Two British teachers have broken the world record for the longest journey in a tuk-tuk after pushing their failing vehicle the last 43 miles.

Richard Sears and Nick Gough have already travelled 2,330 miles in aid of grassroots education projects in Africa, Asia and South America.

If they can get their motorised rickshaw through northern Chile they will become the first people to drive a tuk-tuk around the world.

The pair, who set off from London on August 13 last year, thought their expedition was over when the vehicle started to fail.

But after three days of pushing to the Peruvian city of Chepen they found a mechanic specialising in tuk-tuks and will now press on through the Andes.

The expedition, sponsored by Cardiff University and freight company DSV, lets followers in the first world donate directly to the education projects it visits across the global south.

The two said they had worked with slum children in Cairo, Khartoum, Kampala, Mumbai and Phnom Penh, as well as visiting refugee camps in the Congo and meeting survivors of the Rwandan genocide in the country's capital of Kigali. They also visited adult education projects for sex workers in Delhi and victims of human trafficking in Nepal.

Their tuk-tuk was struck by a lorry in Malaysia and harassed by elephants in Botswana, but mountain crossings remained its toughest challenge.

Their record will only be official when they reach the end of their journey and are verified by the Guinness Book of Records. The incumbents are Germans Susi Bemsei and Daniel Snaider, who travelled 2,324 miles in 2005.

For more information or to donate go to www.tuktuktravels.com


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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelvideo/10472001/British-teachers-break-tuk-tuk-record.html

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