14 DAY TRIAL // Two British teachers, Richard Sears and Nick Gough from the Royal Grammar School in Guildford, Surrey decided to break the world's tuk-tuk record in order to raise awareness and gather funds for the grassroots education projects in Africa, Asia and South America.
The pair's expedition is sponsored by Cardiff University and DVS Transports and encourages people to donate money for the development of education in the southern part of the globe. The 28-year-old professors started their trip from London on August 13, traveled across 37 countries and have already reached 2,330 miles (37,500 km).
The goal is to become the world's first tuk-tuk to travel across the world. Currently in Peru, if the pair manages to go through northern Chile with their motorized vehicle they will be acknowledged by the Guinness World Records as the first people to have driven a tuk-tuk, named Tommy, around the world.
Their trip was not uneventful, while in South America the pair had some problems with Tommy and had to drag the vehicle over the record line, according to Sky News. After a few days, they found a tuk-tuk specialized mechanic who helped them get back on the road and continue their charity trip that is scheduled to finish in Rio de Janeiro next month.
The vehicle's highest speed is of 34 mph (54 mph) and it is one of the most nature-friendly ways of traveling. “Although there have been many testing times, we have been privileged to experience such wonderful places and meet some truly remarkable individuals,” Nick says according to The Guardian.
The two professors now have an incredible track record, from working with children in Cairo, Khartoum, Kampala, Mumbai and Phnom Penh, visiting refugee camps in Congo, meeting genocide survivors in Rwanda to helping human trafficking victims in Nepal.
Their adventure has been incredible so far and their story is meant to help people all over the world. Tommy, the soon to be a world record winning tuk-tuk has been through a tough trip, being struck by a lorry in Malaysia or harassed by elephants in Botswana. The world record will be official once the pair will reach their final destination and will be verified by the Guinness Book of Records staff.