a pensive day at the office

this morning i'm writing at a cascade - waterfall near between 2 small
communities of La Pajcha and Postrevalle just south of Samaipata.

Yeseterday was a tough riding day - and to top it off I dropped the bike
and sprained my right foot. bollocks. why do I keep wrecking my ankles
and feet? I think it stems from the fact that I don't fall gracefully -
instead of keep feet and other body parts free of a falling bike, I
somehow manage to be a tangle of limbs that get caught under and twisted.

Luckily we were about 5 kms from the next town, and so I rode Philipe's
sidecar and he my bike to the town where I went to the hospital. After
the not so friendly attitudes of the people in Vallegrande, I had a
really lovely chat with the doctor and nurses, and after getting my feet
wrapped and a shot of antiinflammatory, as well as some extra pills, I
was sent on my merry way for the princely sum of 29 bolivianos (about
US$5). Seeing Philipe on my bike (I was riding behind as the sidecar
creates more dust) was an odd sight - I kept thinking he was too tall
for the bike, and wondered how it could carry a person and all my
luggage. I suppose that you rarely see yourself from behind on the bike,
makes mewonder whether I look just as dubious balancing on the lil red
machine.

Back to the pensive day at the office - the office this morning is the
cascades, and the pensiveness comes from not being able to move (my
sprain is pretty much blowing up my right foot blue and is not so fun to
hobble around on) and being in such a tranquil location. Also Philipe
and I have had some interesting conversations about life, love, passions
and commitment - a combination of being back on the road (giving lots of
time to think while riding), learning about Che and his passions and
past and future relationships.

Not sure if we'll head onto Samaipata - it's about 70kms and about 3
hours drive for us... or just chill out at the awesome campsite we found
while looking for the cascades. Part of me wants to just chill, but the
other part wants to continue moving and actually reach Samaipata (just
as a point of comparison we have been on the road for 6 days already -
and Maciek, another rider, made the same journey plus more in 1 day).

ps... just realised... pensive in english I used in the context of being
thoughtful - pensar in spanish is the verb 'to think'. interesting huh!