| Muller | Hitchhiking Vietnam
Page 58 |
I awoke to a sharp odor, and recognized it with instant, stomach-curdling fear. The brakes. We had topped the pass and were heading down, barrelling around steep turns that fell away into a sheer ravine. It came again - a chemical odor that grew stronger by the minute. Suddenly the driver began to shout. The conductor vaulted out of his sleeping niche and stumbled to the door, slapping bags and feet out of the way to get to a three-sided wooden block jammed somewhere under the baggage. He hauled it free, leaned out the door, and dropped it just ahead of the back wheel. With a jarring thud the bus rolled over it and kept going. Urged on by a continual stream of high-decibel inspiration from the driver, he jumped out of the bus, ran back for the block, caught up with us and tossed it under the wheel again. We slammed over it. Undaunted, he retrieved the block. I watched him dash back and forth, falling progressively further behind as the bus picked up speed, and began to plan which exit to use before the upcoming crash. The windows yawned over the ravine, a dizzy drop but padded with plowed earth along the road's shoulder. The narrow door opened to the mountainside, but was certain to be plugged by other passengers and would turn into a death trap if the driver chose to try to stop the bus by dragging it along the rock wall. With a final thump we left the conductor behind and slued around a corner. An army truck, heavily burdened, was churning up the hill. In the best of times two such monsters would have to maneuver, inch by inch, in order to clear each other on the narrow road. The bus driver aimed to pass, the truck held its ground and both vehicles locked together with an agonized shriek of metal on metal. The bus stopped, the two drivers started to shout and the passengers nonchalantly descended to squat in the shade and await further developments. Once the altercation had run its course the conductor poured spring water on the burning brakes, releasing clouds of scalding steam, until they were once again in working order. Everyone climbed back in and we were on our way.
