Today's photo entry in our Indiana Jones DVD giveaway contest is by Marcus Sortijas of Honolulu, Hawaii. Read more of his backstory over at his blog, Bluefox808 Adventures.
Our driver was an old Chinese man who chain-smoked as he drove us back along the mountain road, whipping around curves and barely bothering to use the brakes. This wouldn't have been that scary, except there was no guardrail on the road. So if he took a turn too fast and skidded to the side, there was no barrier to keep us from falling off the mountain.
The crisis point hit when we passed under the waterfall we'd crossed earlier by foot. Water flooded the road, the tires lost traction and we started to slip sideways—toward the edge.
I was sitting next to the window that overlooked the cliff. I wish I could say I was brave when I looked death in the face, but I cringed away from that window as much as possible. Meanwhile, Claire leaned past me to take a look. The driver, he just didn't care. He was puffing on his cigarette and steering as if nothing was wrong.
Finally, the tires bit back into the ground and the van heaved back from the edge. It took me a while before I remembered to breathe again.
"if he took a turn too fast and skidded to the side, there was no barrier to keep us from falling off the mountain"
You're so right! We've been to Tiger Leaping Gorge a few weeks ago and yes, I must say I closed my eyes for countless times while in the bus! :-)
Posted by: Alex | May 23, 2008 at 04:34 PM