t doesn’t seem possible that a 6’4" man could disappear in the blink
of an eye, but that’s what happened in a small ethnic-Tibetan
village about 10 hours from anywhere. We had just arrived in the
evening. After checking into our hotel on the outskirts of town,
we took a cab back to the main intersection to look for some food.
It was a clear, cold night and the walk back to the hotel seemed like
a good cure for the aches of a long bus ride.
e were travelling with
another woman, Gabrielle, and as we set out Dave was in the lead with
the two woman about 7 feet behind. There were no street lights, but
enough car traffic to prompt Dave to put away the flashlight. We had
been enough places where manhole covers were missing or large holes
were open in the road to know that it wasn’t very smart to walk in the
dark. It only took one moment of darkness though to prove it.
number of cars had passed and there was a small spot of darkness
between this bunch and the next. Little did we know that an open
sewer ran parallel to the road and actually crossed under the road to
the other side just right in front of us. We also didn’t know that
only the in very middle of the road was the sewer covered so cars and
people could pass over it. It was in this moment of darkness that
Dave discovered the uncovered part of the sewer.
n an instant, he
was gone. The ladies screamed "Dave!" and ran to the hole to find him
sitting four feet below street level in leaves, garbage and human and
animal waste. Dave had the wind knocked out of him, and his heaving
gasps made the girls doubt his grunt of "I’m alright." Jill retrieved
the flashlight and we were all able to see where he was and thankfully,
no signs of open flesh wounds. He had hit first just below
the kneecap in that soft spot, and then on his rib cage before landing
on his bum.
eedless to say, we took a cab the rest of the way home. A hot bath
and clean clothes took away the smell and maybe made Dave (and Jill’s
nose) a bit more comfortable. It seemed the next day that the knee
was fine, but two or three ribs were broken and painful. There was a taboo
against cracking too many jokes or coughing for a few weeks. In
retrospect, we realize how fortunate Dave’s fall was. Had he hit
anywhere else, the injuries could have been much worse and potentially
required medical attention. A long way from nowhere, it was
eye-opening to think of how disastrous a serious injury could have
been, and probably is to the locals who live there.
t doesn’t seem possible that a 6’4" man could disappear in the blink
of an eye, but that’s what happened in a small ethnic-Tibetan
village about 10 hours from anywhere. We had just arrived in the
evening. After checking into our hotel on the outskirts of town,
we took a cab back to the main intersection to look for some food.
It was a clear, cold night and the walk back to the hotel seemed like
a good cure for the aches of a long bus ride.
e were travelling with
another woman, Gabrielle, and as we set out Dave was in the lead with
the two woman about 7 feet behind. There were no street lights, but
enough car traffic to prompt Dave to put away the flashlight. We had
been enough places where manhole covers were missing or large holes
were open in the road to know that it wasn’t very smart to walk in the
dark. It only took one moment of darkness though to prove it.
number of cars had passed and there was a small spot of darkness
between this bunch and the next. Little did we know that an open
sewer ran parallel to the road and actually crossed under the road to
the other side just right in front of us. We also didn’t know that
only the in very middle of the road was the sewer covered so cars and
people could pass over it. It was in this moment of darkness that
Dave discovered the uncovered part of the sewer.
eedless to say, we took a cab the rest of the way home. A hot bath
and clean clothes took away the smell and maybe made Dave (and Jill’s
nose) a bit more comfortable. It seemed the next day that the knee
was fine, but two or three ribs were broken and painful. There was a taboo
against cracking too many jokes or coughing for a few weeks. In
retrospect, we realize how fortunate Dave’s fall was. Had he hit
anywhere else, the injuries could have been much worse and potentially
required medical attention. A long way from nowhere, it was
eye-opening to think of how disastrous a serious injury could have
been, and probably is to the locals who live there.
