LJ's Rebuttal

So I tried all the things to calm one’s stomach before getting back in the cab.  I wasn’t feeling great, but I also wasn’t feeling bad.  Pop a Gaviscon (or our new favorite, Chewable Tums), it’d be fine.

Except the cab driver, much like the last one and like a lot of other drivers here, seems to drive with ALL the accelerator and ALL the brakes ALL the time.  On a road coming down a mountain that was full of switchbacks.

I thought I was going to be OK.  We were going to Stanley Bay.  Sea level, right?  LEVEL being the operative word here.  What I didn’t realize, though, was that we’d go down, then back up, then down AGAIN before we actually got to the target location.

I read somewhere that as one ages, the fluid in their Eustachian tubes  gets thicker and doesn’t flow as well, which prompts vertigo and balance issues.   Although I have never been a fan of whirling round and round (as mom’s comment attests), I loved roller coasters when I was young and would climb on and ride over and over.

At our last trip to Disney a few years ago, I realized that was over.  My roller coaster days were all behind me, and that was fine.  Hang up my mouse ears and go out without a major mishap.

Except for this trip down a mountain in HK.  Think of the Expedition Everest ride at Disney World, which purports to take you on a trip through the Himalayas. 

Now, instead of having the ride over in about 4 minutes, let it go on for about 45.

There was no amount of self-talk, positive thinking or “just push through it” that was going to make this outcome good.

Most of what EB said is accurate, at least from what I remember.  I was busy bargaining terms of surrender with the Universe at the time.

I do remember, when that little baggie was handed to me (it was about the size of a ziplock sandwich bag, as I recall) thinking, “Oh, sh*t no.  That ain’t gonna be enough.”

Normally in my day pack, I'm prepared for almost every emergency.  I’ve been trying to pare it down some.   The laptop doesn’t need to come along, nor do the chargers for the camera and cell phone, 6 pens and 2 notebooks.  It’s pretty much down to a pad and pen, a universal spare battery for cell phones, etc., a “selfie-stick” we got for Christmas, antacids, handi-wipes, sunglasses and a hankie.

Nothing there was going to help the issues that were forthcoming.  (Well, the handiwipes were appreciated, if ineffectual.)

Not even a pack of gum, which would have been REALLY appreciated, along with a toothbrush.

The window was down part way.  EB was trying to roll it down the rest of the way mid-crisis.  Back seat windows don’t roll all the way down any more to keep children from falling out.

It also keeps adults who are buckled in like good responsible people who don’t really want to be flung out of the car from being able to get their head out the window when necessary.

We are generally not very good at learning foreign languages.  There’s not enough time, and we’re just not very good at it, either.  Usually, though, if you smile and are polite and try – plus if you have the people at the hotel write notes for you in the native language – you can get by.

There are some things, however, that need no translation.  They simply speak for themselves.  But the look of disgust by a cabbie who’s car has just been puked in is pretty universal.  I caught it, even as I was trying to fall towards a flower bed to finish dying.

I did see a group of little kids and thought, “I need to die in the shrubs and out of sight.  There’s no point in traumatizing them.” 

By then, though, I really didn’t care any more.  The kids were on their own.  I was just hoping to finish the dying process quickly.

The problem was, I didn’t die.

The cab driver had opened the trunk and got out a bottle of something – I’m not sure what – but it made me think that this might not have been his first rodeo.

I went into a nearby toilet to try to clean up a bit.  Most of what I was wearing was in pretty bad shape.  I started by taking my jacket off and laying it on the counter, promptly triggering the automatic faucet to run water – and other stuff we need not mention – down the sleeve to the shoulder.

Next came the top T-shirt (I’d sensibly dressed in layers), because it was beyond repair.  One of the things I did have in my pack was one of those little grocery bags that folds up in itself, because we’d learned that in many countries you have to tote your own bag.  Not water and airtight, but it would at least contain everything in one place.

Other than that there wasn’t much I could do besides air out a bit.

As might be expected and just as in the US, there is a surcharge if you vomit in a cab.  That ride cost $300HK (which is about $38.70US), and at least in my opinion that was a bargain, especially when you consider that included the ride down the mountain.

Mind you, I’d have paid 3 times to NOT to have taken that ride, but under the circumstances there was no quibbling even.

So then we were at Stanley Bay.  What was there to do but make the best of the situation, explore a bit and then go have lunch.