Today I have rented a motorcycle, cruised down dirt roads in the center of a city, crossed a river in a boat no wider than myself, rock climbed, hung out on the river, visited a hospital, and used a bamboo stick as a cane. As I was climbing my second route of the day, I was reaching out to clip into the rope, missed the clip-in, and lost my grip. I fell about 15 feet and sprained my ankle worse than I ever have. I also tore some skin off of my ring finger on the left hand. I did not hit the ground, but bounced off the wall with my foot, which sprained as it absorbed the impact.
I went and hung out at the river bar for a while with ice tied to my foot in a compress while the other guys kept climbing, then Thad took me on the back of one of the motorbikes to the hospital, which was five minuets down the dirt road. They did an x-ray and said it wasn’t broken. I got wrapped up in an ace bandage and given some cream to rub on it. Total cost for x-ray, consultation, and cream: $20.70. On the way back I ran into Todd and Kim, whom I had gotten to know in Ton Sai, and he lent me his walking stick as a cane.
All things considered, I am pretty lucky. It could have been worse. I do look pretty awkward hopping down the road on one foot with a bamboo pole, but since I can’t put any weight on it at all, I don’t care.
Tomorrow we are meeting up with Todd, his girlfriend Kim, and some girls we met while climbing today to tube down the Nam Sam river. No need to use my foot!
More Later,
-Ben