Winner Winner Chicken Dinner (2008)

In late May, 2008, there was a severe fuel crisis in Nepal, with queues for gas stretching over a mile in some areas, putting the trip into peril before it even began. However, between the Nepalese army and the black market, WWCD team managed to score some fuel and get rolling! First leg of the trip: Kathmandu to the Indian border, 500km.

The Rickshaw Run folks installed a cd player, Roof rack, and extra running lights on the autorickshaws prior to the team's arrival. WWCD team then painted the autorichsaws, added a 50 watt PA system and mounted dual speakers. On Race day, all the autorickshaws were moved to the center of Kathmandu where the Kings used to be annointed. First day run ended in Botwal, Nepal, at the Hotel Siddhartha.

One of the WWCD rickshaws had been in a crash before handed over to the team. On day two of the run they discovered the left stabilizer bar was cracked. This led to a complete break and the beginning of the end for our roof rack. The crash though had nothing to do with the transmission going out two hours into the day. They were stuck in fourth gear and any braking had dire consequences. Luckily they happened to brake down at a crossroads, and took a detour to the Indian border to find a mechanic. They were not allowed into India at this crossing as it was only for commerce not immigration. The team made do by making friends with the border guard and had a mechanic imported from India to fix the transmission. They generously donated to the Nepalese Border Guard Retirement Fund thereafter.

Once the rickshaw was fixed, they traversed the mountain ranges picking bugs from their hair and teeth, made up some some time and reached Nepalgunj two hours after dark. They reached the border on Day three, so far ahead of the pack that they had some trouble at the border crossing, but then set the standard for the Tuk Tuk teams that followed.

On the way to Lucknow they spotted a lady, clearly dead, seated against the bridge by the side of the road. Their gas can sprung a leak and they had to clean up the mess -- all smokers moved away from the vehicle. Finally made it to the Taj Hotel at 11:30 pm.

Day 4. Both rickshaws needed repair, both roofracks had to be trashed. Lots of lost time to be made up.

By driving day and night WWCD made the trip in ten days (as compared to the normal fourteen). They arrived so early that the finish line had not been set up yet.