The Time a Bridge Disappeared in the Jungle
We were exploring through the jungles of Southern Thailand. For the last few days our crew had been settled in this little, fairly remote village. It was the type of village you picture when thinking of Southeast Asia: A dirt roadway lined with small houses and shops cutting it’s way through thick vegetation. We had gotten to this village in the back of a pickup truck which was the best way in from the nearest bus stop. The village spanned maybe a mile along the road with an earthen bridge in the middle crossing over a small jungle river. We had grown fond of this village during our short stay. Not only was there the natural beauty of it, but the people were warm and the food was delicious. We had visited several of the shops and stopped in to a couple of restaurants for our fix of pad thai, pineapple rice, and curry.
On our final day in the jungle, we were packing our bags and getting ready to catch the bus that would take us to our next destination. I had yet to learn about the Charles Schwab Debit Card, so I needed to exchange money as did others in the crew. Three of us went off to find a shop with a decent exchange rate while the others stayed behind to finish packing and check us out of our accommodations. We ended up walking past our favorite restaurant, over the earthen bridge, and into a small shop where they advertised having the best exchange rates. It took some time but we got our Thai Baht and, now armed with local currency, we started to head back to our crew. We got about halfway back when, to our dismay, we saw a free flowing river and no way to cross it...the bridge was gone!
In the time we had gone in to exchange our money, a backhoe had completely taken out the earthen bridge as they were starting construction on a more permanent bridge. There were no signs around warning that this work was going to be starting but even if there were, none of us read Thai. So there the three of us stood, with no way back to our crew...and we had a bus to catch! We assessed the situation for a minute. There was no way we were going to wade through the water in a place like this where there could be poisonous animals and, as far as we could tell, this was the only crossing point. We decided to venture on a path down river for a while, hoping there was another spot where there might be a small bridge or a point where the other bank was close enough to jump across. After walking for a while we came upon a house which seemed to be the only structure this far out and some local people, clearly seeing lost tourists, came out to help us. We did not speak Thai and they did not speak English, but through patience and gestures, we were able to communicate to them that we were looking for a bridge and they were able to communicate that the bridge in town, you know the one that no longer existed, was the only way across.
We made our way back to the site of our non-existent bridge and stood there wondering how to get back, who could help us, if life really has meaning, all of the things that go through your mind in a stressful situation. Luckily, a man standing nearby must have seen our dismay and asked us in perfect English if we needed to get across. We excitedly answered yes and he said he could help us out. He walked down to the river where the backhoe operator was laying the foundation of where the new bridge would go and got on the machine to talk to the operator. After a short conversation, the man came back to us and said we could cross the river one-by-one in the bucket of the backhoe! We cautiously made our way down to the edge of the river and one at a time we were taken into the air by this giant mechanical arm and swung around to be gently set down on the other side. We thanked both the operator and the man who had helped us and we hurried on our way, just in time to grab our things and make it to our bus.
You may think of this as a one-off scenario, but one thing I love about traveling the world is that it is filled with these mini-adventures...times that were unexpected, and maybe even a little bit stressful, but they give you one heck of a story to tell. The other highlight I took from this is how good people are. Whether it has been in the jungles of Thailand or the mountains of Peru, the vast majority of the people we have come across are so kind and generous. It truly shows you that what you see on the news is the exception, not the norm, and that most people just want to enjoy life and want to help others do the same. But don’t take my word for it. I highly encourage all of you to put what I say to the test. Go visit that country that you’ve always wanted to see. Go experience the culture and see just how wonderful the people there are. And if you’re lucky enough, you won’t even have a bridge disappear on you. Get out there and explore!