DAY 1 - Travels through Nepal
So we're terribly sorry if any of you were worried that something bad happened to us, but we are completely fine. well almost completely. the three of us are now at an internet cafe trying to remember what we've done and seen. now on to whats been going on with the rickshaw run.
But where to start? Its honestly hard to explain our experiences in words. While in Kathmandu, the day before the race, we met some really hospitable people and they helped us get acclimated to the city. We even made a new friend, Gopi, who offered to take us and some extra friends up to Everest Base camp the next time we're in Kathmandu. I got his business card, and I hope to see him sometime again. And I definitely think I'll head back to Nepal, its a very amazing and beautiful country.
On June 1st, the start of the race, things went really smoothly. Allen took care of the first haul of our rickshaw and lead us out of Kathmandu really safely. And the hills here are treacherous. We saw this huge goods transport vehicle that bit the dust, tipped off against the side of the mountain. The entire first day was just filled with euphoria. But we should have made a bigger effort to pick up free fuel at the starting point. Basically, Fuel Crisis in Nepal + rickshaw driving through it = running out of gas. And that happened approximately 150 km into our race (oh and we're getting used to the metric system). One of the other teams gave us a couple liters and we were on our way to Mugling, a small city in South Nepal, filling our jerry can with 20 L of gas, but it cost us $60 (double price).
As for the drive, the landscape kept changing. And honestly some of the most beautiful mountains, trees, rivers, agricultural culture, etc (photos to come). I wish I had some metaphors to use, but the simplest way to put it would be, as Allen said, "Just imagine a very pretty forest." Also, the people in Nepal are great. Everywhere we passed by, tons of people waved to us. And the kids. Kids coming back from school walked across this crazy metal suspension bridge with us and the smiles on their faces are priceless. I'd have to say we got over 250 people to smile and wave at us in day 1. We even yelled "Go Bears" to a group of kids on recess, and they responded with loud cheers. Now our goal is to get some Indian kids to yell and articulate it well.
Brian took the lead later, and we ran out of gas again and had to push on through some night driving. It was scary as hell since there are absolutely no street lights here, but we got through. We had to drive in the dark on really bumpy roads through cities, a very nail-biting experience. We even met up with 13 other rickshaw teams at this hotel is Bharatpur. But one team had an unfortunate accident where their rickshaw flipped over, damaging the top and leaving no windshield. We are extremely thankful that thus far nothing like that has happened to _______ (our rickshaw, name TBD).
I really want to post pictures, but the internet is not the best over here. If I get the chance to later, I definitely will. But right now, I need to take care of Shiva's revenge (read Day 3 Above).
-Sonny
