Day 14 June 21, The Accident

Up at 5:30 for breakfast just after 6.
On road just after 7. So much construction creating dirt, confusion and snails pace on the highway so I will take what comes today. Filled up with gas trying not to make the same mistakes twice. Stopped after 2 hours for coffee break. It looks like I could maybe make Ha Long bay tomorrow at the end of the day which would be awesome.
For coffee I found a place where the kids are watching cartoons- way more interesting than me so no stares for once. Seems like a very nice place and shady and cool. Already 90° out here.
At about 11 am I had an accident in Quang Phon. A taxi made a left turn in front of me and stopped in the road. Not enough time to dodge him, I was probaby doing 30 kph and I hit the rear brake and turned left I think. The rear tire slid out and I was on my right side sliding along the road with the bike trapping my right leg under it. I slid about 15 feet, did not hit the taxi. He drove away and several bystanders ran to me and lifted the bike off. At first I could not move, just wanted to lie there but I recognized this as shock so I let them help me to the side of the road. A man examined my scraps and put mercuricrom on them. I had a rip in my pants over the right kneecap and a large abrasion under that. Both heels of my hands had abrasions as well. I got one of the people to hand me my drink bottle and took a long drink to help clear my head.
The accident happened right in front of the Honda Dealership and one of the mechanics came out to assess the damage to the bike. The clutch lever and left mirror were sheared and hanging from the clutch cable. My left wrist is sore, but nothing seems broken. Gradually I got myself together enough to go into Honda and find the sinks to wash up in. They had good soap for the mechanics so I used that and slowly cleaned each wound taking care to get all of the dirt and grit out. The I got my large bag off the bike with the first aid kit in it and the iodine. I cleaned the wounds again with antibacterial wet wipes and then took the iodine outside and burned out each wound. Stung a lot. Sterile gauze over the knee and bandaids on both hands. Now clean and dressed I drank some more water and recovered. The mechanic said 2 hours for the repair. He was replacing the whole clutch housing with the light switches and all. After a half hour I was feeling a little better and went across the street for lunch- Chicken noodle soup, funny enough, I guess it can cure anything!
I decided to rent a room here, wherever here was and recuperate from my injuries a bit. When the bike was ready the very nice mechanic showed me what he had done and said it would be, " much better".
He advised me to take it slow at first, good advice. The repair cost came to 13 dollars. I started riding just as it started to rain and I saw a hotel sign across the boulevard and decided to pack it in.
Lesson learned, once bit, twice cautious.
I will practice some emergency stop scenarios tomorrow before I leave and get it automatic so I'm not surprised by this again!
Please don't worry too much, it was what it was and I am sore, but will heal. Thanks for your well wishes!
Mike

written by  Mike_Veine on June 21, 2013 from Quang Phong, Vietnam
from the travel blog: Top Gear Adventure 2- Vietnam Boogaloo!
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