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14 April 2025

Getting scammed by a rogue travel agent and robbed by aggressive monkeys doesn’t sound like perfect holiday memories, but for ex-Staff Sergeant Tony Brown they were all part of a crazy, chaotic fundraising tuk tuk trip through India. The eventful 3,500km journey over 14 days involved braving lorries and buses travelling the wrong way down highways, and steering the temperamental three-wheeled vehicles through hair-raising traffic.

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"The people were fantastic and India is an amazing country"

“It was totally chaotic from start to finish and an amazing experience,” said Tony, who served in the Royal Army Medical Corps for 22 years. “We started off by getting scammed for a tourist trip that never materialised, got robbed by roadside monkeys and became minor celebrities on social media as people followed our journey.”

Tony, 61, from Bristol, and fellow former RAMC warrant officer Michael Paver, along with their partners Claire and Paula, signed up for the challenge which saw 67 tuk tuks – traditional taxis that weave through the teeming traffic – travel along the north to south route from Rajasthan to Kochi. Each team had to deal with any problems they encountered on their own and could take any road to get to their destination.

“There’s a book by Adam Branford about travelling through India by tuk tuk called Cows, Curries and Chaos, and we certainly had all of that,” added Tony, who raised £690 for Blesma on the expedition in January. “Being on those roads is not for the faint-hearted. We were followed and photographed – people asked to have selfies as they were following us on social media. A Bollywood singer ended up in the back of Mick’s tuk tuk while he was filmed doing some dad dancing. It was an incredible experience and something you couldn’t repeat.

“The people were fantastic and India is an amazing country. To enjoy that and raise money for a great charity was a perfect combination. We chose to raise money for Blesma because of the fantastic job it does for veterans.”

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