On the Second of
January, 2019… on my parent’s wedding day anniversary, I was returning to
Vientiane from a trip to the unforgettable Elephant Conservation Center with my
nephew Steven.
We had left
Sayabouri and were about 60 km from Paklai when a dog decided to commit suicide
by running under my front wheel. Steven had my motorcycle and I was riding
Marie-Do’s and he had gone ahead of me so I found myself in the delicate situation
of being thrown from the bike onto my back in the middle of the road. The motorcycle
had pinned my left leg so I couldn’t move. I was lucky that no truck was
tearing down the road just behind me.
Pain and shock. At
first I could not speak, only moan. Opening my eyes I saw a little girl crying
being rushed away by her grandmother. The sight must not have been pretty, I thought.
Was there blood?
Fortunately not,
other than a few scrapes. The villagers lifted the bike and pulled me to safety
at the side of the road. One man thought it was a great idea to apply Tiger
Balm to my open wounds. It was not. Other people helped as they saw fit, not
allowing me to lie down, helping me take off my shirt in search of more open
wounds upon which to inflict the Tiger Balm…
Eventually a
scooter with a sort-of side car contraption came and took me to a pharmacy
where I was injected with a pain killer.
To make a long
story short, I left the motorbike with some people who lived at the side of the
road and hitchhiked to Paklay where there were my nephew, a comfortable hotel
bed and a hospital.
Photo credits of
the Paklay Hospital to Steven Hyman…
Five broken ribs
and two months later, I returned to that village to get the motorbike to take
it back to Vientiane. I took a bus to the village but had no real idea where I had
left the bike.
I was walking on the street trying to piece the place
together in my memory when someone stopped and asked me in Lao if I was indeed
the falang who had that accident two
months back. He then took me to where I had fallen and to the family who had
taken care of, and mended, the motorbike with extensive applications of Scotch
tape.
It started at first kick! The people were happy to see
me, even though it clearly meant the loss of the use of the motorbike.
They immediately set to cooking and slaughtered a
chicken in my honour to prepare lunch. They invited all the neighbours who had
been involved in my rescue, including side-car man and Tiger Balm guy!
People often ask me, ‘why Laos?’
Well, this is why Laos. Because in this beautiful land
live the kindest, warmest, most gentle and generous people you would ever want
to meet.
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