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Junket Planning Begins

Today I have officially begun planning for the 2009 Mototaxi Junket. This has been going on behind the scenes for a bit, but I'm finally starting to commit to dates and at least pre/post rally routes.

The Basic Plan

Oct 21: Leave Dulles mid-day, arrive in Lima at 8PM.

Oct 22: Explore the Centro Historico de Lima, break the rust off my Spanish.

Oct 23: Take the crazy train from Lima (7AM) to Huancayo (7PM). I am expecting to meet up with some other crazy rally people en-route as I believe at least some others will be taking the same train.

Oct 24: Mototaxi familiarization day in Huancayo and initial route planning. Launch party that night at which I will try to avoid getting trashed.

Oct 25: Any last minute preparation, official send-off at noon!

... many days of adventure ...

Nov 7*: Arrive in Asuncion, Paraguay. Return moto taxi and attend finish celebration party.

Nov 8*: Hang out in Asuncion for the day, then leave for the long long trip home. From Asuncion to Sao Paulo to the US.

Nov 9*: Arrive at Dulles, head into VA3 to catch up on work for the day, catch a lift home.

* Nov 7/8/9 subject to change. :x

The most annoying bit for this will be getting a lift to the airport on Oct 21. I really don't want to deal with the shuttle blah blah. We'll see who I can rope into it. ;)

Flights will be approximately $1100-1300 (planning on booking tomorrow) and the train is $50, plus a cheap hotel in Lima and Huancayo means the entire setup for the rally should come in just under $1500. Pretty stoked. (of course, add all the other fees and charity stuff and whatnot and this is going to end up being pretty pricey, but totally worth it)

The Goods

I've also started to work towards my final gear list. This has involved some purchases that I need for other things and so far I haven't spent any money on stuff for just this trip, so that's cool. Recent purchases include:

- More synthentic gear. Most of mine is fairly worn out and I don't want to deal with holes and tears in the middle of South America. So, new synthetic pants (Ex Officio), an underarmor polo and t-shirt, and some Ex Officio underwear. Set.

- Picked up a Panasonic Lumix LS-10 digital camera for $90 from Dell. Runs on AA's and is a surprisingly good camera. Between that and my Canon A590is I'll have two cheap AA using cameras that I won't cry about if they break or get lost/stolen.

- A little AA to mini-USB w/ regulator arrived today, for emergency charging of my Blackberry 8830 world edition (which should have CDMA voice here and there at least).

- Grabbed a PacSafe 120 steel mesh cage for my pack, still need to grab some combo locks though.

Plus I'm getting my ducks in a row to get a DC license and register my motorcycle in DC (this week hopefully), which I need to have done before I apply for an International Driving Permit. Once that's set I can get an IDP at the AAA office down the street in theory and it will all be current/set to go.

Then I just need my vacinations and most of the paperwork will be out of the way (all visas/etc. can be purchased at the border/airports according to my research).

Can't believe I'm less than two months away! When I first started considering this it seemed so far in the future...
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