THEY have seen a side of India few tourists ever glimpse as they drove more than 2,000 miles through the country.

The catch was that the journey was made in motorised rickshaws, three-wheeled vehicles with a top speed of 35mph and notorious unreliability.

Nineteen-year-olds Guy Wilkinson, from Beaulieu and Harry Parker from Pilley have just completed the 3,600km Rickshaw Run with four fellow adventurers Rory Govan, Ollie Foster, Joe Macguffog and Nick Clark Bryan in two of the tiny vehicles.

To paraphrase the event organisers, The Adventurists, the rickshaw as mode of transport is “not very fast, it smells, it falls over when you go round corners, it breaks down more often than an emotional teenager and a day’s driving feels like you’ve been kicked up the backside by an elephant”.

The six friends, all former pupils of Marlborough College, made up two teams. Guy, Ollie and Rory were the Robbiesrickshaw team, competing in aid of theSPRINTfund. Harry, Joe and Nick, calling themselves Mad Dogs and Englishman, were fundraising for Cool Earth, which works alongside indigenous villagers to halt rainforest destruction and has, so far, saved more than half a million acres of forest in the Amazon and Congo.

TheSPRINTfund was formed, by the Keville family from Odiham to fund a consultant neuropsychologist to be based at Southampton General Hospital, where children with acquired brain injuries from all over Hampshire receive treatment. Their son Robbie was diagnosed with a brain tumour when he was eight and has come through the radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment and is on the road to recovery.

All six are friends of Robbie’s older brother Harry. “Most of us have met Robbie at least once,” said Guy. “There has also been a robbiesrally, robbiesrun and robbiesride to fundraise so robbiesrickshaw was very much part of the series.”

The race began in Shillong, in north east India and finished in Cochin, at the country’s southern tip.

The route took the boys through the mountains from Shillong, past Darjeeling through the tiny corridor separating Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh, down to Kolkata and along the eastern coast and then across the beautiful tea-growing region of Munnar.

Harry said: “It was the most incredible way to see rural India and experience true local generosity”.

The boys finished the race in 15th and 16th having taken the scenic route.

“There were no prizes for winning and you have to give the Rickshaw back as soon as you finish,” said Guy. “Hence we decided to go a longer route up the mountainous region of Munnar to make the most of having our own vehicle in India. It took us 14 days to go from Shillong to Cochin, getting up at 5am each morning and finishing driving around 9pm each day.

“We had one rest day in Puri in the middle after a chaotic first few days with breakages. The only support the organisers gave was a bag with three spanners, a screwdriver and a small nut tightener. Luckily, the locals were always willing to help, often for free despite offering them money.”

The engine of Guy’s vehicle fell out on the roadside and had to be welded back into place. The white three-wheeler, nicknamed Jora the Explorer, also suffered a transmission fault which meant it was stuck in fourth gear for around 80km.

The Mad Dogs’ green vehicle broke down 50 times due to a crisp packet trapped in the air filter.

“It took around £20, nine mechanics and 32 spark plug changes until the final mechanic checked down the back of the back seat for the air filter. You wouldn’t have known where to find the air filter unless you knew the rickshaw really well so that’s why none of us or the mechanics thought the air filter was located where it was,” said Guy.

“Without Indian creativity, resourcefulness and generosity, I’m sure we’d still be trudging through the Indian countryside now,” he added.

Robbiesrickshaw has raised £1,960 and Mad Dogs and Englishman £1,010.

To donate, visit: robbiesrickshaw 2015 on Facebook.