Travel from Hunuman Station, India to Kathmandu, Nepal for Team SOR11 and Team Fugi
This might qualify as the longest travel session for the world race ever?
Monday, January 31st
8:30 PM start to move two teams to bus station in the back of truck
9:30 PM all teams arrive, eta of bus
9:45 PM Bus arrives
9:50 PM Final goodbyes said to our contacts, bus driver assures our contact that he’ll let us
off at the correct stop
10:30 PM Doze off for an hour
12:15 PM 3 teammates stop bus by banging on door to go pee on the side of the road
Tuesday, February 1st
1:30 AM Stop at “rest area� lit by torches filled with nasty pay-to-use squatty potties
1:45 AM Wide awake
2:00 AM Drop ipod, crack screen
5:30 AM Begin to pull into Hyderabad, begin questioning bus driver about correct stop
5:35 AM Bus driver admits he doesn’t understand english
5:40 AM Call contact
5:50 AM Our pickup is on the phone with the bus driver
6:10 AM Get off bus, find contact, unload 12 packs, 12 day bags, 1 guitar and 1 harp from back
6:30 AM Contact arrives with rented bus
7:15 AM Arrive back at School of Worship
7:16 AM INTERNET!
1:00 PM Board bus to Hardrock Cafe
1:20 PM Consume large quantities of american food
2:00 PM Walk around spacious, luxury mall
2:30 PM Find music store, buy guitar
3:30 PM Go back to School of Worship, catch up with other teams
8:00 PM Pack 4 teams and stuff into 22 passenger bus
9:00 PM Arrive at Hyderabad Airport
9:30 PM Eat ‘chicken’ sandwich from McDonalds.
10:00 PM Circle up bags in the middle of the arrival area, some of group fall asleep
10:10 PM Airport security holding an AK-47 asks about our departure and warns us of robbers
Wednesday, February 2nd
1:30 AM Doze off
2:15 AM Awake
3:00 AM Start movie
3:45 AM Turn off movie, can’t pay attention
4:30 AM Awaken rest of team, begin to head through security
4:50 AM Bag only weighs 18 kg, will have down to 14 kg by end of trip!
5:30 AM buy chocolate donut
5:35 AM Nauseous, board plane
6:00 AM Hostess gives me a breakfast
6:10 AM pick through breakfast, still nauseous
6:20 AM Fall asleep
7:10 AM Awoken to plane beginning decent
7:30 AM Walk across massive, empty airport pick up bags
7:40 AM Go and pick up guitar that had to be checked.
7:45 AM Guitar arrives safely
8:00 AM Begin making decisions about what to do with the day
8:10 AM Evan and Daniel find us a hotel that will allow us to buy rooms just for the afternoon
10:00 AM Prepay for four van taxis.
10:10 AM Have to stop to retie bags to top of roof
10:11 AM Pray for rest of 30 minute trip as bags bounce on the roof
10:20 AM Taxi driver stopped by Indian police for being overloaded.
11:00 AM Arrive at hotel near to the rail station
12:01 PM Descend into subway system.
12:10 PM Forcefully push myself onto men’s only subway car. oh boy
12:13 PM Finish intimate subway car ride.
12:40 PM Find Pizza Hut
1:40 PM Food finally arrives, eat way too much pizza
2:30 PM Group splits, I head back to hotel
3:30 PM 3 of us crash on bed and nap
5:45 PM Wake up
6:30 PM Teams gather, walk to airport
7:00 PM Entire squad reunites (-1 team)
7:45 PM Realize we’re at the wrong train station, train leaves in a 1.25 hours
8:00 PM Squeeze entire team and bags into taxi car.
8:30 PM Hit traffic, pray the rest of the way
8:50 PM Arrive at train station
8:55 PM Bag Scanner breaks, allows us to walk through security (it was Jesus)
9:00 PM Last member of group boards as the train starts to move.
9:02 PM Deep breath
9:45 PM Finally get to seat.
10:15 PM Get seating figured out
10:20 PM Drink Chai 😀
10:30 PM Fall asleep on a small bed cuddling pack
11:59 PM Awoken to shifting bag, and fear of falling off bunk
Thursday, February 3rd
2:00 AM Realign bag
2:30 AM Realign bag
4:00 AM Realign bag
6:30 AM Give up on realigning bag
7:00 AM Find out there was room under bottom bunk for my pack.
8:00 AM Pizza hut fights back through squatty potty directly to tracks
11:30 AM Arrive at train station
11:45 AM regroup at front of train station, call bus
12:01 PM Find bus, bus leaves
2:00 PM Claim upper sleeper nook for my own
2:30 PM Lunch (driver called this breakfast)
4:00 PM Leave lunch
7:30 PM Arrive at border
8:30 PM Logistics handles passports and visas
9:00 PM Bus driver attempts to set speed record for trip
9:10 PM Bumps begin, frequent airborne world racers, enough to earn air miles?
10:00 PM Doze off
10:05 PM Bumped awake
11:30 PM Pee Break
Friday, February 4th
2:00 AM Pee break- cold out
2:15 AM Check watch at 6500 feet elevation
4:30 AM Bus arrives near Kathmandu, driver doesn’t know where hotel is
5:00 AM Barter with local auto driver to show us the way
5:10 AM Continue to barter
5:20 AM Bus arrives, unload stuff
5:30 AM Half mile walk to hotel with all of our stuff.
5:45 AM Arrive at hotel, no heat.
5:50 AM Fall asleep in sleeping bag
9:45 AM Wake up, breakfast.
The total trip took us 82 hours.
