The Waterfall Crossing (continued)
We were approaching the center point of the torrent now. The bus driver was doing a great job keeping the bus moving very slowly but constantly forward – slow enough to keep hydraulic pressure from building up as a result of our forward motion, and constant enough so that no additional torque was placed on the tires causing them to spin and break free. I could feel the water hitting the side of the bus – shaking it, vibrating it in sporadic chaotic motion as it race around us, and my senses were alive to every vibration. Where we still stable on the road? Were we starting to slide?
We were at the center point of the torrent. We were still stable on the road and we were still moving forward. Something inside me turned to hope instead of fear. We were passing the halfway point. It was a feeling akin to that feeling you get when you’re watching a movie and the hero is facing horrible odds and you find yourself thinking, “is there anything they can do to pull this off?” And you find yourself hoping against hope. We were past the halfway point and headed toward shallower water now. If the driver just kept the bus going slow and constant with no sudden acceleration to spin the tires and break them free, and if there were no surges in the water from the waterfall, and if there was no patch of slippery moss or algae growing on the asphalt…
And then it was over. I could tell when the bus moved into water more shallow than the clearance of the tires because the shaking of the bus from water hitting the side of it stopped. There was no more water piling up below me pushing its way to the front or rear of the vehicle. The bus driver accelerated and drove the bus out of the water onto dry ground next to the truck. He opened the door and we all got off the bus out onto the road. I had an overwhelming urge to urinate, and I found a spot against the hillside on the other side of the bus. I noticed that a number of the other bus occupants followed me over to do the same thing.
It was the truck drivers turn now. The trucks and the buses are built out of the same basic frame, the only difference being that the back cargo section was used either to carry goods or to carry occupants. So the truck was going to have the same clearance problem that we had. On the far side of the torrent a Jeep pulled up, and the occupants got out to watch the truck cross the torrent. The truck driver spent a few minutes talking to the bus driver, probably trying to determine best speed and level of difficulty negotiating the water. I remember seeing the focused and intense expression on his face as they spoke. Then he got into his truck, started up the motor, and began to slowly move forward.
We all watched wondering if the truck was lighter than the bus. The truck inched slowly forward just like the bus had done. We could see when he entered water higher than the clearance of his tires, and we watch the water pileup on the upstream side of his truck forcing its way around the truck and applying sideways hydraulic pressure. The truck actually tilted slightly from the water pushing against it as it slowly continued to inch forward, and as he approached the fastest-flowing part of the water I noticed I was breathing shallow and holding most of my breath. I was watching closely for any sign of sideways sliding, but there was none. The truck passed the center point of the torrent, and slowly made its way out of the water on the other side of the waterfall.
The truck driver got out and waved to the bus driver on our side of the torrent; there was a big broad smile on his face as he did. The people from the Jeep near him got back in their vehicle, did a three point turn, and headed back down the road. The truck driver got in his vehicle too and left following them down. Lastly we loaded up in the bus and began to climb higher into the Himalayas. This was not the last waterfall we would come across before the day was out, but it was by far the worst. It was the only one that left me wondering if I would survive the crossing, and in all my life this is the most dangerous water ford I’ve ever undertaken across a flooded road. I wish I could say that it was the most dangerous thing we did driving up into the Himalayas that night – but it wasn’t.
Next week: More Danger on the High Himalayan Roads