With people using different transportation almost every day, each one has a share of valuable and memorable experiences on their travel journey. Be it a road trip in the whole city, a round trip from North to South, sailing on ships, riding on airplanes, a happy ride on the farm and villages, traveling on railways and subways, or even riding a camel in the desert or a once in a lifetime hot air balloon ride, everyone has his/her wonderful and funny story to tell.
I, too, have many interesting experiences when it comes to transportation and traveling. Just like my unforgettable habal-habal ride going to Mt.Mayong-Payong, Masbate, or the adrenaline rushed-ride going to the cliff of Marmol, Tuburan, Cebu in which we rode customize mud bikes through the stream/river, or that coconut leaves we used to ride sliding from the top of the hill going down back when we were kids.
But in this blog, I want to highlight the most unforgettable travel I've had in life, not a funny one, but rather traumatic. A road experience I won't forget in my whole life.
5:00 PM. Everyone's happy packing their things and getting ready to go home. This is everybody's favorite because this means "Okay goodbye class, let's call it a day". Right after the bell rings, teachers are excitedly making a race for their exits to the school gate. Who would not love to go home early? While some are in a hurry because they need to catch a bus, others are very relaxed because they have their wheels with them, and a few have habal-habal (a private motorbike) drivers already awaiting them outside.
This photo 'Me and my sister in one of our roadtrips' was taken by a street Photographer- A&G.
As for me, I need to be outside as early as 5:10 PM because my sister who is a teacher too, teaching at the next school will come and pick me up at this time going home. She also drops me at school every day. This is our routine. This is how I get to and fro at home and work.
I was smiling on our way home, feeling the breeze of the wind while the sun is still shining on us brightly. In my estimate, it'll take 30-50 minutes before it sits and this means I still have plenty of time to play with my 1-year-old boss baby at home.
When we were about to reach one of the blind curves, we saw several stray dogs playing and running from afar. My sister automatically slowed down the motorbike and drove cautiously. If I could remember it right our speed was 30-40kph. There were more or less five stray dogs on the streets.
Just when we moved past by the group of dogs (they seem to have a party), my sister gassed up back to our normal speed which was about 40-50kph, a moderate speed, suddenly A DOG FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE DASHED ACROSS IN FRONT OF OUR MOTORBIKE!.
SCREEEEEEEEEETTTTTCCCCHHHHH!!! IIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGKKKKKKKKK!!!
BOOOGGGSSSHHH!
Time S L O W E D D O W N.
I could hear the screaming of the wheels and the brakes. . , the people shouting. . . and the loud crash. 💥
Everything happened so fast. Before we hit the ground and everything stopped sliding, I remembered rolling on top of my sister, a series of rolls, and I am sure I glided 2 inches from the ground and landed 3 meters away from my sister and the bike. This happened in the middle of the road. I was laying down and my face on the street. I felt dizzy. When I looked up, a group of people living near the streets was already surrounding us. I could hear nothing but only the pounding of my heart.
BACKWARDS. At 5:05 PM, While I was waiting for my sister outside the school, my former student who graduated two years ago passed by and saw me.
"Maam, would you like to have a ride? I'm on my way going to Bogo City, I'll just drop you by at your house" he started.
I refused politely and said "Thanks dong, but I am waiting for my sister".
He insisted one more time and I still said "NO".
If I had ridden my student's motorbike would I still meet that road accident? I wonder.
Thing is, I don't want to trade my "school bus", my daily means of transportation - riding on my sister's motorbike. Besides that I am comfortable riding on her bike, it's for F.R.E.E, I wouldn't be spending a single centavo for my fare daily. Big savings on my part.
The motorbike- my daily transport.
As popular as it is, a motorbike is a two-wheeled vehicle with an engine used to transport people from one place to another.
My sister owns and drives a Honda Click125i scooter. This scooter has stylish looks, efficient performance, and low fuel consumption. It has different colors but my sister's scooter is black with a pink sticker accent.
We have been on many rides with this scooter, from out of town, important meetings to another place, joyrides on hills, rough roads, and to any place accessible by a motorbike.
This scooter is well taken care of by my sister. It is washed twice a week and is always full-tanked. My sister also has her scooter tuned and checked at motor shops every month for maintenance and safety. That's how this scooter is being loved. I have plenty of wonderful journeys with this motorbike.
" Ma'am! ma'am! ma'am! "
I was back at my senses. I saw worried faces asking if I was okay. Were we okay? I checked my body, no injuries, I checked my head, Oh my Head! God, I wasn't wearing a helmet or any protective gear on me! I checked my face and my legs, no injuries, and then my arms, again I checked my arm! I couldn't move my left arm! I tried raising it but couldn't! I suddenly felt the discomfort and the pain. I couldn't move it even a little. And I couldn't explain how painful it was. Some said it's broken, my heart broke too when they said that. 💔 The pain was getting intense every second, it's 10/10! I didn't know if it was broken or what, all I knew was My left arm was seriously injured.
The people checked any wounds on my body. Some said, I should not move and laid still but I assured them I was perfectly fine(well except for my arm) I wanted to cry because of the pain. I tried to sit down and asked for water. I was so thirsty, it felt like I hadn't drunk for a week!
"Shall we call for an ambulance?"
I looked at my sister who also looked at me worriedly, I signaled a "thumbs up" which means "I'm fine". Thankfully, my sister was wearing a helmet and some protective gear. Thank God, she was safe, I was safe. We were safe and alive!
"Ma'am you rolled over, did you not bump your head?" they asked.
I checked my head again, I nodded and moved it from left to right, no headaches, no pain, I felt fine! Thank God.😭
I honestly couldn't remember the details of what exactly happened. Everything went so fast! Everything was compressed in just 5 seconds! I didn't have the time to think or to prepare what to do next when we saw the dog running. In just a snap, I was already in the middle of the street laying down. According to those who saw the whole accident, it was dreadful, the impact was strong.
(Sobs)
Unbelievably minor scratches
I may not remember everything vividly but I couldn't forget the miracle that happened in my life. This is a second life.❤ Another gift of life.
Do I still ride a motorbike? Yes daily though it took me two weeks to recover from the trauma.
Unfortunately, road mishaps caused by stray dogs are often ignored. In fact, authorities failed to give solutions to this, yes there are some Ordinances in keeping these stray dogs but there are a lot of unclaimed dogs, homeless, with no owners, roaming and running freely on the streets, especially at night.
This may serve as a reminder to everyone, especially motorbike riders to drive cautiously, limit their speed, wear protective gear always, and above all pray to God for your safe travel. Keep safe riders. Keep safe Hivers.❤
