Tuk tuk Travellers / Education Campaigners Conclude Indian Sojourn With a Visit to Kolkata

KOLKATA, India, June 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

29 countries and 20,000 miles done and still travelling

Two UK based teachers / educational campaigners who are travelling the world in a tuk tuk are concluding their trip across the sub-continent with a visit to Kolkata. They have been visiting educational and developmental projects, conducting academic research, documenting their experience and raising awareness of the Global Campaign for Education and funds in support of education. They have identified two projects they are intending to work with in India and these are:

• Kat Katha, working in the red light district of Delhi, providing non-formal educational opportunities to sex workers there and their children.
• Sakhi for Girls Education, providing young girls in the slums on Mulund, Mumbai, after school learning opportunities through a book bank and learning centre to improve confidence and further academic progress. 

According to Nick Gough and Rich Sears "both projects are truly inspirational examples of local people standing up and responding to the educational challenges facing their communities."

Highlights / challenges of their Indian sojourn

The highlight of their Indian sojourn according to Nick and Rich was "the incredibly friendly people, rushing to our aid when our tuk tuk's had any problems."  Other high points they mentioned were "the beautiful cities of Jodhpur and Udaipur and the amazing food."  The Indian trip was topped off with the traditional tourist visit to the Taj Mahal. The greatest challenge they said "was the heat - dealing with the aggressive humidity of pre-monsoon India has been emotional." The other challenge was the famously erratic Indian driving, particularly "getting used to vehicles flying at us from all angles!"

Where they went in India

After arriving in Mumbai their first stop was visit Piaggio 3-wheeler factory in Baramati to pay homage to the birthplace of their tuk tuk. They then travelled north from Mumbai, through Udaipur to Jodhpur, then east to Jaipur, Agra, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, then north again into Nepal. On the final leg they travelled back through West Bengal to Kolkata from where they will ship to SE Asia.

How they got to India

They arrived in India after shipping their tuk tuk from Capetown, South Africa to Mumbai. They have travelled through 29 countries crossing Europe, Africa and much of India and Nepal. Traversing the length of Africa in a tuk tuk was no easy task.  In Northern Kenya and Western Tanzania, the team faced over 1000 miles of dirt tracks, where thick mud, deep sand and large rocks made progress painfully slow.  Despite such challenging terrain, the tuk tuk only sustained one flat tyre outside Paris and one snapped accelerator cable in Southern Africa.  Wherever the team were, it would not take long for a friendly passer-by to come and lend a hand. Nick and Rich also had some close run-ins with wildlife too - "we were almost charged by and elephant in Uganda and then again Botswana." They are first team to drive a tuk tuk the length of Africa recording their achievement on the beach at the Cape of Good Hope, in South Africa. While in Africa Nick and Rich uncovered some inspirational projects across and witnessed firsthand the extent of the educational challenges facing the continent today.  They joined street children in slums of Cairo, Khartoum and Kampala; visited Congolese refugees in camps in Eastern Burundi; and saw how education can help foster peace and reconciliation in Rwanda after meeting two young genocide survivors in Kigali.

What next and the world record

After India they will head for Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and back down to Singapore. They will then ship the tuk tuk to Los Angeles, in the USA before starting a tour of South America starting with Mexico. They have now covered around 20,000 miles, closing in on the current world record for the longest journey in an auto-rickshaw. The current world record stands at 23,245 miles (37,410km). On arrival in the US they hope to break this record.  The expedition is sponsored by Cardiff University and shipping is being supported by DSV Global Transport and Logistics.

More information can be found on their website: http://www.tuktuktravels.com