The World Race is one crazy adventure that is filled with hundreds of unknowns. These unknowns are what makes this 11 month journey so unique. Everyone truly does have a unique experience. After starting my eighth month, I have accumulated an assortment of stores. Some good, some bad, and some downright crazy.
When looking at pictures from the Race, I am sure it can easily be mistaken for an extended vacation where everything is always full of laughter and fun. I don’t want to be a buzz kill, because some of the best days, weeks, and months I have ever had have been on the race, but living in other countries for extended periods of time also gives you a different outlook on what is normal. It is fun to share all of the fun stories, but this time I want to switch it up. I would like to share a few brief stories of encounters I have had on the race that brought headaches, confusion, and fear.
Day one is a day that will forever be in my memory. We had just arrived in Bolivia and packed 11 people including luggage on and into a Land Rover big enough for seven or eight. After traveling for around twelve hours on gravel roads, night began to take over the landscape and the roads began to turn into mud. We were on switchback mountain roads and at one point nearly died by almost rolling the vehicle down a 2000+ foot cliff (only two wheels were on solid ground). We had to quickly get out of the vehicle to ensure that if it went down we wouldn’t go with it. I never had so much fear being on a road in my life. But, the day didn’t end there. Once we arrived at our destination, we were informed that we would have to wake up four hours later to go on a 33 mile hike to a remote village. Two straight days of travel and little sleep let to the journey being the exhausting ones of my entire life!
South American Busses could be a blog by themselves. Just about anything that could happen on a bus happened. We broke down, crashed, had a luggage door open (almost lost a few bags), had people vomit in the isles (the smell just doesn’t go away), and had stuff stolen from our group (not me). Not to mention the length. The average bus ride was from 20-30 hours, but from Ecuador to Colombia my group spent 52 hours on busses… YUCK!
A dog bit me in Colombia. Unfortunately, I had to walk by this little devil daily. He hated me (I wish I knew why) and I hated him. He would see me, would start barking, and would start looking for any chance to attack. I, on the other hand, would watch him like a hawk coming armed for battle. Clutched firmly in my left hand was my Nalgene and in my right hand a rock. My anxiety level always shot through the roof as I approached his territory. I mentally prepared for a fight every time I neared him, but luckily was able to sneak by without having to unleash my wrath on him (I had it all planned out how I would take him down… I really hated that dog).
Four people were murdered in the neighborhood we were living in, in Colombia. Pretty scary! Also a few gang fights where knives were pulled.
Sometimes people show their financial status by the size of their speakers. More money, bigger speakers. On top of that there is no such thing as quite hours in different countries around the world. If you want to have your concert sized speakers blaring at 2,3,4, or 5 in the morning, that is exactly what you do. It can be a little tough to sleep when the floor you are sleeping on is shaking from the blaring base from next door.
A friend and I were asked to spend a night with a guy who was in need of some encouragement. We agreed before asking more questions, because we trusted our host wouldn’t send us to some creepy guys house. We were wrong. He ended up being an ex-murderer killing three guys in cold blood when he was younger. He was supposed to spend 80 years in American prison, but somehow got out early (in 8 years) and got into Japan. That part of the story was still very fishy. On top of that, he suffered from extreme insomnia only sleeping around 4 hours every 4 days. We didn’t get much sleep in his one bedroom/room apartment (maybe 120 sqft). I had a fear that I would wake up and he would be hovering over me. The fear was real!
A couple of nights ago we experienced/heard a demonic exorcism. A few of us were playing cards under our mosquito net when we were startled by terrible screaming/grunting/non-human noises from a different part of the building. We didn’t know what to think at first, but soon were informed that this girl had a demon and they were trying to deliver her from it. There was around three hours of blood curdling screams/noises before there was silence. I still don’t really know what to think about this, as I had never heard/experienced a deliverance before.
I have many more crazy stories, but these are a few that really stand out as something that I didn’t expect.
