Inspired by our story on the New Year Rickshaw Run? Well now you can do it for yourself.
“The Rickshaw Run” is a no-holds-barred road trip on a glorified lawnmower in India, run three times a year. Teams land in India, get to know their rickshaw and learn some basic mechanical skills, test drive it, decorate it and then set off, each team has to get from the start line to the finish line however they choose.
“There’s no on-the-road support, no accommodation booked for participants on the way, no set route. This isn’t a rally, it’s an adventure – and one that our customers are just going to love,” said Tim Fryer, STA Travel’s UK product and marketing director.
Dan Wedgwood, managing director of The Adventurists, said: “Teaming up with STA Travel is excellent news for our fight to make the world less boring. Their customers are made of the right stuff for proper, old-school adventuring.
“Now that every corner of the planet has been mapped and piped into your smartphone and guidebooks can tell you everything before you leave home, driving yourself across India in a tiny rickshaw is the antidote. It’s impossible to predict and planning is futile – it’s about pointing your comically unsuitable rickshaw towards a finish line thousands of miles away and bracing yourself for a healthy slice of chaos and everything else India chucks at you along the way.”
STA Travel and The Adventurists believe that giving back as you travel is the responsible thing to do. So each team taking part in the Rickshaw Run is encouraged to raise a minimum of £1000 for charity. A minimum of £500 must be donated to the official charity, Cool Earth, who work alongside indigenous villages to halt rainforest destruction, the rest to be donated to the STA Travel Foundation or a charity of the team’s choice.
There are three Rickshaw Runs to choose from in 2015/16:
Jaisalmer to Shillong, “The Everything-India-Can-Throw-At-You One” which covers 2700km in two weeks. (3 April 2015 – 18 April 2015)
Shillong to Cochin, “The Long Run” which covers 3500km in three weeks. (2 August 2015 – 20 August 2015)
Cochin to Jaisalmer, “The Party One” which covers 2500km in just over two weeks. (29 December 2015 – 14 January 2016)
Prices start from £1,595 per team / per rickshaw. There is maximum of three people in a team. Price includes insurance, rickshaw driving lessons, and of course the infamous pre and post-adventure parties.
This price does not include flights to India. Return flights from London to India start from £399 per person.
And if after (hopefully) completing the Rickshaw Run, you’re in need of some rest and relaxation – not to mention a bed and a hot shower – then STA Travel’s experts can help you plan the perfect trip; from a lazy river cruise in Kerala, diving off the Andaman Islands or swinging in a hammock on the beaches of Goa. Do it!
For more ways to see India, click here
