Rickshaw Run - Part seven - The final installment

Tuesday 13^th January 2015

This morning we woke up and geared up to head out. Maezee was still pretty hammered from last night which was more than a bit hilarious. We went and got the rickshaws from the parking lot and got ripped off when the guy tried to charge us in full when we had already paid half. In the end we only paid an extra 80 rupees but it’s the principle of the matter.

We took the shaws back to the hotel and loaded up the fuel hose we changed yesterday was also leaking so that was a waste of time. Mark (our new friend on the motorbike) was heading right through to Jaisalmer today and Maezee decided to ride with him and meet us there tomorrow, which left me to drive the rest of the way which I was pretty happy with. So we lost Maezee but gained another team (speedbump) to our convoy.

We hit the road and instantly caused a traffic jam as we tried to drive down a one way street and had to all back up turn around and head out the way we came in. our destination point for today was Pokhran which is just over midway between jodhpur and Jaisalmer. The morning was spent honing along the motorway our rickshaw was much faster with just two of us in it.

The Indian army was out in force today and we kept overtaking this massive convoy only to stop and have them go past us again.

At a chai stop we had a bit of a switch up and Rachel went with Blake and Zach came in with me we were cruising down the highway but decided to take a detour down some side roads. The intrepid brothers wanted to push on to Jaisalmer so they headed off and we hit some side roads along the way we stopped and hr boys all climbed some dodgy as old water tower while Rachel and I ate biscuits.

Further on we kept hitting patched of sand and were drifting through in one particularly thick patch tucking disaster flipped and somehow managed to both fall into the gaps and not get pinned at all by the shaw itself! After that we all cooled our jets a bit in the sand.

Not too much further the road re-joined the highway and we cruised into Pokhran not long after 2pm we stopped and ate before trying to find somewhere to stay. We found a place and grabbed some tables and then I headed to the loo to get there I had to walk through the kitchen which seemed to be staffed exclusively with children and there were about six pairs of undies hanging from nails in the wall it was a truly bizarre place but the food was good.

The first few accommodations we checked out were so average for the price so we decided to see if we could find something better and were well rewarded when we drove into the town’s fort and learnt that we could stay there. It was a bit pricey but Rachel and I bunked in with the curry eating kiwis and it worked out not too bad. The fort is huge and has a swimming pool (which we didn’t use since its pretty cold)

We drove the rickshaws up onto the fort walls and took a bunch of photos with the cannons and the fort in the background. Driving up was pretty freaky since it was super steep and driving back down was even scarier but I was pretty pleased with myself for doing it.

After the shaws were parked up for the night we walked around the walls some parts were walled up but that didn’t deter us we just climbed over. At one point a man way down in the market was yelling at us to get down. We watched half a sun set then continued on stopping by the pool to get a bunch of hilarious photos in weird yoga poses.

Once we were all pictured out we had a beer by the pool and then walked into town to find a cheap dinner by which stage a bunch of other teams had also arrived. We found a local place and had an all we could eat thali for 100 rupees each. On the way back I found a tiny shop selling mango bites and bought a huge bag which should last a day or two!

Back in the fort we had a game of spotlight, we split into teams and crept about the fort trying not to be found. Blake and I won after hanging out on a roof top for ages and curling into balls when we saw people (we both were dressed in ninja black) we got bored up there though and went running about the courtyard which is when we were caught but we had already won so were pretty pleased with ourselves.

Then for me it was time for a glorious hot shower and bed while the others chilled with a beer.

Wednesday 13^th January 2015

This morning we were woken up by one of the hotel dudes banging on the doors announcing breakfast at 6.15am when we had asked for brekkie at 7am we got our shit together and loaded up our rickshaws before heading to eat we were still12 minutes early but they acted as though we had kept them waiting.

Before we left the fort the boys drove up on the wall again and got more photos, and then we hit the road for our last 110km to Jaisalmer.  Our first stop was the petrol station where we all guess-timated how much fuel we would need to get to the finish line.

The roads were all smooth tarmac and we were running like a dream being a man down. Along the way we all got a bit crazy, Blake was riding on the roof rack him and Rachel swapped rickshaws and then back whilst on the move and then we picked up one member of speedbump who was riding in the back of a tractor one minute and who was flying into our rickshaw at high speed the next.

We made a few stops along the way for chai and to do some morning calisthenics to warm up then it was back in the shaws to head to the end. About 50km out we messaged Maezee to meet us at the finish line. We pulled into town and made our way to the palace where the finish line was we drove in and up the little podium where we got our picture taken we were short Maezee so will have to Photoshop her in! 

Then we drove down the ramp the other side did a few skids in the sand and then parked up. We posted our finishing time on the bored along with our best story from the road (making up our family song Jay Jay has a semi and we know it)

Not long after that Maezee and Mark arrived and we took our shaw for another spin and re-crossed the finish line with the whole team then hung about for the victory parade. While we were waiting I ate an entire packet of chocolate bourbons, two chocolate bars and a bunch of mango bites so by the time the parade started I was on a sugar high and threatened to cut a team with a razor for cutting us off, apologies were immediately said and they hadn’t even heard me so that was fine.

We hooned around the streets of Jaisalmer and Mark was more than a little bit scared especially when we got back to the lot and I started doing skids and doughnuts all over the sand me and Maezee were having a jolly time while he quietly shat his pants, we did almost have a head on collision with another team but we all laughed about it and carried on.

Before anyone could stop us we took our shaw and went to check into our hotel. Que drama as the hotel had fucked up our reservation and despite us paying a small fortune they wanted us to all share a bed. We packed a massive sad and finally got what we wanted but they effort it took left us needing booze so despite giving up alcohol for 2015 we hit the “child beer store” (it’s a hilarious typo and should read “chilled beer” we also got samosas and a bunch of snacks then had to take our rickshaw back and hand over the keys and paperwork it was a sad moment.

Back at the hotel we cranked the Hindi music videos and were joined for a bit by the bar tender who came to see if we wanted drinks and then wouldn’t leave. We got showered and dressed in our Indian outfits complete with bling, bindis and enough bracelets to dress a small city then headed over to the boys for some more pre drinking.

Sometime later we hit up the party and from there it’s a blur I almost ended up in the fire twice, had my face bitten, danced on tables, danced on chairs, danced on peoples shoulders, climbed on the roof, ate about three plates of food (one of them cold and in Maezees words “cold Paneer is fucking amazing”) a jolly time was had by all and we ended the night with about seven of us crammed in a rickshaw. And this sad anti-climax is the end of the rickshaw Run for 2015.