Jaisalmer

We spent the last day of 2022 doing Rickshaw Run Training and Orientation, recovering from that, attending the launch party and celebrating New Year’s Eve. I have no words.

Well, I guess I do.

It was an overwhelming cacophony of chaos, noise and dust mixed with a plunge into a state of extreme anxiety as it became crystal clear to us what we have committed to do. That was all mixed up with meeting a lot of extremely interesting people from all around the world who are just as crazy as we are. We attended the launch party that evolved into basically a disco for all of the under 30 something’s who are here. Then we ended the year sitting on the top of the roof of our hotel together drinking a much needed bottle of wine and watching the fireworks and feeling grateful for all of the blessings we experienced in 2022.

Let’s start with the auto rickshaw training part. We met our mighty steed (name tbd), decorated as we had requested with the colors of the Italian flag and Forza Volpe ( Go Strong Volpe) on the front and the Sicilian flag on the back in honor of Joe’s heritage, and a number 60 on the side for his birthday. It’s basically a baking tin with a motor and wheels. Four gears, clutch on left handle, throttle on right. Brake under right foot.

We couldn’t figure out how to start it for about an hour. Then we realized the gas line wasn’t open. By then all of the other way more mechanically inclined drivers were racing around the dirt training track. There was dust everywhere and people shouting and screaming and all of the social media savvy people using their Go Pros and selfie sticks and whatever else.

There are 65 rickshaws on this tour. The designs - how people requested them to be painted - were so wonderfully creative. That’s another post entirely.

When we got into the rickshaw to start driving it we realized that we had a stowaway on board - a huge grasshopper that we named Jiminy Cricket was sitting on the inside of the roof. We decided that Jiminy was God giving us a good luck sign. We hope he sticks around.

Joe managed to do pretty well with the driving. Then it was my turn. “Shift up” he kept saying, sitting in the back seat. “What the hell are you talking about?,” I responded. “There’s no up, there is only however I am supposed to crank my wrist forward or backwards.” It degraded from there. I made it around the circle once slower than everybody else was going and then had to take a time out and has a serious meltdown.

Joe tried again and got better at it. He even managed to figure out how to go backwards. I took another crack at it and was basically just stressed out the entire time, throttling too hard on the gas when switching gears, not really coordinated with the brake, worried I was going to hit someone.

There was a local guy there selling “upgrades”. A fancier and better seat cushion. Yes, please. How about a cell phone charger. Yes, please. Maybe a louder horn. Yes, please. How about a better mirror on the right side. Yes, please. All for about 60 bucks US. That led us to spending three hours standing around waiting for I couldn’t count how many Indian people it took to install nicely colored cushions, do a bunch of electrical work, put a bright red horn on the front, and replace the mirror.

By then it was time to go back to our hotel and get dressed for New Year’s. We managed to secure some pretty awesome locally made coats hand crafted by women in Rajasthan. To wear to the party. The owner of the shop found out we were Rickshaw Runners and asked us to do an Instagram cameo and handed us about 20 business cards to help promote his work to uplift local women out of poverty and preserve an ancient craft.

We headed to the launch party, hosted at the local palace, and spent the evening chatting with various other Rickshaw Runners. The music started and all the young people, who had been pounding beers all night, started partying. We took that as a sign to head back to our hotel and we ascended onto the rooftop to watch the local fireworks and enjoy a bottle of Indian made wine (yes that is a thing) and just felt so blessed for everything we experienced in 2022.

Happy New Year to all of our friends and family reading this. We appreciate you following our adventure!Read more