End of the Journey

Hey everyone,
We finished the Rickshaw Challenge yesterday and it was amazing.  We got very lucky with the weather, as we experienced almost no rain during our 9 days of driving the rickshaw which is very uncommon for this time of year.  Colin and I will be in Mumbai for two days before flying back home.  Thanks to everyone for following the blog and I will make sure to upload pictures when I have a better internet connection.
Thanks!
-Eli

Last Day in the Rickshaw

Hey everyone,
We are about to hop in our Rickshaw for our last and final day.  We have a short drive today to a town on the outskirts of Mumbai where we will officially "Flag down" and end our 9 day trek up the west coast of India.  I'll make sure to post some more pictures when I have more time later.
-Eli

Greetings from Aurangabad

Hey everyone,
Sorry that we have not been able to update the blog very regularly, but the internet access has been very sporadic.  We just arrived in Aurangabad after a 250k drive in our rickshaw from Pune.  The drive today was pretty easy, and we didn't have any breakdowns which was very lucky.  Yesterday we were not as lucky and not only ran out of gas at one point, but broke down also.  The trip has been amazing and the fellow competitors on the race have been a lot of fun to get to know.  I'll post some more pictures as well.
-Eli

Start of the Rickshaw Challenge

Hey everyone!
Yesterday marked the beginning of our official journey with the rickshaw.  We spent the entire day practicing in an empty park(ish) area, that was pretty much a smelly mud pit.  We did the same thing this morning, but were told to also drive our rickshaws to the closest gas station to refuel.  Didn't seem like it should be much of a problem, but on our drive back, our rickshaw broke down and neither of us had any clue how to fix it.  After about half a dozen friendly Indian men couldn't figure it out either, we ended up pushing our rickshaw back to the starting location in the pooring rain.  Later on, we were presented with our first challenge, which was to find a boys orphanage a few towns over, and all they gave us was the address.  After a few wrong turns and another break down, we luckily made it and got to see a great facility with 50 or so young boys who were equally happy to see foreign visitors.  Tomorrow we leave Panaji, Goa and have to make it to our next destination by the afternoon.  I'm posting some pictures momentarily so check those out. 
We'll keep you posted.
-Eli

Arrival in Goa

Greetings from Goa, where 85 degree heat is accompanied by sporadic torrential downpours of rain!

Despite the weather, its absolutely beautiful here. This morning, we walked around the city of Panaji where we will be staying for the next two days. Because the Portuguese occupied the city until 1961, many of the street names are Portuguese and there are numerous Catholic churches scattered around the city. Because it is monsoon season here, there are very few tourists and many of the river tours and beach shacks are closed.

Summing up our stay in Delhi: a shipment of lights was delayed in customs so we were unable to personally deliver them to the school we visited, however once they are cleared, they will be given to the students there. We've brought the rest of the lights with us to Goa, which will be distributed along our autorickshaw ride to Mumbai. More pictures and updates to come.

-Colin