Broken Buses and Bonfires: More misadventures in transportation
About two hours into the 11 hour bus ride we suddenly pulled over. No one budged but the driver and his mate as everyone was clearly engaged in the extremely loud Burmese film playing on the small TV in front. It was then that my friend Andrew calmly said, “I think we need to get off the bus…it’s smoking.” With all the reserve of the sharp-elbowed, risk-averse maniac I truly am in side I said, “AH! EVERYONE OFF EVERYONE OFF THE BUS IS SMOKING.” As no one budged I realized it was me or them, climbed over the piles of people and ran to the far side of the shoulder as people calmly filed out.
Andrew, my rational and optimistic friend, filed out calmly after the women and children. He immediately looked at the back of the bus, saw it steaming, and decided to make a bonfire. I’m sure more than one person thought we were nuts but we kept ourselves occupied while the men attempted the following. First, they kept hitting something with a wrench. Second, they poured gallon after gallon of water on the engine but the steam was so hot and so powerful they kept burning their hands. Third, they tried starting it even though there was still some steam apparent. Finally, they tried push starting the bus…in reverse…with it full of sleeping people. Then, they tried push starting it in gear…full of sleeping people. After hours of effort, they called to send another bus. At 2:30 in the morning, after six hours of waiting for the new bus to arrive, we were finally off.
Andrew, my rational and optimistic friend, filed out calmly after the women and children. He immediately looked at the back of the bus, saw it steaming, and decided to make a bonfire. I’m sure more than one person thought we were nuts but we kept ourselves occupied while the men attempted the following. First, they kept hitting something with a wrench. Second, they poured gallon after gallon of water on the engine but the steam was so hot and so powerful they kept burning their hands. Third, they tried starting it even though there was still some steam apparent. Finally, they tried push starting the bus…in reverse…with it full of sleeping people. Then, they tried push starting it in gear…full of sleeping people. After hours of effort, they called to send another bus. At 2:30 in the morning, after six hours of waiting for the new bus to arrive, we were finally off.
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