Page 84 of The Big Race
"Thanks," Zara said gratefully, accepting the candy. "That's really sweet of you."
Fletcher turned around, skeptical. "Aren't we supposed to be racing against each other?"
"We are," Ray said. "But we're not animals."
The comment hung in the air for a moment before Adrienne smiled. "Good point."
As the bus continued its stop-and-start journey through the Laotian countryside, the artificial boundaries between teams began to soften slightly. We weren't friends exactly, but we were fellow travelers enduring the same uncomfortable experience.
"Anyone know what we're supposed to do once we find this Buddha shop?" Ross asked during one of the longer stops.
"The clue just says 'find the shop where Buddha's peaceful smile guides travelers on their journey,'" I read from our card. "Pretty vague."
The bus lurched to another stop, and we all swayed together like some odd human pendulum. Despite the discomfort, I found myself almost enjoying the forced downtime. After weeks of constant rushing, there was something oddly peaceful about being stuck on a slow bus with nowhere to go but forward.
"This beats racing through airports," I said to Ray.
He smiled. "Everything's an adventure when you're not in control of the timeline."
“Great.” I slumped lower in my seat. The air conditioning was giving me a headache, but when I tried to adjust the vent, it wouldn’t budge.
Ray reached up and tried too, his bicep flexing as he wrestled with the stuck vent. “Sorry, babe. It’s not happening.”
A woman a few seats ahead turned around and smiled at us. “First time in Laos?” she asked in accented English.
It took me a moment to recall that was what the natives called their country. We nodded.
“Bus always like this,” she said. “Very cold or very hot. Nothing in between.”
Like our marriage, I thought but didn’t say. We’d never been good at finding the middle ground between Ray’s all-or-nothing athleticism and my careful planning.
“Hey,” he said softly. “Remember our first hike in Colorado? When you wouldn’t tell me you were getting altitude sickness because you didn’t want to look weak?”
“And you knew anyway, and suggested we take a break by that amazing viewpoint.”
“Which turned out to be the perfect place for kissing.”
I smiled at the memory. “You always did know how to make the best of a bad situation.”
“Still do.” He gestured at our surroundings – the chickens overhead, the monk chanting quietly across the aisle, the sugar cane leaves trailing down the center of the bus. “This isn’t exactly a luxury travel experience.”
“No,” I agreed. “But somehow I’m having more fun than I ever did watching the show from my couch.”
As Ban Pong finally came into view through the grimy windows, all four teams began gathering their belongings andeyeing each other with renewed competitive awareness. The temporary camaraderie of the bus ride was about to give way to the reality of the race.
But for a few hours, we'd just been eight people on a crowded bus, (along with our camera operators, of course) helping each other through motion sickness and sharing observations about mysterious clues. It wasn't much, but it felt like progress of a different kind.
Chapter 34
Finding Buddha
“We should split up to look for this shop,” Ray said as we got off the bus. “Cover more ground.”
“No way,” I said. “We’re in this together.”
I looked ahead and saw a kiosk with city maps. “We’ll get a map and start doing this logically,” I said.
If only the streets in Ban Pong were logical. Instead, they were a crazy puzzle of narrow lanes, often circling around to bring us back to the same place. We saw the male models, and then Adrienne and Fletcher. They all looked as lost as we did.
