Made it to Madurai!!!!

We have made it to Madurai in 1 piece! The roads are like nothing any Westerner has seen without being here! We have done arounf 500k and are currently on target! The rickshaw 'Bluey' is still, somehow, in 1 piece. It is fair to say it is far more noisy than it was 500k ago but it is holding out for the time being. Last night was spent camped outside of a small town as the light failed and we did not have time to find a hotel. Today was starte4d with a wash in the river and has ended in Madurai, a small city of 1.3million, famous for it's colourful driving. Fame that has been earned as the place is a sea of traffic without a single road marking or functional traffic light! We have a long way to go and would love the boost of a few more quid making it on to the justgiving page.
Cheers T J C

At the airport..

Lost already

Quick pose at the check-in desk

'Tim, Jim and him' all set for India!

Step by step

Details to the plan…….  Where we are meant to be and when!

29.04.11              

Chennai – pick up our weapon of choice and straight on the road without a 

second to waste.

Day 6                    

A long trip with a beautiful coastline on our left and the Western Ghats on our 

right – straight through Kerala and Goa… what could possibly go 

wrong

Day 8                    

Oh shit we’re in Mumbai!!!!  This is going to get scary but we are all equipped with helmets and huge kahunas so we’ll be fine!!  If we ever get out of the most crazy traffic jam on the planet we have the small matter of hot, dry season in Rajasthan and daily temperatures of 48 degrees ahead of us….  Where’s the factor 2 cooking oil?

Day 11                  

Ahmadabad… who knows what this place will be like – all we know is that is our last chance of sleeping without one person being on guard for a while…. A small matter of Kashmir and scary militant groups lie in waiting

Day 14                  

Jaipur – the capital of Rajhastan… that’s about all we know about this place but will fill in the blanks in a few weeks!                                                                       

Day 15                  

We have reached the capital (and second scariest traffic jam on the planet).  Very                          

sunburnt, saddle sore, beaten up, tired, 2 stone lighter and no longer talking to each

other are possibly the least of our worries!  All downhill from hill…. Or is it…….

Day 17                  

We need Lucknow!!! Foothills of the Himalayas 

we’re coming to get you! Next stop Lucknow: I 

hear you ask “where’s that Nick a place near 

Kathmandu?”  Well yes actually it is.                                 

Day 21                  

Once this very very hot, very very hilly bit is behind us we should join the Ganges close to the Nepal border and basically track it all the way to Culcutta – by which point we will be extremely spiritual and have found ouselves in the holy waters        

Day 22                  

Calcutta – our last huuuge city until we reach our adopted home of Chennai.Day 23 By this point we have very much broken the back of ourselves but more importantly our expedition.  We just have to cruise down the entire east coast of India

Day 30                  

Honey we’re home! 

                               

A couple of points to note:

• Please look at the scale on the map – this isn’t Lands End – John O’ Groats type crap – each little centimetre is 100’s of miles.
• They do not have tarmac roads (well they have a few but rickshaws are not allowed on them) – its 8500 kilometres of dust!
• If we have not updated this blog for a few days please come and help find us / our remains!