http://unraveltravel.co.uk Alas, No Longer Rickshaw Running Wed, 25 Jul 2007 06:40:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The day started reasonably enough as we managed to cover good ground for a few hours, with the only ominous sign being my first explosive toilet visit. Then it started. Driving down a humble rural road, we were flagged down by two policemen, who demanded - for the first time in our ... http://unraveltravel.co.uk/2007/07/11/black-wednesday/ The transition from Nepal back to India was a shock, as it is instantly dirtier, noisier, busier and more 'cool' in the sense that the majority of people no longer reacted to us, other than an occasional knowing smile. Frankly, it was denting my newly swelled ego. Another observation of ... http://unraveltravel.co.uk/2007/07/11/blasting-through-the-east-of-india/ Due to the strikes in Nepal having a bigger effect than anticipated, we could not find petrol anywhere. Having been forced to freewheel once more down from the mountains; we exited at an earlier border point back into India. As it is, we're now under even greater time pressure and ... http://unraveltravel.co.uk/2007/07/03/status-update/ Leaving Hetauda presented us with an entirely new challenge: a 2000m ascent, in our rickshaws, to the Katmandu valley. We had two choices: safely pursue a 160km road; or risk a near vertical 40km dirt track. Against all the advice of the extremely concerned locals; we rapidly opted for the dirt ... http://unraveltravel.co.uk/2007/06/30/ascending-into-the-himalayas-hetauda-to-pokhara/ The border was relatively low trouble; even with the rickshaws. The only hiccup came with a local man - clearly a Daily Mail reader - prophised doom and the impossibility of traversing Nepal in under 20 days (we needed to do it in 5). This is due to the Maoists ... http://unraveltravel.co.uk/2007/06/30/into-nepal-kakavita-to-hetauda/ Let me briefly explain driving in India, from the POV of a Westerner: it's insane. There is, apparently, one rule on the road: big things win over small things. We are a small thing; our only boast being that we can mildly irritate cyclists. Not to put too finer point on ... http://unraveltravel.co.uk/2007/06/30/calcutta-to-the-indian-border-of-kakavitta-700km/ Our first two days were spent acclimatising and preparing for the rally. Flying into Delhi, we only had a few hours before catching a 20 hour train down to Calcutta. Having always believed India to be something of a soft-option, travel-wise, I was in for something of a shock. Utterly ... http://unraveltravel.co.uk/2007/06/30/acclimatising-for-the-rickshaw-run/