Pure Travel
  • About
  • Destination Inspiration
  • Tips & Advice
  • Guide
  • Travel Writing
  • Cookie Policy (UK)
  • Conservation
  • Privacy
  • Travel Writing Competition 2025
  • Reviews
  • Travel Resources
  • T&C
  • Contact Us
  • Conservation
  • Privacy
  • Travel Writing Competition 2025
  • Reviews
  • Travel Resources
  • T&C
  • Contact Us
Pure Travel
Pure Travel
  • About
  • Destination Inspiration
  • Tips & Advice
  • Guide
  • Travel Writing
  • Cookie Policy (UK)

Abandoned in Allahabad

  • September 22, 2020
  • admin

To call the experience I had driving an auto-rickshaw 2,000 miles across India the worst journey of my life would be unfair. True, we were stopped by bandits and spent a night in a police cell. True, we spent our days fighting dust and exhaust fumes in the choked arteries that make up India’s urban streets, only to spend our nights hurtling down poorly made roads amidst thundering monsoons. But these were exciting inconveniences I would gladly endure again, with a single exception: the journey into Allahabad.

On the road we had allied with two other rickshaw teams and so six of us set out in three rickshaws for Allahabad, aiming to enjoy a calm evening with some tea before pushing on to Agra and the Taj Mahal the following day. We halted just outside the city to confirm our route. My companions had been studying the map as we’d hurtled through Uttar Pradesh, swerving around lorries, cows, dogs, motorbikes and countless other obstacles, and now believed they had found a hotel. They jumped into the lead rickshaw with its American driver to illuminate our path.

I was left alone at the back of the convoy and the folly of this decision became swiftly manifest. No sooner had we coaxed our ’shaws into life and started forward, than my own faithful steed sputtered and died. I had run out of petrol. I leapt from my stricken vehicle to alert my companions, but their eyes were fixed on the traffic and they drove on unaware. By the time I had filled the tank, using our unwieldy system of jerry can, tube and funnel, they had disappeared into the throng of angrily tooting commuters.

I set off, frantically searching for the two brightly painted rickshaws, but in vain. The sun had set, a downpour had been unleashed and with it the traffic was at complete gridlock. As I fought my way back through phalanxes of cars and rickshaws, I asked each person I encountered if they had seen five tourists driving rickshaws, but it was hopeless. As sheets of rain lashed down, puddles became lakes, masking cavernous potholes and mountainous bumps. I bounced blindly along, banks of muddy water exploding either side of me.

Nearing a crossroads, the first breaths of concern began to give life to sparks of panic as the engine backfired before whimpering to a halt. As the traffic built up behind me, a man jumped off a bus and started frantically pointing at my rickshaw and making tipping motions with his hands. At first, I feared he was describing an accident I had caused, but then I inspected the back seat: my friend’s bag was gone, disappeared over the side somewhere in the dark swamp through which I had just battled. Trusting the fast-growing crowd to guard my broken ’shaw, I set off, stumbling through the sludge, eyes swivelling as I searched.

The traffic controller from the crossroads came after me in his rickshaw and offered a lift to where the bag was seen abandoning ship. But after searching feverishly in the darkness to no avail, we admitted defeat and began to trudge back. I was soaking wet, caked in mud and shaking in horror and remorse.

It was then that I heard a voice rising over the clamour of engines and horns. Turning toward the sound, I almost fainted with relief as I beheld a cyclist holding my friend’s sodden bag aloft. Showering the man with thanks for he would not accept payment, I reclaimed the bag and returned to my rickshaw, ecstasy coursing through my veins.

I found it mobbed by Allahabadians, all eager to learn my situation and offer their help. One even gave me his card so that on my return to England I could contact his son who was studying Medicine at UCL. Eventually, we managed to coax the engine unhealthily to life. As I was proffering my delirious thanks I heard my name jubilantly shouted from the hordes and felt arms wrapping themselves around my waist. My friends had found me!

We drove round until we found a hotel, with me huddled in the back of the ’shaw, adrenaline sluicing from me to be replaced with dumb weariness and shuddering anxiety. Worse yet was when my friend pulled her phone from the recovered bag. If only I had thought to look for that first, I could have promptly organised our reunion and spent that evening sipping tea, just as planned.



C Whitting

Share
Tweet
admin

You May Also Like
Svalbard wildlife cruise
View Post
  • Destination Inspiration

Svalbard Wildlife: How Many of the Arctic Big Five Will You See?

  • Sara
  • July 29, 2025
Disneyland Paris
View Post
  • Destination Inspiration

What to Do Around Disneyland Paris? Activities and Weekend Ideas

  • Jules
  • July 29, 2025
Marbella
View Post
  • Destination Inspiration

Why Marbella is the Ultimate Destination for a Mediterranean Holiday

  • Jules
  • July 28, 2025
ziplining
View Post
  • Travel Resources

What You Should Know Before Booking a Zipline Adventure

  • Jules
  • July 28, 2025
Dubai
View Post
  • Destination Inspiration
  • Travel Resources

Why Tourists Are Becoming Off-Plan Property Buyers in Dubai

  • Jules
  • July 28, 2025
Rent a campervan
View Post
  • Planes, Trains & Automobiles: Tips & Advice

Rent a Campervan: The Ultimate Way to Travel with Freedom and Comfort

  • Jules
  • July 28, 2025
Teaching English
View Post
  • Uncategorized

Teach and Travel: How to Pick a TEFL Program That Fits Your Global Goals

  • Jules
  • July 24, 2025
adventure kumrat kohistan
View Post
  • Travel Writing

Adventure in Kumrat

  • Editor
  • July 23, 2025
  • Svalbard wildlife cruise
    Svalbard Wildlife: How Many of the Arctic Big Five Will You See?
    • July 29, 2025
  • Disneyland Paris
    What to Do Around Disneyland Paris? Activities and Weekend Ideas
    • July 29, 2025
  • Marbella
    Why Marbella is the Ultimate Destination for a Mediterranean Holiday
    • July 28, 2025
  • ziplining
    What You Should Know Before Booking a Zipline Adventure
    • July 28, 2025
  • Dubai
    Why Tourists Are Becoming Off-Plan Property Buyers in Dubai
    • July 28, 2025
Recent Comments
    Pure Travel
    • About
    • Destination Inspiration
    • Tips & Advice
    • Guide
    • Travel Writing
    • Cookie Policy (UK)
    A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step

    Input your search keywords and press Enter.

    Pure Travel
    Manage Consent
    To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
    Functional Always active
    The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
    Preferences
    The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
    Statistics
    The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
    Marketing
    The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
    Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
    View preferences
    {title} {title} {title}