A Blast of another kind.
Well, I think I now have my honorary Al Quieda diploma, my clothes from last night are probably so infested with explosive residue that I will not be able to get anywhere close to the airport. I am black and blue all over and I guess I have a few burns on me. My jacket has more than 50 holes and probably a couple hundred scortch marks, my jeans have a few holes and dozens of scorches, my belt is even missing a chunk and the towel that was protecting my neck has a big burn hole from when it must have caught fire.
For those who do not know...
I went to an annual fireworks festival in Yenshuei, Taiwan. Last year, they spent US$6,000,000 on bottle rockets, and these things are cheap. They place them horizontally on large racks and light 'em up. The crowd is required to wear motorcycle helmets, gloves, a jacket and a towel around the neck. The crowd stands in front of the "bee hives" of bottle rockets and hope like hell they don't receive anything permanent. Last year, I got some serious burns on my right hand after one firework blew up on my hand, this year, I wore leather gloves. I am still black and blue in many places from bruising from fireworks exploding against me, and I have a few burns but all minor ones that should be gone in a week. I wore an undershirt, a Tshirt, jacket, undies, boxer shorts, jeans leather gloves, a helmet, a towel and safety glasses just incase one gets inside my face shield and blows up inside my helmet (VERY rare). My jacket is trash, my blue jeans aren't all that blue, huge black streaks all over and the cuffs are also all burnt. My Tshirt's a little messed up, but it was old anyways, my undershirt is fine though, though a little charred, but no holes. My leather belt is missing a chunk, my towel is burnt as well as my jeans, they also have holes in them. My helmet seems to be ok, though it smells of gun powder... love it.
This has got to be the most dangerous and exciting thing I have ever done and I have done many things. I almost didn't go, but I'm so glad I did. I took a train and a taxi to get there and then I found some foreigners to hitch a ride home with as the trains don't run at 4am. I cannot explain how awesome this was, and if there's any way to go again next year, I will.
When I get my Cambodia pictures off my iPod, I'll post 'em somewhere as weel as my trip.
For those who do not know...
I went to an annual fireworks festival in Yenshuei, Taiwan. Last year, they spent US$6,000,000 on bottle rockets, and these things are cheap. They place them horizontally on large racks and light 'em up. The crowd is required to wear motorcycle helmets, gloves, a jacket and a towel around the neck. The crowd stands in front of the "bee hives" of bottle rockets and hope like hell they don't receive anything permanent. Last year, I got some serious burns on my right hand after one firework blew up on my hand, this year, I wore leather gloves. I am still black and blue in many places from bruising from fireworks exploding against me, and I have a few burns but all minor ones that should be gone in a week. I wore an undershirt, a Tshirt, jacket, undies, boxer shorts, jeans leather gloves, a helmet, a towel and safety glasses just incase one gets inside my face shield and blows up inside my helmet (VERY rare). My jacket is trash, my blue jeans aren't all that blue, huge black streaks all over and the cuffs are also all burnt. My Tshirt's a little messed up, but it was old anyways, my undershirt is fine though, though a little charred, but no holes. My leather belt is missing a chunk, my towel is burnt as well as my jeans, they also have holes in them. My helmet seems to be ok, though it smells of gun powder... love it.
This has got to be the most dangerous and exciting thing I have ever done and I have done many things. I almost didn't go, but I'm so glad I did. I took a train and a taxi to get there and then I found some foreigners to hitch a ride home with as the trains don't run at 4am. I cannot explain how awesome this was, and if there's any way to go again next year, I will.
When I get my Cambodia pictures off my iPod, I'll post 'em somewhere as weel as my trip.
posted by Colin at 7:39 PM
1 Comments:
You would smell like a Colin campfire!!! Glad you enjoyed it. Breta
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