Duo’s charity ride across Andes a real cliff-hanger

IT’S been described as the worst machine ever invented: it drags a sofa behind it, does a maximum speed of 60km/h, hates hills and is prone to breakdowns.

Yet Eoin Murphy from West Cork is planning to drive a mototaxi —a 125cc motorbike with a couch attached — 2,000km across the Andes mountains, through jungles and deserts and along the winding cliff-hanger roads of Peru.

But it’s all for a good cause — the gruelling two-week trek, which he is doing with friend and work colleague Stephen Fitzmaurice, is in aid of charity.

Clonakilty-born Murphy, a 26-year-old Microsoft employee based in Dublin, is flying out to Lima on December 28 for the notorious Mototaxi Junket race, which begins on January 1 from the mountain-top city of Cuzco, 10,000ft above sea level.

Last year, the duo raised €4,000 for charity with a 3,500km rickshaw journey across India.

It was tough, Murphy acknowledges, but their 2012 Peruvian adventure could be even tougher. “The terrain is very inhospitable. It includes very high mountain passes which are very dangerous because we’re literally travelling alongside the top of a cliff,” he said.

“There will be no support if there’s an accident. The mototaxi is the most badly designed vehicle I’ve ever seen.

“It’s even worse than the rickshaw we had in India and, on top of that, it will be travelling very difficult terrain.

“It’s a huge challenge.”

Furthermore, he believes the challenge will be scary at times: “You could be stuck in the middle of a jungle with a broken-down vehicle.

“There’s no support and no one to help — you’re really on your own. In reality, a lot of the fun is in hindsight.”

On New Year’s Day, while many of us will be sleeping off the effects of the celebrations, Murphy and Fitzmaurice will be commencing their two-week 2,000km journey across Peru from Cuzco in the south to Ayabaca in the north.

“The route includes crossing the Andes mountains and going through the jungles and deserts of Peru,” Murphy explains.

They will stay in hostels at night, although they’re bringing a tent in case the mototaxi breaks down or they don’t get to the nearest town by nightfall.

The pair hopes to raise funds for the Irish Cancer Society and the global charity Practical Action, during the event, in which 60 teams from all over the world are participating.

“It’s good to raise money for charity. Last year people were amazingly generous and there was a huge amount of interest in it,” Murphy adds.

* Donations can be made to: mycharity.ie/events/mototaxi