On and Off the Blue Highways

Our travels have taken us 1704 kilometers through Kelera, Tamil Nadu, and Andra Pradesh, the land of "sacred peaks, rich green forests, vast paddy fields, famed diamond mines, and giant hydro-electric projects." We are now in the only hotel in Tuni, on the southern border of Orissa moving officially out of the South and into Eastern India. The majority of the first five days were spent on smaller roads between cities, but going was slow, including three flat tires from the rough roads, so to make up time we will spend the next couple of days on National Highway 5. It's far less interesting, but we got to reach Katmandu before Easter.

Objects In Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear

Flat Tire

Full of confidence in the company of buses, trucks, and zipping along at 30km per hour we hit a pothole and got our first flat tire. As wise travelers we had a spare, (which came with our rickshaw) but no jack. What to do? Within a minute, a jeep full of passengers pulled over to offer assistance. Mr. Ellangakoon stepped forward and said “You don’t need a jack as everywhere in India people will help you along the way.”

What we thought was going to be a major time consuming hiccup turned into a Formula One affair. We were on the road again in minutes. A bit shaken, we headed into traffic packed Dharmpuri in search of a spare. Our fellow rickshaw drivers are always curious about our travels, Bajaj model, engine size, features, questionable driving skills, and always offer a helping hand. We were taken to tire dealership and got a brand new Mirestone Tire for $13. After two more stops for a variety of installation maneuvers and a cold Coke, we were on our way again.

We are constantly being hailed at by potential fare-holding passengers for a ride. We are real.

Relativity

We are feeling quite proud of our progress— over 400 kilometers in a day and a half of driving. I was gloating on the phone with my wife, expecting a hearty congratulations, but she just pointed out that she drove 800 miles the day before. 800 miles. One day. That’s warp speed to our minds, now calibrated for our rickshaw’s pace. However, by crawling along we see more, with smiles, laughs and waves to encourage our progress.

Not Salem, Oregon

Our arrival in Salem (not Oregon, Tamil Nadu State) was our first experience of real urban traffic; traffic where inches matter. David said one simply had to get in “The Zone.” David is our Zone Player. On the main roads, trucks and buses ran us off the road head on, but always with consideration into the dirt. India is criticized for their transportation infrastructure and needs to be developed before economic development can be sustainable. It definitely seems a problem.

The rawness of the physical world and diversity of characters of the agricultural hubs --and not so hubby -- is what makes India for us so far.

Our First Day on the Road

Day one we made it from Kochin to Thrissur on the odometer 95 kilometers. There are few rules on the road, which was to David’s advantage as he kept taking right sided moves (not left) to get us out of trouble in, even in front of the traffic police. The people along the way have been interested in why anyone would want to drive a rickshaw to Kathmandu from Kochin, and asked David how long we have been driving rickshaws, David replied “one day.” The rules of the road are dominated by the size of the vehicle: bus, truck, big car (jeep), little car, auto rickshaw, cycle rickshaw, and the ole pedestrian at the bottom. We are both using the horn constantly, but except for the power surge we are not sure of the horn’s value.

We're Off!

View Larger Map

We leave from Cochin today at noon. We will do our best to update this blog with our progress. Internet connections will be hard to come by, but we will send short text updates on our progress and then fill in later with maps and photos.