My little accident
Trip Start
Nov 13, 2005
1
54
72
Trip End
Jul 13, 2006
La cumbre, la paz, Bolivia
Saturday, April 15, 2006
finally a little bit of bad news...
after arriving in Lapaz, we signed up for a bike tour down the worlds most dangerous road (its called this because of all the trucks that fall off it), which is bascially a downhill bike ride where you drop 3000m in 4 hours on a windy curving beautifully scenic road. The ride starts at 4700m in La Cumbre, and you finish at 1750m in Coroico.
Things were all well and we were all geared up and sped down the first third of the course in safe time. During the second third of the course, the road was a little wetter and my handlebrakes slipped and i fell sideways off my bike landing on my shoulder. I got up straight away since I felt only a little pain in my shoulder (bruising) and felt my knees were grazed a little. It was only when I stood up that I felt a little faint because of shock and needed to sit down. It was only then that I realised that the pain in my leg was because there was a deep gash just below my knee. What I think happened is that as I fell off my bike, my leg hit the pedel of the bike and though I was wearing pants, it cut my shin dep just below the knee.
What happened after was a huge blur as the tour company rushed me to the hospital to get it stiched (2 hours drive away). In the meantime, samson sat by my side and conforted me as I hysterically freaked out, having a little bit of a delayed reaction to the situation.
The doctor who stiched me up was great and v. professional and was clear in ever step that he was doing. Since the cut was a little deep, I needed two layers of stiches, which was fine since by this stage i was injected with anenesthetic. The stiches itself is about 10cm across (the size of a bike pedal really!).
For the first few days it was a little hard to walk around since I needed to walk with a straight leg. Pain killers helped, but combined with antibiotics, malaria tablets and vitamins, I was taking up to 9 pills a day at set intervals such that they didnt clash!
Since the fall Ive had two check ups and things are looking A-ok. I can walk a bit better now and I should be getting the stiches out in a few days.
On a brighter note, in order to rest and relax for a few days, we flew north to the tropical pampas (the jungle savannah) and spent a relaxing 3 days on a boat crusing the Rio Yacumba, keeping our eyes wide open for monkeys, sloths, pink dolphins (yes they are pink), caymans (aligators) and fishing for piranahs... (which i SUCKED at, but taste surprisingly good)
Now back in the land of cold (La Paz 3700m), we are very keen to move on to Isla del sol and lake titicaca, before crossing the border at peru in a few days time.
It seems, that my injury is the perfect "get out of jail free card" that I have been looking for to not hike the painful macchu picchu. Instead, as samson hikes him bum off, I will leisurely catch the train and meet him at the gates for sunrise. Perfect!
