Spicy challenge (Photo: Mark Kiklovich, team Butt, Sweat and Tears)

The second stage of the 2016 Malabar Rampage was a 235 kilometers trip from Alleppey to Calicut, made more interesting by the spices of South India. At the end of stage two the team members were already experienced rickshaw racers. This goes for Team Flying Birds too, who ran out of gas three times on the day before, but had no problem during the second stage.

The pack took off from Alleppey in order to reach Calicut by the end of the day. 235 kilometers might sound like a nice short trip in many places in the world. However, when driving a rickshaw in India, where you can run into unexpected issues and traffic problems anytime, it can easily take a full day to cover this distance.

Getting familiar with the spices of South India

To take the first challenge, the teams stopped in Kochi. The city is famous for using Chinese fisher nets and the Kochi Jewish quarter. The Kochi Jews form a considerable community and allegedly they came to India after the Second Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed in the first century. Kochi is also famous for the spices of South India state Kerala and that fact provided the first task of the day.

The racers had to get familiar with the spices of South India: they had to learn five spices typical in Kerala. The guys from team Butt, Sweat and Ears made this program even more interesting for the ladies in the spice shop with their attractive appearance. They also got their rickshaw fixed and were cool enough to play a cricket match with the locals while waiting. The guys are already behaving like native Indians on the way!

The second challenge was to capture a team member and the rickshaw with the Kerala Backwaters in the background. Definitely a Facebook cover photo opportunity.

The organizing Travel Scientists had to wait until late night for the last teams to reach Calicut, but eventually all of them have arrived without any major accidents.