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Published: October 24th 2010
Rick Shaw Challenge Oct 12 - 22, Chennai to Hyderabad
Oct 14, 2010 _ Chennai India - 33degrees Celsius
We safely arrived in Chennai just before midnight without any problems! The flight was smooth, the food was amazing and of course having the advantage of going Business allowed us to be well rested! Arriving in Chennai, we already sense the chaos that will await us outside the airport. We immediately recognize the "Crazy Canucks" sign and welcoming team, Princley and Ahmed who take us straight to our hotel about 20 minutes away. We've been booked into Comfort Motel in Egmor, a sub-burb of Chennai. Clean and welcoming.
October 15, 2010
Up and ready to welcome India! Because we drove in at night to our hotel, we both anxiously looked outside the window to take it in. Like opening a present, we overlook a crowded, crazy round-about and again, realize what we're in for come Sunday... absolute mayhem and the sound of horns
It's very hot, very sticky here and the smog is thick. We have a quick bite to eat at the hotel and begin our journey with John, a driver that claims he has excellent
English to show us around. The traffic is crazy and we're not sure if they obey traffic lights here, but there seems to be an understanding amongst the drivers, rickshaws, cyclists, people and oh yes...cows (there's a goat in there too somewhere along the way!) Our first stop is a Catholic Church. We're immediately greeted by a 'tour guide'...he insists on taking many photos and finally Shelly had to just take it away and stow it. We have a chance to view the tomb of St. Thomas (one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus Christ)
John waits for us to take us to the Parthasarathy temple before noon when it closes. We're not sure of the traditions here and it's quite apparent when we begin to stroll in...we need to remove our shoes. A half blind beggar insists on guarding our shoes while we tour around. Not sure at this point if we'd see them again!
We carry on to find many people have come to worship and give gifts. We can see they are typically offering some kind of leafy bushel which Shelly thought were Rose leaves, others had coconuts, some had flowers. We're a little confused
of the religion and the traditions but sure we'll have it sorted out in a short amount of time. Because India is comprised of so many different religions it's a challenge to know what and who the people are worshipping. We do know that around 90% are Hindu.
We are anxious to see the ocean and dip our toe in. The beach is massive, very wide and very hot so we make it a quick visit. It's called Marina Beach and it's on Bengal Bay. There's a lot of garbage and a lot of ships coming and going. Some people are swimming, but it's relatively quiet.
As we weave through the streets of Chennai we are overtaken by the scene. Like in Lonely Planet, not a city to get excited about. It's very dirty, very congested and our guess, a misreprentation of Incredible India.
We stop for lunch at a very nice restaurant John has suggested. Fishermans Delight. We have tandoori fish and rice and decide we'd like to check out some local shopping. We ask John to take us to the upper scale shopping which ended up being a massive mall and if you weren't in India, you
might think you were back home. Very westernized, very American with just about every chain you can imagine i.e The Body Shop, Guess, Benetton etc.
Before we head back to the hotel we make a quick visit to the Chennai Event Management office to meet the crew and parked outside was our Rickshaw! She was beautiful with her new paint job and with our new logo splashed all over! It suddenly became real that not only is this our vehicle for the next week, but we're also going to be driving amongst the cars...the rickshaws...the cyclists...the people and oh, did I mention...cows and goats?
We're getting tired by now and the day is getting on. And of course, when you've had a rough day of sightseeing and shopping, you hit the spa! India is famous for a variety of specialty treatments and massages. We go for the Amrit Wellness Centre for a one hour Njavarakizhi treatment that consisted of rice, milk and herbs. It was quite messy but felt amazing and both Shelly and I had two people spoiling us. Two women for her, two men for me. (We figured it was a cultural thing)
We're back at
the hotel now just chilling. We've been invited out with Arvind for a couple of beers...something tells me he's a bit of a crazy man!
India Blog Oct 15 >>>>> Rick Shaw race
We're finding out quickly that India is full of surprises and full of little adventures. We especially found this out when looking for a cash machine...not easy. We managed to find a bank who a couple people assured us was THE place to go. Pretty sure we were in the wrong place when we were greeted by worshippers and a bonfire blazing in the middle of the bank! After running around with our Rickshaw driver we finally found a bank machine to get our cash deposit out for the Rickshaw.
Headed over to the management office to register and say our farewells to Lakshima and present her with a gift for all her hard work and dedication to the race.
So, the real adventure of the day starts when we stroll outside to the nearest shrine/temple only to discover it's part of a community. We feel like celebrities as the locals take us in and give us an amazing serving of rice and
figs. Shelly dances with them, the children surround us with big smiles, the women are beautiful and all are so happy. They are celebrating Halalujah, a 15 day festival of worshipping and sharing. We're invited into the home of one of the women, her daughter and the two little boys. We cant believe how they live. The home is very small, very basic and seems very dirty but they are so thrilled to have visitors and to share photos. The most amazing part of this encounter...they would not accept money from us. We've decided we need to offer gifts to the children during our journey through India. We love the people and their kindness and will have many photos from this trip of everyone we meet.
There's a certain level of innocence amongst the people. We sense that some have not seen a white person before...probably because we're well off the beaten track as we wonder through the backstreets. Children come up and shake Mike's hand.
We head back to the hotel for a rest and freshen up because today will be our first attempt at learning how to drive our Rickshaw!
We meet everyone in the
lobby to be taken by Princely and Ahmed to the training area. The teams are mostly consisting of New Zealand, Australia and the UK and they all seem to know each other. It's about an hours drive, during rush hour and school being let out. The traffic is so congested but we finally arrive to an open sand field in a suburb of Egmor. What a site. All 6 Rickshaws in a line, all brightly painted and ready to go! The race is becoming more and more real by the minute. Aravind gives us a quick lesson on how to operate the Rickshaw then let's us go for a test run in the field and around the community. Mike immediately gets the hang of it being a pro on a bike...Shelly on the other hand has a bit of a challenge mastering the concept of the gears. What a blast zipping along the side streets...we're quite aware of the number rule though "DO NOT HIT A COW" This we learn will automatically disqualify us and also learn that this may be the least of our worries. The cows are wondering aimlessly everywhere and nobody seems to be concerned.
Without
incident and fairly confident we have the gears and concept figured out, we all decide to head straight to the Chennai Management Office for our welcoming party and dinner. The beer is going down smooth and the company is amazing. It was a great idea to get everyone together just to lighten it up and get to know your competition a little better.
Rickshaw Challenge, Saturday, October 16
We venture out to shop for gifts to hand out at the schools we'll be visiting along the way. We must have made the merchants day as we walked out with armloads of crayons, pads of paper, markers etc.. It's another blistering hot day and Chennai is so dirty with garbage everywhere. Literally beneath your feet. The locals dont seem to notice though and it's apparent it's just part of their daily life. One boy states that India is a free country and we can just drop the garbage to the ground. We're anxious to get out of Chennai.
We're going for our training on the Rickshaw today at a site about 20 minutes from the hotel. We're in an open sand field with a small village
surrounding it. A long afternoon of doing circles, from 1:30 to around 5:30. The Tuk-Tuk is quite funny and a little tricky to master the gears but get the hang of it quickly. The locals must think we're crazy as the 6 Tuk-Tuks are zipping around their village. The gang is getting the hang of the machines quickly and we're anxious to hit the road. To break up the monotany of doing circles we begin to socialize with the surrounding homes and locals. One family invited us in for tea and a snack. Her name was Charlini and she lives with her Mother, her sister and two children. We're sad to find out her sister, at 23, is a widow and with a 3 year old daughter. She may never marry again and you can see the sadness in her eyes.
Aravind shows up at 4 to take us through some drills. The first big adventure was to get petrol! We finish at dusk and by the time we're driving our Tuk-Tuks back the sun has dropped. Why Aravind thought this would a good idea is beyond us but thankfully, the first part of our Challenge was uneventful and
we arrive safely!
Rickshaw Challenge - Sunday October 17 - Chennai to Vellore
Up at 6:30 on yet another blistering hot day. Check out by 8:30 and gather outside with the rest of the teams. We're all a little nervous but anxious to get on the road. We're given our first sheet with our Challenges. The Sheiks have outdone us all with their costumes and clearly they will prove to be our main competition.
We'll travel approximately 130 kms today to Vellore with a couple stops along the way. On our list was the Gandhi Memorial that we sped right past! We wanted away from Chennai and make our way direct to Kanchipuram where we will explore the town that is apparently known for its silk factories and the 1st Buddha temple in Southern India. We had a great lunch at the Babboo Hotel then go for a walk. The heat is unbearable and remind ourselves that we can easily get around on our Rickshaw! We pick up a guide to take us to a Silk factory. The factory has 40 looms but we're really not sure if this is THE silk factory we wanted to see.
It didnt matter though because we had fun chatting with the business owner, drinking coffee and getting a Sari fitting.
Hit the road again at 4:30 and it was again, a great feeling to be moving again. We're making the highway driving entertaining by picking up hitchhikers and taking in the travelers on the road. People cant believe what they're seeing and we're beginning to feel like celebrities already! We arrive, last, in Vellore at 6:15. It didnt seem to matter because we had a lot of stories, and memories to bring along the way. The hotel is basic and under construction and we have to order toilet paper.
From the time we decided to go to India, Shelly knew she wanted to attend a wedding. Once we got checked in and met up with the gang, we had very nice man, Ragu set us up to attend a wedding that we had noticed coming in. Ragu was friends with the groom. Actually, we thought it was something from Hollywood with the lights, cameras, red carpet, huge posters. We stroll right in, get in the receiving line and end up on stage to meet the bride and groom
and of course, get a photo taken. They must have been thinking who the heck are these white folks crashing our wedding. The people are generous though and happily invite us to the basement hall where there is a lot of food and many many people. This wedding will see up to 3000 people go through. Mike strolls to the kitchen to meet the head chef and the other cooks. It's quite an operation to feed that many people and yet, it seems to be running smoothly. We cant believe the conditions they are making and serving food in. This is just the way here in India, and up to this point of writing this out, we have not become ill.
Rickshaw Challenge, Monday, October 18 - Vellore to Bangalore
It's beginning to cool down, for a little while anyway. From day one we've been averaging 34+ temperatures.
As we're leaving the hotel we meet Kate who is a contributing editor in India's Lonely Planet and she is asking if we have any insights, any advice, anything they missed in the latest edition. The recommended visit today is the Fort that is right in town and the
temple. We try to find the entrance to the Fort but are unsuccessful and the road to the temple seems too far. We decide to get on the road as we know that when we get up to Rajistan we'll see some of the best temples in India. We're more interested in the people and their way of life here and eventually pull off the road to a village. The cemetary caught our eye from the road as they were brightly painted pinks, greens, yellows. Among the stones there's a cow and a lady doing her laundry. The village is quite small and we're greeted by an elderly lady that introduces us to her husband that is ill. A younger lady brings us to her home to meet her children. The two boys are deathly ill and we're not sure with what. It's sad to see and we want to help.
We're taken to their pre-school where we were able to meet some children, although it seems the kids are on holidays right now. The teacher accepts markers, crayons and pads of paper. The young boys who quickly gather accept their cool Crazy Canucks hats!
We carry on
to Bangalore. It's a long day, but the challenge is to collect a flag at one of the checkpoints in Hosur. We are so happy by now that we know we're getting close. We meet the rest of the gang at the next major gas station so we can all go into crazy Bangalore together. With Mike driving in, it doesnt take long before we lose each other. Simon and Ben almost get nailed by a large truck coming in. We were staying at the Nandhana hotel, which we found out was a chain. We stopped at two along the way before we got to the correct one. It was frustrating because we thought we were doing so well, then we just lost it at the end. We were surprised to find out though that we actually had come in first place! Bangalore, compared to what we've seen up to this point is very modern with all the major designer stores, clean streets and modern vehicles. Once again, hook up with the gang for dinner and early to bed.
Tuesday, October 19 - Bangalore to Chitradurga
Bangalore has a population of 6.1 million and is one of the
most modern and hi-tech companies in India.We head out at 9 and take over an hour to get out of Bangalore. Shelly is driving amongst the commuters. We pick up another lady to guide us to the highway. We're taking advantage of the locals to get us to where we need to be going. There are no road signs and neither of us can get our sense of direction. There is no north-south/east-west. We can however always rely on the people and the sun!
We're beginning to see the landscape change. There's more farmland, palm trees, villagers working in the fields and separating their harvest right on the road. So now we're dodging, cars, trucks, cows, goats and now people harvesting on the roads. We're also happy to see less garbage. The people are more clean and have more pride of ownership it seems.
The challenge today is to decorate our Tuk-Tuk like the locals would. We're trying to figure out why the large trucks and the tuk-tuks are decorated with tinsel and flowers. They look beautiful. We pull into a larger village with a shopping center and catch a glimpse of an elephant that's also decorated strolling along
the street. We're in constant wonder why the people here are lost in time.
We gather a lot of tinsel. We arrive in Chitradurga at a hotel that is basic but clean.
Wednesday, October 20 - Chitradurga to Raichur
It's apparently going to be our longest day of driving, approximately 320 kms we travelled, and with many problems with the other teams. We will be traveling away from the highway now and winding our way through the country and hopefully somewhat marked roads.
We're seeing more beautiful country side where it seems onions are their main product. We stop to take pictures of the women gathering and separting into large bags. We're clearly off the beaten track because the people are amazed at us and the fact that we've visited them in their village. We stopped for coffee in a small village and a dog is absolutely petrified and circles us to check us out. Everytime we stop now we are swarmed by men and boys that are so curious. Shelly gets a lot of photos taken of her on their cell phones.
This stage is brutal. Very rough roads, speed bumps the entire way, craters
on the road. We're shocked we never got a flat.
We arrive in first place in Raichur by 7, exactly as Mike predicted. Simon and Ben arrive about an hour later and we hear that the rest of the teams are struggling. 4 breakdowns with one team, Dominique and Victoria are lost 'somewhere' north of Bellary. They end up stopping at 3 a.m. and sleeping in Aravind's car in a gas station.
The hotel is grand with marble floors, walls and exquisite design. Our room however is a different story and the hotel we realize is just a fasad. Our little adventure in the hotel begins with the elevator breaking down and we have to climb the stairs. No toilet paper and the power is sporatic. The floor are dangerous when you have a shower because they have no way of correctly draining. We havent mastered the bucket concept either.What really got us was the professional repair service we received in our room with the air conditioner. Two guys chipping away at it with a water bottle and walking out to leave yet another trecherous area on the floor in our room. We're in hysterics though over the
crazy differences here and decide we have to make due with what we're experiencing. It is the way of India.
Thursday, October 21 - Raichur to Hyderabad - THE FINAL STRETCH!
This is our last day! We'll be glad to be off the road. The Challenge has been long and hot but definately interesting and an experience of a lifetime! The day was easy with better roads and a chance to hang with the gang along the way. We were driving with the Sheikhs for a good part because at one point, we noticed them pushing the tuk-tuk along the road...they thought they had blown the engine when in fact, they just ran out of gas! We caught up with the gang along the way and as we got into Hyderabad, we picked up a guide to get us to the checkpoint without delay. We were done. We all met at the Central Mall safely and carry on. to our hotel, the Taj Benjara. It is by far the most beautiful hotel we've stayed at. It's proabaly a 5 star for India. The room is beautiful, looking over the lake and ws're so happy to be home safe.
Tonight is the closing ceremony and awards party. We've made some new friends on this trip and hope to see them again on perhaps another adventure. There are 3 winning teams tonight. The Sheikhs of course win for best costume as they put it on everyday and all day! Victoria and Dominique win the most raised for the charity. And last but no least, The Crazy Canucks win first place with a combination of sportsmanship, the thrill for adventure and good spirit. We've won free entry to next years Caucasion Challenge in Budapest!
Mike and Shelly
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Sandra Cormier Turnsek
non-member comment
A Fantastic Summary!
Wow, what a detailed and exciting entry. I'm so glad we got a 'real time' play-by-play of your journey, and I'm glad you emerged with bodies and stomachs intact. The pictures are beautiful. I wouldn't have the nerve to approach strangers like you do, and I'm glad to see how friendly everyone was. Can't wait for the next adventure! Best, Sandy