Rickshaw Run Is GO!

Quick update from an internet cafe, I will do a longer one tomorrow hopefully... Nutshell, we got out of Kochi successfully! It was a bit crazy but it happened.

I ended up caravanning with the team Mucho Nacho as they were also headed towards the east coast, and just like the Mototaxi Junket the team I was with ended up having mechanical problems all day! Eventually they were traced to a bad spark plug and we were able to get things moving after many hours of false starts.

Total travel today, 162km in about seven hours... Not very good, but mechanical delays were the killer. 2900km left? Eep.

Chillin' for the night in Munnar, tomorrow we head towards Pondecherry (though we won't make it all the way), then Chennai and up!

Comments

Alex said…

Hey dude, I'm a friend of Malena's...me and a friend have been dreaming about the Rickshaw Run for a couple years now, so it's pretty exciting that I know someone who actually did it. I'm stalking your blog as well as hers 'cause yours got pictures. And a huge beard.

Nice job painting that thing.

April 13, 2010 at 10:31 AM

Patagonia Beckons

Today I begin what may become one of the most difficult tests of long term mental and physical endurance and strength I have ever undertaken: for most of its remaining 2500km through Patagonia, Ruta 40 is considered one of the most desolate highways in the world. Over half of the remaining road is gravel, sand, and dirt. The number of towns listed on a map once I pass Perito Moreno can be counted on one hand, and there are many stretches of hundreds of miles without provisions, fuel, or places to stay.

Gear Review: Sea to Summit Big River Dry Sacks

In the past couple months on the road I think I’ve spent more time riding my scooter through rain than I have in the dry – this is clearly reflected in the fact that as time has gone by I’ve invested more and more money in things to keep my stuff dry, since wet gear sucks. One of my favorite purchases for this trip is the pair of Sea to Summit Big River Dry Sacks I picked up just before leaving, in 13L and 20L sizes. They cost me around $20 each and are one of the best pieces of gear I’ve purchased in years – extremely durable, effective, and simple to use.

5 Things that Suck about Traveling Solo

I find it telling that it seems a majority of the interesting travel blogs I run across are written by solo travelers, most often women. I think there’s a reason why we write more than people who travel with friends or in groups and that it’s pretty self evident: it’s an outlet for our loneliness. In the last year and a half, the vast majority of my time has been spent away from home, alone. As I write this, it’s been over a month since I’ve conversed with anyone in my native language, and I can remember every single conversation in English for the month before that. The truth is, I don’t think I could have done this without the internet – without a blog to share my thoughts, without Facebook to see what my friends are up to, without the occasional e-mail to provide a façade of normalcy… without these things I’d likely have driven myself insane with my internal dialogue. Now, I grant, there’s a reason I travel alone and I do love it, but lately it seems all I run across in the blogosp

Track Pete

Search This Blog