Days 16-20: Pondicherry and Bombay
I apologize for the lack of updates. It's totally my fault and being too lazy in the aftermath of the race. Hope none of you have been too worried.
So we made it to the finish line party and were greeted with loads of respect. Allen and Sonny's wounds were the talk of the night. They maybe recounted the accident 50 times that night. We heard some wild stories from other teams. One team was chased by an elephant rider and his elephant for not paying the guy enough money. Our American friends in team Wrong turn were stoned during a riot, then later arrested in Pondicherry for drunken drag racing along the beach. Our Spanish friends the Blackbirds had to have their rickshaws loaded on the back of a truck and driven out of Nepal to a repair shop, which may be considered cheating. We were saddened to hear our friends from Seattle who were shooting a documentary on the race quit after what has been described as a "minor" accident during the first week. We were however thrilled to hear that the team consisting of one woman made it through.
Allen left the next day and made it safely to Delhi. After that we're just not sure. He was supposed to change his flight to leave earlier as he's incapable of exploring India with his injured legs. The last we heard, he was rejected entrance onto the flight without a doctor's note for his wounds. That was two days ago, so hopefully he's resolved things and has arrived safely in the US.
The past few days Sonny and I have just been relaxing at Sonny's relative's homes. They're feeding me like crazy, which is good given all the weight I lost during the race.
We saw in the paper yesterday that Balasore (where we stayed after the accident) and surrounding areas are completely flooded. The timing of the race couldn't have been better. As much as I've wanted to turn our rickshaw into a canoe, I'm sure we would've certainly quit in the face of flash floods and open wounds.
We already miss our rickshaw. Everytime I get in one here I'm tempted to kick the driver out and take over. Hope everyone at home is doing well. We miss you all.
-Brian
