This year's Rickshaw Challenge Classic Run was as successful as ever. From Chennai all the way down to the tip of Southern India, the Rickshaw Challenge Classic Run was filled with laughter and adventure. Teams traveled almost 1000 km, experiencing the region's incredible food, fascinating history, and stunning scenery. There were challenges too: the busy Indian roads, rickshaws breaking down and, of course... hangovers. Forty-six participants (from ten different countries!) took part, and since everyone was together for New Year's Eve and the 10th anniversary of the Travel Scientists, there was always a reason to celebrate! Here are some of the best memories of this year's Rickshaw Challenge Classic Run: The incredible costumes "Bonkers Award" winners The Cock and Pullet were always making people laugh with their outfits, but they weren't the only ones... It's always great to have outfits, rickshaw design, and team name all match! And everybody enjoys a team who stand out from a crowd! Practice makes perfect Driving over 500 miles in an auto tuk-tuk can be daunting experience, but training in Chennai prepared all the teams to face the Indian roads. But breakdowns happen... Of course, rickshaws are temperamental beasts. Luckily, the boys from Chennai Garage boys are always ready to fix any problem in no time. Making friends Even with policemen! Lots of friends Here is Jale from Team Magic Bird, the Classic Run overall winners, meeting the locals in one his team's many different outfits! There are always smiling faces on the road Even if they don't have seat-belts... The stunning scenery The Classic Run takes teams to some great places to relax. ... and enjoy the view. All the history A trip to India wouldn't be
This year’s Rickshaw Challenge Classic Run was as successful as ever. From Chennai all the way down to the tip of Southern India, the Rickshaw Challenge Classic Run was filled with laughter and adventure. Teams traveled almost 1000 km, experiencing the region’s incredible food, fascinating history, and stunning scenery. There were challenges too: the
Three states, 1110km, 5 teams, 13 participants from 4 different countries kicked off from Panaji on 15 June 2015 on a three-wheeled mission across the Deccan Plateau to India's most populous city - Mumbai! Things didn't begin as early as planned on the Rickshaw Challenge - Deccan Odyssey 2015, since most of the teams had partied a little hard the night before the flag off, but that still didn't stop the enthusiasm from rushing in. Our hardy teams dressed up in costumes, sporting good spirits to compensate for the hangovers and eventually kicked off around 9am revving towards the first destination Belgaum. The Deccan Odyssey poses some challenges, with the weather being one of the main nuisances (or should we say "fun" aspects of the trip), since we caught the very beginning of the monsoon season. However, despite the rain, nothing could dampen the spirits of our Rickshaw Challengers and everyone was raring to go. Outside of our set challenges, the teams' biggest hurdle was perhaps the epic traffic in Pune, which was quite a shock and a talking point among the participants. Most of the teams came in late after the flag down time since they had not banked on Pune's size and congestion issues, where even with a small and nifty rickshaw, it's hard to zip in and out of the traffic. But it's all a learning curve, since one cannot simply drive into India and not learn to navigate the challenging local traffic - something we think should be on everyone's bucket list! Another thing that's often included on the India "must-do" list is the Taj Mahal. While we are no where near Agra, the Deccan Odyssey offers the next best thing: Bibi Ka Maqbara in Aurangabad. It's no coincidence though, since the architect who designed the Aurangabad copy was the son of the original Taj designer.
Three states, 1110km, 5 teams, 13 participants from 4 different countries kicked off from Panaji on 15 June 2015 on a three-wheeled mission across the Deccan Plateau to India’s most populous city – Mumbai! Things didn’t begin as early as planned on the Rickshaw Challenge – Deccan Odyssey 2015, since most of the teams had partied a little hard the night before
After 9 years of success with the Rickshaw Challenge, named by Lonely Planet as one of the “World’s Greatest Adventures” in 2012, we conjured up a brand new adventure embracing India’s vibrant car culture. Headed up by the beloved Ambassador, the inaugural India’s Cup kicked off 20 January 2015 on an epic journey round South India for over 3600km! We covered 6 Indian states in 13 days, with a lot of driving, a few breakdowns and saw the best South India has to offer! Our 5 teams with 14 participants from 5 countries kicked off in their brightly coloured cars from Chennai to Vijayawada for the first day, which posed quite the challenge initially. Our beloved Ambassador cars are not known for being the marvel of engineering so we had a couple of breakdowns at the very beginning of the adventure, which adds to the fun. The iconic Hindustan Ambassador was the first car manufactured in India, and was once called the “king of the Indian roads” before it ceased production in May 2014, Top Gear also declared it the “best taxi in the world” in 2002. It’s great for short distances, challenging for longer ones. Once we broke the journey on the first day, it was then onto Hyderabad which presented us with the tough task of navigating through Indian traffic. We already battled our way out of Chennai, but getting into Hyderabad felt like an odyssey in itself. Because of the traffic, some of the teams opted to leave at the crack of dawn, while the rest of us tried to make the most and saw a bit of the city with a detour to Golconda Fort. This is India’s second largest fort and is located just outside the Hyderabad. After a small break to see the sites,
After 9 years of success with the Rickshaw Challenge, named by Lonely Planet as one of the “World’s Greatest Adventures” in 2012, we conjured up a brand new adventure embracing India’s vibrant car culture. Headed up by the beloved Ambassador, the inaugural India’s Cup kicked off 20 January 2015 on an epic journey round South
