Mad Dash to Edapally - Part 1

      

Having applied the base colors on our rickshaw and having seated Bhindi and Jaipuri, our traveling angels, we were set to begin our mad dash to Edapally. Because of the morning ceremonies and the afternoon cricket, the start of the rickshaw run ran past noon and everyone was off to a late start. Many teams expressed concerns of finishing if they took the west coast route through Goa and chose the eastern shores instead through Madras.

We stayed with our plan and made a mad dash to Thrissur upon receiving the paperwork required for the journey. Leaving Fort Kochi proved a great challenge. Being unfamiliar with the area, we circled many times around Kochi trying to find a route out to Ernakulum and onto Indian Highway 17. All the while, we worked through many start-stop cycles on the rickshaw (why the hell is neutral between first and second gear!!!) as we were learning how to drive it using the potentially tragic method of trial by fire.

After finally locating the proper route from Fort Kochi to Ernakulum, we experienced our first breakdown on the bridge connecting the two regions. The engine stalled and we could not get it restarted. Two rickshaw drivers appeared behind us and proceeded to fix our rickshaw. (This was just the first of many gracious and kind acts we would experience on our initial run. Thank you people of India!!). Shortly, thereafter we drove through Ernakulum towards Edapally.

Posted at 02:00PM Dec 28, 2006 by D Bums