Mototaxi Junket: Day 9 – Instagrams

Loading

Looking filthy like a coal miner after today's drive. The road from Huanoco to Cerro De Pasco goes up, up, up, but it has a TON of traffic…mostly big trucks that kick up huge clouds of dust and spew black smoke. It's disgusting. And in a Mototaxi it's especially bad, because you're constantly being overtaken by crazy truck drivers, or having to pass them. Not to mention the road blocks and lane closures, which means a few hours waiting in line with a bunch of idling trucks. #mototaxijunket #chimneysweep

View on Instagram

Loading

This guy had the most delicious bananas. Peruvian bananas are much smaller and sweeter than the ones we eat in the USA…probably because they are actual banana sized and not bred to be GIGANTIC and to last for a long time on the supermarket shelf. #mototaxijunket #peru #bananas

View on Instagram

Loading

Cool hat mom and future cool hat daughter, with a brand new rubber ducky. #mototaxijunket #rubberduckies

View on Instagram

Loading

I'm loving the Peruvian hats. The higher I get, the better they are! This lady was particularly lovely. I ate a banana with her this morning. #mototaxijunket #peru

View on Instagram

Loading

View from the 2700 meter mountain pass near Churubamba, Peru. #mototaxijunket #peru #andes

View on Instagram

Posted in Mototaxi Junket | 1 Comment

Mototaxi Junket: Day 8 – Tocache to Huanaco (290km)

Posted in Mototaxi Junket | Leave a comment

Mototaxi Junket: Celebratory Pisco Sours

Loading

Celebratory Pisco Sours with the Swiss and Romanian Mototaxi Junket teams. All of us were way behind due to mechanical issues, and met up In Huánaco (the dangerous city we're not supposed to go in) after a very successful 300km day for all of us. Hopefully we're back on track to finish the junket on time! (PS: Check out our new Peruvian hats.) #mototaxijunket

View on Instagram

Posted in Mototaxi Junket | Leave a comment

Mototaxi Junket: Genius Mechanic

Loading

This genius mechanic works out of a shack along a pothole-ridden road somewhere deep in the jungles of San Martin, Peru. He took my non-operational Mototaxi and fixed everything…new alternator, opened the engine and replaced all the seals, fixed the carburetor, fixed the wobbly front wheel, adjusted the drive chain tension, re-welded the about-to-fall-off exhaust pipe, tightened all the loose bolts and changed the oil. Three hours of work, in the rain, on the side of the road…total cost for everything, parts and labor – 100 Sol (about $40). Amazing. Now my Mototaxi drives the best that it has since I got it. Which isn't good (there is no "good" with mototaxis), but the engine sounds so much better, the handling is vastly improved…oh, and the damn thing actually starts now! Life is so much better when it doesn't take 10-20 minutes of swearing and furious kicking to get your engine running. #mototaxijunket

View on Instagram

Posted in Mototaxi Junket | Leave a comment

I took all the duckies out to play…

It’s still not too late to Donate…help me reach my $3000 goal by the end of the rally! We’re currently at $1420 out of the $3000 that I hope to raise…help push me above the 50% mark today. One of these duckies could be yours!

I took the rubber duckies out to play

Posted in Mototaxi Junket | Leave a comment

Mototaxi Junket: Day 7 Update

Posted in Mototaxi Junket | Leave a comment

Mototaxi Junket: Sketchy “Toll Booths”

Loading

A few times a day, I encounter these sketchy "toll booths" / roadside stops manned by "Seguridad" in dubious uniforms… At one of these there was a sign that said "detour" because the "main road" was closed (it was not), and I found these two goofy looking hooligans (below) trying to get money out of passersby. I have yet to pay a bribe at one of these stops. Usually I put on a big dumb smile, play the confused foreigner card, and give them a rubber ducky. If they have a problem with that, I just tell them "No fume espagnol" ("I don't smoke Spanish!!") and give a big thumbs up. Usually I'm on my way in a few minutes. #mototaxijunket #peru #seguridad

View on Instagram

Posted in Mototaxi Junket | Leave a comment

Mototaxi Junket: Day 7

Posted in Mototaxi Junket | Leave a comment

Mototaxi Junket: Day 6

Posted in Mototaxi Junket | Leave a comment

Mototaxi Junket: Day 5

1669635_10100600133140309_3726494830435797113_o

I’ve made it to Tarapoto! I was greeted by a double rainbow (all the way across the sky! so intense!)

If you think traffic in (insert city here) is bad, wait til you see this place. It’s like driving through a swarm of bees…if all the bees flew on one way roads up and down hills, with red lights every 30 seconds in 3 wheeled machines that barely have brakes.

I realized this afternoon that I haven’t met another English speaker (other than the Junketeers) since Day 1 of the Mototaxi Junket. Suffice to say, we’re pretty far off the beaten track. My high school Spanish has done my well so far…actually, I don’t know how I’d survive without it.

Today was a relaxing day driving downhill through relatively well-kept roads in the jungle. I only did 117km, so I’ve got a lot of ground to make up tomorrow. My mototaxi is still chugging along.

I’m setting an alarm for 4:30am, but chances are the annoying rooster that crows all night (there’s one in every town) will wake me up before then. I’ve eaten way too much chicken on this trip – but I’d gladly eat some more if I could take a bite out of that 1am cock-a-doodle-dooer! — in Tarapoto.

Posted in Mototaxi Junket | Leave a comment