RickshawRun

Hi everyone, my friends and I just finished the Indian Rickshaw Run. We were lucky enough to win an all expenses paid competition on the Chang Beer Facebook page. None of us new each other, but we got on together pretty well – most of the time - the 3 of us travelled from Cochin to Shillong in India some 4700 KM in a tuk tuk.

We had some great experiences, from being surrounded by lots of local Indians for photos, perverts trying to manhandle Zaya (girl), breaking down numerious time and coping with people crapping on the streets and filthy hotels.

The trip was certainly a challenge and a 3 wheel tin can, which had less road courtesy than a dog crossing the road, was just a miracle of which deserves a medal.

With all the pain, heat, and constant harassment, it was a great trip and I would advise anyone to get involved.

Chang basically let us do what we wanted, and we took lots of footage of the trip including daily diaries which they are posting on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/changbeer. The Adventurists that ran the event were very much the same – we were on our own with no support so basically they provided the tuk tuk and parties at the beginning and end – which were totally wild. Oh and we got a certificate or appreciation and an overwhelming feeling of relief that we survived and finished.

Just thought I would share our adventure and if you are up to or able to take off 3 weeks, I would recommend it to anyone of all ages. Just expect the worst and it can only get better – a little bit. I also hear Chang are going to be running other competitions for other challenge activities. Hopefully I will get 1st dibs on that. Better the money in my pocket than theirs.

sparkchaser

Was this the one sponsored by The Adventurists? Sounds like a great way to do a great rally for little cost.

thursdaysd

The proper link for the rickshaw run is:

http://www.theadventurists.com/the-a.../rickshaw-run/

There's also the equally awesome Mongol Rally:

http://www.theadventurists.com/the-a...s/mongol-rally

It's not at all clear to me what the beer site has to do with it, participants are supposed to be raising money for charity.

sparkchaser

I'm planning on doing the Mongol Rally. 2015 or 2016.

sparkchaser

I'll be honest, the rallys (rallies?) that The Adventurists put on seem to involve a lot of expenses that can't really be considered as raising money for charity. IIRC, for The Mongol rally, you need to raise at least 1000GBP for charity and have a car that will be donated at the end. I suspect most people just stick to the mandatory 1000 pounds. Between plane tickets, transportation costs, lodging, food, visas, and whatnot, you end up spending significantly more than that 1000 pounds. Sure there are ways to minimize it but let's face it: it's not about the charity, it's about the adventure and the charity is just an excuse.

Regardless, The Mongol Rally would be an absolute blast and I am looking forward to participating.

thursdaysd

Serious jealousy! The Mongol Rally should be a-mazing. Will you be blogging?

I ran into info on the Mongol Rally way back when it started, before the Adventurists got involved, it seems to be much more organized these days.

sparkchaser

You bet I will be blogging.

RickshawRun

I highly recommend the adventure!

The event is held by The Adventurist, but Chang Beer from Thailand created our team from a competition on Facbeook. So myself and 2 others were lucky enough to win!

They sponsored all 3 of us our flights to India and a bunch more so we could participate in the event! It was great, there is a bunch more clips, pictures and what not on our site www.teamchangbeer.com

sparkchaser

You are unbelievably fortunate to have a team ready to go, sponsored and everything. I'm totally jealous.