.....let me continue with my misadventure, jumping on the ambulance, I began a 15 minutes ride to the town clinic. We had to stopped couple of time for the nurse, who had cleaned my wound 20 times earlier while waiting for the ambulance, to throw up on the side of the road. But maybe she is just doing that to make me feel better. Anyway, the ambulance stopped in this dimly lit village house otherwise known as the town clinic. In the next 2 hours I enjoyed a variety of hospital treatments which adds up to and outrageous 57 RMB!! Here is what I get for that bargain price
1) An X-Ray on my knee
2) An X-Ray analysis that tells me no bones has been broken (yeah but I did cycle for another 30 minutes before getting my rescued)
3) A merciless shower on my knee with Hydrogen Peroxide water which makes all wound go fizzy ( and burnt)
4) More cleaning and rubbing on that hole above my bone (painful)
5) Dirt picking with a tweezer on that hole above my bone (damn painful)
6) Couple of stiching performed without anesthetic (and when he yanked up the hole it was bloody damn painful)
7) Another X-Ray
8) Another X-Ray analysis to ensure me no bones were broken
9) 4 jabs of Tetanus injection each 15 minute apart on my bump
I must say despite the rawness of the treatments, both the doctor and the nurse did a good and hygenic jobs. But paying all that for just 57RMB makes me impossible to settle my mind.
So this very much concluded my Moganshan Adventure. When next morning I heard at the prizing ceremony that one of the female competitor whose team came first in female catogories, had suffered a even worse accident in more or less the same area that I did. The carbon fibre handle bar broke in a clean snap and cut deep into one of her finger that a piece of flesh was just tangling, and also a cut on her forearm that would need a few stiching. Yet she denied immediate medical attention and finsihed the race I guess about 8 hours later. I felt pretty damn useless myself, may be I should have done the wild thing and endured it to the very end.
Though as I am writing up my ordeal, I think if I were to choose again, I will still jump on the ambulance to preserve my leg. There is George Mallory who challenge his wildest dream to the end and there is Joe Simpson who makes it back safely and writes a bestseller. I would rather be the latter.
More from Freeyasoul on: Adventure Race
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Moganshan Misadventure (Part 2)
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Moganshan Misadventure (Part 1.5)
Before I finished off my ordeal, just a lighthearted interlude. When I got back I called Icarus, the man who got me into mountain biking, and told him what happen. His reaction was an invitation to his mountain bike trip to Huangshan in July.
And take a look, we've made it to the local paper! (Me at the front, my partner Kin at the back)
More from Freeyasoul on: Adventure Race
Monday, May 15, 2006
Moganshan Misadventure (Part 1)
Right here I am to tell you about my (mis)adventure in Moganshan Explorating Race. Flying out on Friday afternoon with lots of familiar faces, they were all regular in KOTH races but finally I can put name to their faces. The Japanese girl who sat next to me on the flight said these races were like a school trip, you jumped on a plane and knows everyone. It turned out that she was the woman team champion of last year's race in Ziyuan.
The race started off with orienteering around the tourist region of Moganshan, we ran around the hill looking for checkpoints that contain puzzles to solve. We finished a little bit outside the allowed time but there were probably about another 7 teams behind us. Jumping on our bikes we glided down the single track bike trail, for the next 4 hours, it were just never ending undulating hills of biking, sometimes we were going through bamboo forest and sometimes we were on dirt road with think muds deposited by the down pours in the pass few days. One of the interval was to carry a 5m long bamboo trunk on our bikes and carried it for about 3km. The biking was not easy for me but I was enjoying the challenge and the landscape.
Finally we made it to CP3 and there was a choice to skip the technical biking session and take a short cut to CP4. As much as I would like to skip that, I felt like facing up to my inner fear. Also my partner Kin is a good biker and I don't want to deny him the fun. So we cycled up to a steep hill and entered the off road trail once again. There were so many sessions that was impossible to cycle and we had to push the bike. It was purely a matter of judgement of which slope to take on. Then on one seemingly innocent gentle downhill staircase made up of lose rocks, I followed Kin to cycle down. The first few steps was okay but I began to lose control with every bounce, the bike pushed me toward the hillside and I couldn't pulled it off. Finally I hit the wall and bounced off the bike, my head did a double hit on the rock chin first and then forehead before landing flat on the ground.
When the dust settled, I picked myself up and checked for injury. My word, there is this cut 3cm beneath my knee about 2.5 cm long and a few mm wide. I took a closer look, I see void inside, then looked even closer, it was a white piece of bone. Man! Nothing like this has happend to me ever and blood began to drip out fast. My only piece of first aid was a bandage and I asked Kin to take it out and wrap the bastard up, he did it so well that the bleeding stopped really quickly. Then we walked/cycled to the next CP the best we can. The pain was intensive at first but gradually goes away, I thought maybe I can just keep going and not to give up.
Couple of marshalls met us a little bit before the CP as another team who passed us has alert them, we knew the ambulance was on its way. In CP4, I unwraped my bandage under the curious glaze of the locals, 'Never thought you would be an operation theatre!' joked the marshall. Amazingly with the nurse at the CP was only better equiped than me in first aid terms by a bunch of cottom stick and a sterilising solution!! So we occupied our time by cleaning up the hole above my bones again and again until the ambulance arrived. My mind is toying with the option of getting some first aid and carried on as far as I can, or give up at only 1/3 into the race and get proper stiching at the hospital. I fought a bit with the doctor who propose the latter option, until he warned that the bones may be infected by tonight. My fighting spirit finally wavered away, I decided to jump on the ambulance...... (to be continued)
More from Freeyasoul on: Adventure Race
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Count Down to Moganshan
The Moganshan race is approaching fast. I have been training so much for it. Over the long weekend I did a 10am-6pm bike ride on Friday, then a 4.5 hours afterdark bike ride on Sunday. The afterdark ride was real harsh training, I have to do off road biking on Hong Kong Island Trail in the dark with just two bicycle light at the handle bar. It was scary and tough. Unfortunately just when I was getting good and pick up my speed, I went over at probably the last corner of the trail. Landed into the brushes beneath the trail and banged my knee real hard on some rocks despite the protection. Damnit, the knee has swollened bad and I am going to the Chinese Medicine physio everyday to get the bump down on time for the race. This is what I will be up to on saturday:
60km bike ride, about 40km offroad, 18km trail running, 4km kayaking, plus abseil of all kinds.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
2006 Year of Adventure Race (Part II)
Earlier of the year, I put up a posting on all the overseas adventure race that I planned to do, I got a bike, I got a pair of hill running legs all I need are some partners. Though that dream seemed pretty much faded away as time ticks. Then last Friday, I saw an e-mail from the seyonasia yahoo group that I have subscribed, someone is looking a partner to do the 12 hours Mogan Shan Race in 14th May. Didn't take me long to spurnt into action, Martina said I have answered a dating ad. So I got a partner, Kin, for this coming race. Kin is a great Mountian Biker and this will be his race. As the Mogan Shan Race have 60km of biking trails. While hopefully my trail running and rope skill can be a compliment. Though I need to seriously worked on my biking skills in the next 2 weeks.
After Mogan Shan, it will be Bintan Trianthlon in end of May and the Action Asia Macau in June. Full of actions!
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Yoda's Adventure
Friday, April 14, 2006
The Savage Beauty of the Sahara - Christian's adventure continues
Just read a dramatic piece of travelogue by Christian. An airlift rescue of his fellow traveller in the Sahara dessert. Well done Christian, for your part of the rescue efforts.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Development in defiance of the Washington consensus
For those who had followed the news round the clock during the Tiannmen Square Protest in 1989, it would be hard to shake off the 'evil' image of the mainland government ever since. But the twenty years that follow saw China rose to be the economic giant in Asia Pacific, but in the meantime we never cease to hear about the negative comments about Chinese government and its policies. US always fancy a go on China's human right records, suppression of religious freedom. Hong Kong's once blue sky is constant at sieged by the pollution emitted by Guangdong factories. And it you ever come across the book 'Investigation of Chinese Farmer ', you would know that rural China is very different world to the rising coastal cities.
Despite all that, I actually have good feeling about the current leadership of the Chinese governement. It seems they do put issues of environment, rural livelihood and income inequality on the agenda. Deng Xiaping had famously said once to let just part of the people (in China) get rich first. That had been a worrying neo-liberal capitalistic statement, a policy that is bound to divide the country into two rich coastal region its poor rural brother. Far from making empty promises, Den in the meantime had been preparing Hu and Wen, who were working in the poorest provinces of China, as the future leaders. Now it seems the urban bias growth strategy is very much the policy of the past; in the recent announce 11th five year plan, there were full of social conscious agenda items, such as fuel tax and rural public spending etc.
I have shared this view with a few people but I mostly met scepticism. Then I come across an article written by Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel laureat economist, who is also very positive about China's new development policy. I particular like the way he compare China's development with other developing countries, the latter bought in a capitalistic package (Washington Consensus) and resulted in economic growth at the expense of enviromental degradation and widening income inequality. China is taking a middle ground, growing at 10% GDP increase a year but not at the expense of the next generation. China's has already achieved an economical miracle in the past decade, if it can also demonstrate it's ability to care for the less fortunate and care for the future, it would be a development story to be proud of.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Explore Beijing
Beijing Inspiration
I have finally got back from Beijing and had a couple of meetings with Gabrielle Harris, the Executive Director of Planet Finance-China. Before turning up at the capital, I had little ideas of how this shall progress, all I know is I wanted to work on something meaningful for my lives and the I need to keep on exploring opportunites. My expectation was by meeting this organisation, it will lead to a job with them or some other organisations related to Microfinance eventually. Though deep down I always know that the salary an NGO can afford will be a hurdle that I properly cannot overcome.
Our first meeting took place over lunch in a English book club-restaurant called 'Book Worm'. Rightaway, Gabrielle pass me lots of contacts collected from the recent "Asia Microfinance Forum", ranging from commercial banks, investment banks and established large microfinance institutions in asia. It was like she was trying to persuade me to look else where, which was kind of strange. Couple of days later, we visited their office and meet the crew of PF China, who were very interesting people to speak to. The chief manager Mr Gao has set up one of the most successful MF operation in China, others are also working on some interesting projects. Though I can see little of my banking experience that can be applied directly to their operations.
It was at the final chat with Gabrielle that things fall in place for me. Bascially, she reckoned the tour de force of MF in future are the commercial banks. I can join an NGO like Planet Finance but with limited funding at the moment, the impact will be modest. The days will come when medium size banks in China will downsize their operation to enter the MF market and work with establish NGOs with track record of poverty alleviation, that is where she see MF will become a great poverty alleviation tools. Hence working in an international bank right now, I am at good poisition to shape the future of MF in China.
This has been quite a revelation for me. So instead of giving up my job and be exiled to the NGO world, the next stage of this 'project dream life' will be to work within Standard Chartered to promote microfinance and get the training I need. Failing that, there are plenty other banks who have shown more sincereity in supporting the development of MF.
More from Freeyasoul on: Micronfinance Travel
