Getting Carried Away

2038-01-19T03:14:07Z

Day two at Vientiane, Laos and I had one of the scariest (if not THE scariest experience) of my life. In a mad sense of adventure, I went to Green Discovery, a company that organises eco-friendly adventure tours, and signed up for a 1-day kayaking trip at Nam Lik River. Mind you, I have NEVER kayak-ed before and only in the morning as I prepared to leave for the trip, all the scary possibilities crossed my mind. It did not help that the word fatalities popped out a few times when I read my travelogue. Still, chickening out was not an option and it would just bug me to know that i did not give it a shot.

Thus, that was how I found myself, upon encountering the first rapids, flipping over from my kayak and holding on to my paddle tightly like the ever-obedient Singaporean that I am. Alone, unable to swim and overwhelmed by the unforgiving push of the rapids, I just panicked. I could not breathe (due to my panicking and trying to hold back my tears) and for a short but poignant moment, it crossed my mind that "This is it. I am going to die because no one can see me amidst the rush and I am not strong enough to be pushed around for too long". Dramatic as it sounds and as much as I can laugh over the silliness of it now, I very nearly did give up but somehow that thought also told me not to be ridiculous. I started waving my paddle like mad and tried to keep my head up as much as I could. I think my presence here at this internet cafe is testament enough that everything went fine in the end and Alhamdulillah, you will not be finding my body at Nam Lik River anytime soon.

Of course, I had to repeat my capsize experience 3 more times before I completed the whole route. I hit a tree during the second rapids and capsized once again, this time clinging on to my kayak for dear life. Third time, I made it through the rapids successfully and was feeling so proud of myself but somehow, while trying to avoid some rocks, I capsized again. By this time, I was just so sick of capsizing that I just laid back and let myself follow the flow of the river. Not being stuck in the rapids helped. The fourth time was a freak accident that happened very closely after the third. Trying to reach some rocks where we were to stop and have lunch, we encountered a small and unpredictable mini-rapid so there I was floating again and needing to be saved by the Laotian guides. The main thing that I liked about being saved was the way it made me feel so light. I was literally lifted out of the waters each time by the guides and placed onto their kayaks. Never have I felt so dainty and light in my life. :)

So yes, today was a dramatic day and I think, I caused my Laotian guides a mini-heart attack a few times. They were super nice though and looked genuinely concerned at my safety rather than feeling irritated by this accident-prone bimbo. I am not sure if I would be kayaking anytime soon or even white water rafting but I am definitely glad that I went ahead and I pulled through. Somehow, I feel a lot happier today because of this. :)

A Little Misspent

Getting Carried Away