Day 3 Andahualas to Chincheros

We spent the morning getting our mototaxi serviced, and waiting for our buddies Ed and Stu to have their engines rebuilt, so progress was really slow and we didn't get moving until nearly 3pm.

Within minutes of  exiting Andahualas we got our first dose of proper wet season requiring us to throw on the waterproofs and tape up the fuel tanks to prevent water getting in.

The rain was making the slopes unstable, only adding to our sense of hurry: "get past this mountina before it crumbles!".

Predictably the evening ended with us eating a chicken-based meal; and we were lucky enough to secure a decent sized room at a hotel in Chincheros, making the process of unloading bags a lot easier.

Final preparation day

Today the plan is to get up early, buy lots of tools and spares for the mototaxi, and then head back to San Jeronimo (where the lockup is), where we are going to do the following.

1. Adorn mototaxi with our sponsor logos
2. Fit some bits that are missing
3. Have a go at replacing the chain and tyres  (better to do this for the first time now, in parc ferme, rather than on the side of a mountain)
4. Get better at driving it

After that, there is the small matter of New Years Eve to deal with where I think we have a meal and party booked.

Feliz Ano Nuevo to all our followers, we really appreciate the support.

One day until launch.....

Picked up Mototaxis

Today we picked up our Mototaxi for the first time- it is equally as bad as all our expectations. This is a good thing!
After re-constructing the frame/chasis/brakes/battery/canope/sidepanels we only have a short list of fixes remaining to do tomorrow before the thing will be roadworthy, these are minor things such as: new tyres, wheels and brakelights.
There is no question that this thing will break down, the question is how often and how terminal!

Chris's mototaxi fix-it guide

One of the things that is certain on our trip is that the moto-taxi will break down. Most probably a lot.

What we really need is some kind of fix-it guide. Now, to the best of my knowledge, there isn't a Haynes Manual for the Lifan Trooper Moto-Taxi, so we’re going to have to work it out for ourselves.

If a part appears broken, follow these simple steps

Luckily however, Chris qualified as an engineer, and he has come up with a handy engineering flowchart, to use whenever a component fails on the mototaxi. We follow the simple steps, and whatever part is broken, becomes fixed. Thanks Chris – I feel much better about things now.