this app will help you plan extensive train routes within the country. It’ll keep you updated with fresh train schedules, information on delays and other issues that might come up, plus it’ll let you book tickets quickly and easily, too.