Day 5 - Rameswaram - Tuticorin (181 km)
Trip Start
Oct 24, 2007
1
24
26
Trip End
Jan 13, 2008
Tuticorin,
India
Saturday, January 5, 2008
thanks for all the personal emails - glad to see them.
sorry i could not send an email last night as there was only one internet cafe and i did not have time!
so i am in Tuticorin which is in Southern Tamil Nada on the east coast. let me start off with yesterday's drive from Madurai to Rameswaram.
we started off in the morning with the Police commissioner and local media taking epics and interviews, a process that actually delays us every morning. the previous night we managed to get 50 sets of backpacks and stationery for the kids. luckily found a Hindi speaking shopkeeper and so the experience was painless. we got lazy and left the stationery in the rickshaw and lo and behold, half of them were gone in the morning. since only the mechanics, support drivers and 3 guardsmen were there all night, the head mechanic asked them all the search the area and 20 min later they turned up a bag hidden behind a tree! after flag off we went to see the Meenakshi Temple complex which is huge and spent an hour there. then we headed off to the school. the drive was quite enjoyable and minimal traffic and for the first time we felt like we were ahead of schedule! got to the school and it was a very beautiful village with a serene river running through. the 20 odd kids were all under 10 and so it was a pleasure to hand out the stuff. then we drove on and got into Rameswaram at 4:15 and kept driving to the finger tip of India. there is a finger tip shaped piece of land that juts out and one can see Sri Lanka from there. Hindus believe it is the point where Rama sent his army to Sri Lanka to rescue Sita. the beach there was amazing the the distance from one end to the other is about 70 meters. small fishing shantis line the beach and the sunset was heavenly. that night i arranged to have 200 sets of stationery ready for the next school.
the drive today was fun and long! it was along the east coast and on a "small" highway so that means one lane, full of potholes and through rural Tamil Nada. we really tested our rickshaws today. it was fun because i will always be a boy and driving "fast" on bumpy roads and dodging potholes is fun and invigorating. we got to the school and it was closed (the organizers are not the smartest group) and luckily the commissioner had sent a bunch of policemen. so we handed dover the stuff and made list so hopefully we can confirm with the headmaster on monday. we had extra so we kept some pens with us and along the way we gave it to the numerous kids that would run up to the rickshaw. with about 90-120 minutes left to our destination and 40 min to "good roads" we broke down. well, the front of the rickshaw gradually caved in (fractures and cracks in the metal frame) and suresh got a bit cramped in the driver's seat. there was a support team 10 min behind us so they drove the rickshaw while we hitched a ride in another rickshaw. so ours is off for fixing tonite. i would say it was 'normal' that our RC broke down due to the roads and 'abnormal' that others survived. i mean, they were not designed for off road sporting events.
all in all, the last 2 days have been fun and enjoyable. putting all the problems and lack of planning on part of the organizing team aside, the last 5 days have been amazing and seeing the smiles on the children's' faces is so uplifting, i wish i could drive around in an SUV and hand stuff out to every child. maybe someday, i shall!
enjoy the pics at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=78878&l=cccdd& id=690225651
take care,
sameer
