Rickshaw Run

Trying to sleep in a country that doesn't sleep isn't easy. Calls to prayer, police blowing whistles, dog fights and things that go beep in the night kept us awake most of the night.

5:50 a.m. We tried to leave Ooty. First problem: We couldn't disengage from reverse gear. Finally on the move forward, the first sign post we passed politely informed us that we were about to negotiate the first of 36 tortuous hairpin bends on a steep mountain road. Nothing like 36 hairpin bends before breakfast to wake one up.

9 a.m. Got to Mudumalai Wildlife sanctuary and National Park. The warden on the barrier had obviously had a bad night too, as he stubbornly refused to open the barrier for us, claiming rickshaws weren't allowed in. We weren't sure if he didn't like women drivers, foreigners, rickshaws or just wanted a bribe. If we couldn't go through we would have to go back up all 36 hairpin bends. We went back to the last village before the park and asked the locals, who confirmed that all our theories about the park warden were true.

It was time for a little teamwork. As one, both rickshaws lurched up to the barrier. Engines off. Handbrakes on. After about five seconds of this blockade, the warden crumbled and raised the barrier, ignoring our cheery waves as we raced through before he could change his mind.

We chugged on through the park, passing wild boar, monkeys, peacocks, deer and the occasional elephant.

A lot of the other teams had chosen to go up either the east or west coast on faster roads rather than the slow mountain roads we were taking. So today was a day when we had to make up for lost time. Soon we were out of the national park and making bumpy progress dodging pot holes and speed bumps on the straight roads across the plains, past rice fields, women washing clothes in rivers, where everything was carried on people's heads. We chugged on past palm groves and banana plantations, dodging coconut shells along the way.

8 p.m. Having caught up a lot of distance, we decided to call it a night in Chitradurga. All we had to do now was park the rickshaws in the hotel car park. The hotel parking warden indicated for us to follow him into a one-way road which already contained a traffic jam - coming in the opposite direction.

Shaken but not bumped we were very relieved to finally get to bed with, for once, the rickshaws securely locked up in the hotel underground car park.

Day 4