The (second) Turn Around

(Continued)

When it got to us it was unreal.

We tucked in under the tarp as best we could, but the rain was loud and unrelenting, and the thunder and lightning were constant and in every direction.

One highlight was getting out of my bag in the middle of the night in only my pants to re-plant a peg which had been torn out when the wind caught under the tarp.

It was not a good nights sleep.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

In the morning it was becoming painful using any water - I know all modern advice is to drink when you're thirsty and avoid rationing (to keep brain-function and logical decision making skills for as long as possible), but it's very difficult in practice.

After a coffee I just couldn't bring myself to have the cup of water I wanted, knowing there was only one or two more cups-worth left.

It was scorching hot by 9 a.m. and we were standing out on the road with soaked belongings in a bone-dry desert losing precious water to sweat every second.

My hitching arm was glowing red by 10 a.m., and we'd started taking turns thumbing to hide from the sun under our towels.

By 1 p.m. we hadn't even garnered a random gesture from a driver, everyone was keeping their foot in and storming down the long, straight road - and we drank our last drop of water.

We set ourselves a time limit of one hour, and if we hadn't got a lift in our direction would make a sign (explaining we had no water) and try to catch the slower traffic joining the road from the south turning heading back to Rio Colorado, which was still the nearest habitation.

Two hours passed and I scouted some cardboard from some roadside rubbish and made our shameful, defeated sign as we prayed someone would take pity on two stupid gringos:

NO  TENGO  AGUA

In ten minutes a pickup stopped, and the passenger pointe his thumb to the flat-bed and we were saved.