Day 3 and Team 6 is back in the race - our mechanics have worked wonders and our rickshaw is ready and waiting having safely negotiated the night drive from Chennai. Today we set off on the 177km trip to Thanjavur and I'm driving
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| Early morning and quiet road heading to Ponducherry beach and task 1 |
Our first task is to find the Gandhi statue at the beach - it's two minutes from the hotel and after a minor domestic, we arrive with all the others
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| All the rickshaws shining in the sun |
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| The only people with clothes that outshine John's orange gear. |
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| Back on the road, the Bumbling Bees and Team Slap (007) are on our tail |
It's a fantastic sight as we drive serenely along, I say serenely but the noise generated in the rickshaw from the busy engine is loud especially if you are in the wrong gear (which we usually are). All the locals are surprised to see a small blond driving past and the children get very excited as we pass by.
Our next stop is a refuge for street children who have been abandoned by their parents. They look after boys up to the age of 20, giving them an education and helping them to find a job. It's funded completely by donations and the Indian Round Table does a superb job, including funding the new kitchen.
Team Slap (Real name Rupert but he's a Royal Marine so ....) makes the boys' day by giving them a collection of cricket gear including bat, ball, pads, helmet etc - the lads are so excited I think they would like to take us on in a match right now.
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| They'll soon be ready to give England a game! |
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| Lollipops, balloons and Scotland stickers work equally well with the youngsters |
Back on the road we face up to a recurrent hazard. At every town there's usually a group of traffic police watching proceedings. We're travelling through the checkpoint when we get the 'pull over' sign - 'Us?' - 'You' I jump out and ask if they want a photo with the rickshaw, and despite their superior telling the cops to check us out, they pose for a snap and then wave us on.
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| The Police have been extremely helpful and understanding |
As previously reported we have to tackle many hazards but the number one no no is to avoid at all costs hitting a cow. This is not always easy as the roads are narrow and some of these cows are very big
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| Mooooooove Over |
We've formed a little convoy and together with team 3, Between Dreams and team 4, the Bumbling Bees we navigate our way. Team 3 has Phil and Lorraine who are experienced drivers in foreign lands, team 4 with Be as driver and Ed the navigator (she's got satnav) cling to the tail of team 3 as if there lives depend on it and we bring up the rear as our rickshaw barely gets past 50km/hour
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| Lorraine, Be, Ed (her mum thinks she's on a beach holiday), and Me |
With a straight downhill road and a tail wind we can coax almost 60 out of this little beauty but she drinks petrol like an alcoholic tramp drinks meths
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| We hit the magic 60! |
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| We had to find this big temple as part of the challenge |
We found the temple but the best bit was the roadside food and the chai - I bought lunch for six people for less than £1
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| Tasty nibbles at about 6p a piece |
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| Team 6 arrive safe and sound in Thanjavur |
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