For those that don’t have Facebook. I just posted this message…

Not unexpected by a few people. But. My trip has been put on hold or maybe finished for now. I was less than two blocks from my hotel in Puerto Ordaz in Venezuela, after a long days ride and I got clipped by a bus while I was going through a set of green lights at about 50-60kph. It flicked the bike and I was slammed into the side of an oncoming car. Both me and the bike are repairable.

I was taken to the hospital in a firetruck and then waited about 8 hours to get my arm put back in to it’s socket. No one speaks any english. On the bad side I will be laid up for at least 4-6 weeks and need a lot of physio. I also lost my phone in the accident which creates lots of hassles with access to money, communication, messages, apps etc. I don’t know what will happen with the police. They impounded my bike. The other parties in the accident absconded. And to top it all off I have no travel insurance in Venezuela because the Australian government says not to come here. I was finished at the hospital at 3:00am. No keeping me there for the night.

On the good side however, I’m in a couple of whatsapp travel and motorbike groups for Venezuela and they have been amazing. They heard about my accident and rocked up at the hospital and discovered I don’t speak enough spanish. They thought I would be Colombian like the numberplate on my bike (I have no idea who took most of these photos).

They found an english speaking travel guide who sat with me all night and when they put my arm back in my socket and he was able to translate that the doctors were sorry they did it without any pain medication. Because I had a drip in, they thought the nurse had already given it to me. The nurse thought that the doctors would do it. He also got hold of my daughters in Australia on a video call which was great. Although I was in a lot of pain it was nice to see them and show them I was okay (apparently thats not how it appeared to them). He took the photos of my before and after Xrays to show the doctors because that’s how it works over here. My arm felt much better back in it’s socket and not pressing against my ribs. And I am sure it was great entertainment for the dozens of people in the room with me.

He then drove me around to find a chemist open on Good Friday night at 3:00am and then to find an open hotel with a vacant room over Easter. My original hotel was too far away and closed.
At the hospital I had said I needed my laptop so I could communicate what was going on and contact someone who spoke english. Another of the biker guys from the whatsapp group made a few calls and then a while later a cop rode into the back of the hospital on my bike. It had a bit of damage but was obviously rideable. They then wanted to take it back to the police yard but he convinced them to let him keep it at his place. We all agreed and so we took off my stuff and put it in someones car and then he rode off somewhere on my bike, in the rain. He has since contacted me and is fixing the bike for me so it will be rideable once I am able to do so (The cops rocked up at his house next morning and took a heap of photos of him and the bike and the house).
I’m now in a nice hotel at a reasonable price where I’ll hole up for several days. I made a sling with my sarong and I am able to get on and off the bed without assistance but it’s an effort and it hurts. People from the group are checking in on me. I am able to walk to the hotel restaurant and they have a small shop that sells coke, beer, and chocolate so that’s a bonus. I’m pretty sore down my left hand side and a few bruises, and a swollen left foot. It’s Monday now and someone is picking me up to take me to find a proper sling.
I’m probably at my lowest for the whole trip but unlike the sciatica I can find a comfortable position to lay in, which I am grateful for. I can sort of walk and I’m sure it’s just all soft tissue damage and it already seems to be getting a bit better. and the painkillers are doing their job. I have a few options but having imported a motorbike into the country may mean I can’t leave without it. I have heard about a boat that sails the short distance to the islands of Trinidad and Tobago?
I’m not looking for sympathy or help but just keeping it real. I could have been a lot worse off. And I know several of you will have dislocated your shoulder before so you know how it feels (actually at the moment it’s the only thing that doesn’t hurt).
I’ve done 44,000kms now and only have 2500kms to go. So none of us know what will happen from here.
It’s taken me all day to write this in bits and pieces. I hope you’re all well and glad I’m able to write this with my right hand and wipe my bum, but you probably don’t need to know that last bit.

*Update

I am improving slowly but still feeling low. I am working on a plan to go to my friend’s place in Mexico where I can get some good medical treatment. Just getting a flight out is the main hassle, mostly the way that I can pay for it. I have the money, but the method of payment is the complication. I’ll update things as they occur, and I guess now I will have plenty of time to rest and write the couple of missing blog posts.

I think I can leave my bike and all my stuff here in Venezuela, so it’s just me and a few things going to Mexico, and hopefully I can return in a month or so to continue…

**Update

If only my last update was true. It became way more complicated and I had to return to Australia. It’s now 6 months later and I am finally back in South America. to finish the trip. I’ll continue the blog from when I had the accident and catch you up on what unfolded over the next couple of posts and then start again from here.