One of my favorite words of advice came from an old Tibetan man right before I got on a bus that had repeated fallen off the mountain in Nepal... he told me "if it's your time to die - die". Basically, don't fight it. It's in god's hands. Great advice in general since being on the road in many countries is a life or death adventure.

Even walking is dangerous. Like I'd recently said, many men in the last town kept trying to run me down. And I was hit by a truck in Calcutta & a motorcycle in Bhopal. The Bhopal incident happened right in front of a policeman who just watched in amusement then drove away!

When you read this I should be in an overcrowded jeep going up steep mountain passes to Srinagar. The jeep is slightly more expensive than the bus... but like that road in Nepal, buses frequently fall off these mountains. One just this week. Jeeps tumble a little less often.

And there are the motorcycle rides... squeezed myself in between 3 other people in Cairo. That's 4 of us on one motorcycle! Or the first time I drove a scooter in Laos head first into on coming traffic. Or sat sidesaddle while the motorcycle driver weaved thru 6 directional traffic in Phnom Penh. Oh there's so many more... I love motorcycles! They're my favorite way to travel!

But the most exciting road events, when I drive! Hilariously I co-drove in Cairo. The driver... had a broken leg & I with my then broken arm was shifting. But there was no choice, with 7 of us in a tiny little car & me wedged over the gear shift, it was either shift or let the guy get friendly between my legs. Even better, I drove an ancient, bet up Mercedes around Sana'a, Yemen. With my cheek stuffed with qat & a cigarette in hand, the police at every check point were too stunned to stop me & ask for my license... thank god, because I wasn't even carrying it! And then last night, got to do some Dukes of Hazard style off-roading thru winding mountain roads. That was fun!