SE Asia is infamous for motorcycle and scooter accidents among its tourists and travellers, but with the sun beating down strongly, wind rushing over our exposed bodies and adrenaline pumping, we set off in anticipation to reach and explore Lod Caves, approximately a 50km ride away. A convoy of nine people over seven mopeds. All experienced riders bar two, we had no fears about tackling the challenging windy road ahead.
Though soon we learnt that maybe we had bitten off more than we could chew. Reaching our first big turn in the road, one of the newbies flew from his bike into the bushes, as he didn’t know how to make the bend. My heart stopped as I jumped from my bike and ran over to offer some sort of assistance. Luckily, he’d only incurred a couple of scratches and lost a mirror, which was covered by insurance. Knowing he was okay, I re-directed traffic around the accident zone as some of the others helped him collect himself and his bike until he was ready to continue the journey.
With one accident already, the majority of the group slowed down and became extra cautious. My friend and I cruised at the back of the group to make sure help would be provided in case something else happened, and we fell into a happy chat, only stopping to admire the views that kept on giving. Content as a passenger, I was thankful that I chose not to ride these roads, otherwise it would have been me in the bushes earlier.
My reflections were soon broken by turning another bend and into another accident. My heart this time wrenched as I saw the pole bent on the side of the turn and one of our friends walking around covered in blood and with a dislocated shoulder. Luckily, a mini van returning from the caves was on the scene and offered him a lift to the hospital. On board, one of the passengers volunteered to ride the bike back to Pai for us, so we didn’t have to leave it on the side of the road. God bless him. He rode directly to the hospital and hung out with our friend while he was tended to by the doctors.
In the meantime, our group, shaken but determined, continued to ride to Lod Cave. The simple, peaceful and beautiful road was now becoming a treacherous mountain path. The newbie riders were stiff in their seats and thoughts about whether we should continue or not flooded all of our minds. Taking a break at a lookout and having a snack calmed everyone down and we all decided to continue.
The roads continued to wind dangerously. Hairpins loomed as we made our way downhill and we could feel the caves getting closer. The sun also was beginning to descend from its prominent position in the sky. Flying into a hairpin turn, I grasped the rails on the bike, glancing behind to see everyone a good distance behind. Almost out of the bend, I sighed in confidence to know we would be coming out of it in one piece. At the same instance I heard a horrific scraping sound. I flicked my head around just in time to witness one of our friend’s right on our tail. His bike was scraping along on its side while he hit the road headfirst and began rolling towards a truck going in the opposite direction. A close shave!
Heart in my mouth, we stopped and I ran back up the road towards his motionless body. Before I reached him, I was relieved to see him begin to stand up on his own. Shaken but okay he moved off the road and we pulled the bike to the side and, again, I was redirecting traffic around the scene, slowing down all the cars and bikes flying into the hairpin turn. Our group sat on the side of the road. A scene of a funeral almost, as it was clear we definitely needed to turn back. As the last anyone wanted to do was ride back in the dark after a visit to the caves.
We gave up on the cave, turned around and made for the canyon just outside Pai to watch the sunset. With the saying everything comes in threes proven to be true as we didn’t have a single accident on the return trip. As the sun set, I couldn’t feel more lucky that we were all still alive.