We are Up the Junction! Hubli Junction to be precise. Henry and I are rather lagging behind Justin and co in the other rickshaw. Whilst they have reached Hampi and in fact latest news puts them just 200 kms short of Hyderabad, we are still enjoying Hubli Junction. The town is famous for… a big train junction. This could have been as exotic as Clapham train junction were it not for our lovely hotel. [...]

We have now arrived in Hampi. This is India’s answer to Ankgor Wat and whilst we have yet seen very little of it it appears very impressive indeed. Henry and Stephen spent an extra night in Goa whilst Raj, Agate and I drove on to Hampi, stopping over night in a little town by the Goa border. We arrived in Hampi this evening and will have a proper tour of all the temples in [...]

We arrived in Goa on the 30th December. Naturally as Goa appears to be the Tenerife of India we were completely unable to find anywhere to stay. After some struggle our two rickshaws plus the Gin Soaked Rogues who we met at the border decided to go our seperate ways and we all eventualy found beds for the night. The following morning Henry had managed to find us a couple of rooms in a [...]

So we arrived in Doha last night looking forward to a hard nights sleep on the airport floor…. Much to my surprise we were ushered to a transfer desk where Qatar Airways informed us they were putting us up in a local hotel. To make things even better we were allowed our own rooms so I managed to avoid Stephen’s snoring and actually managed a little sleep. Not only that but we were given [...]

Quick check in here! We are in Bombay and just have a few minutes before the flight to Cochin. Stayed in a simple hotel last night with the grand name of Regency Hotel, Bombay! Nothing regal about it! We took a rickshaw to Bandra and had a wander round the shops. The traffic has to be seen to be believed. There are absolutely no road rules whatsoever. Basically you just hoot and give way [...]

I left my house on in a minor panic this morning as there was no public transport on Christmas day in London at all. Having booked myself the cheapest possible flight I was extremely reluctant to spend my savings on a taxi to get me to Heathrow. Resolving to hitchihike I walked out of the dorr with a trusty sign saying Heathrow please, with a few drawings of holly on it for seasonal goodwill. [...]

Introduction Welcome to the blog of Mad Dogs and Englishmen and their Indian adventure… This is a story about 6 friends travelling across India in three wheeled auto-rickshaws as part of the inaugural Rickshaw Run. India was an absolutely amazing country and if you haven’t yet visited I cannot urge you strongly enough to pay it a visit! The last comment in this blog on the 14th January 2007 said nobody has left any [...]

Oh no! This has all gone ‘orribly ‘orribly wrong again!! It seems as if, without being fully aware of his dastardly plan, Mr Wheeler jun. has roped Henry and myself into another one of his foolhardy holidays. Not being content with either of our company, he has also convinced Raj to join up as well. If you see a Kitchener style pointing finger poster with “Wheeler wants you” in capitals underneath, do the sensible [...]

Right. I’ve had a poke around on the Rickshaw Run website to get a bit clearer on what’s going on. Unfortunately all it’s done is ask more questions. Grandpa [an old India hand] wondered how you’d carry all the food and spare fuel (not many petrol stations, apparently – though he hasn’t actually been to India for 60 years!). Is there any way of cheating?? I am certain it is totally in the spirit [...]

I’ve been doing a bit of maths for the journey and I can’t help wondering if anyone else has done the same. You’ll know that a similar rally took place in August – the Indian Autorickshaw Challenge. They covered 590 miles in seven days with a pilot vehicle, a baggage truck, an emergency vehicle and a recovery vehicle. (Lucky buggers. Even when they all missed a fuel stop and ran out of petrol, the [...]