…and we thought we would be safe in a big bus. Wrong. Size usually matters but I guess after 8 months on the road our luck has just run out, or has it? We could be dead. The bus driver was just doing what all drivers do, passing a big lorry in busy traffic, unfortunately he miscalculated.Instead of breaking and dropping back behind the lorry when oncoming traffic was too close he never slowed and slammed into the rear right of the lorry. In this case, sitting in the front right hand seat of the bus was not the best place to be. Besides seeing the whole episode unfold before us we were sitting in direct alignment with the oncoming lorry.
Like a slow motion movie the corner of the lorry seemed to cut through butter as it pealed back the front corner of the bus. Fortunately it stopped short of Janet and I with only my foot getting smashed under the front partition. Thank God Janet’s hip is okay but both our nerves are seriously rattled. We are in the middle of rural Cambodia having just survived what could have easily been a fatal bus accident. We are so lucky.
Now what? With the help of some fellow western travelers I’m carried through the back emergency window to a wooden platform under a local house with at least 50 local onlookers. I am in shock and afraid my foot is broken, I feel helpless. We are 3 hours away from anywhere. I see Janet in the distance trying to flag down passing 
cars to catch a ride back to Phnom Penh. The cars are all full and no one stops for her. Somehow what passes for an ambulance shows up from the local village and Janet negotiates a ride for us for $100 usd. I ride in the back on a flimsy stretcher with a barefoot attendant, a rusty (probably empty) oxygen tank and a first aid kit consisting of gauze, tape and some saline solution. Janet sits in the front nudging our driver to slow down and stop passing on blind corners.
Fast forward….Once again we are so lucky. My smashed foot is probably only deeply bruised. We got it x-rayed and checked by a doctor at a western clinic in Phnom Penh. The x-rays were worthless and unreadable (totally overexposed) but the doctor manipulated my foot and I can put weight on it and hobble around with a cane.My 55th birthday is tomorrow May 20th, I am so happy both Janet and I are here to celebrate.
You get to have all the fun and great adventures!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you came out of this as well as you did. Oh, and Happy Birthday!
Good Grief !! Glad you guys are okay !!
ReplyDeleteIt's odd how those times get our full attention to the point that time slows down at the crucial milliseconds. Doug says "55 and staying alive!", the mantra for your upcoming year. May the force be with you and not coming directly at you. Great reading since the outcome is good.
ReplyDeleteWow...We're so glad you're both okay. What a scary experience! We feel horrible that we even suggested you take a bus. That route was a little sketchy with all the passing. We just tried to ignore the driving style (as we have been doing most of the time we're on the road around here) but apparently that doesn't always work :)
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