'til the wheels come off

busy day in chiang mai today - stopped by a nice coffee shop nearby the four seasons, went to the snake farm to witness a show with pythons, cobra, and the like, and then over to the sports centre for a little recreation.

had a great time on the off-road buggies - that is until this happened. sweeatheart always handy with the camera at critical moments managed to take this one pointing out what i managed to put her through on the buggy. it was slightly hair raising when the wheel snapped off the shaft entirely, plowing the front left into the dirt. we were rather fortunate though, as there were some point with fairly large drops off the mountain, and i was able to keep the buggy on the path after the failure.

there was a bit of back and forth between us and the guide driver, as he began to accuse me of plowing into something on the trail - we walked up the path for a clue, and nothing could be found. a mechanic was called to the scene, surveyed the damage, gave us the "mai bpen rai" (no problem), and transferred us to the new buggy to finish the rest of the course.

back at base, there was a bit more back and forth once the mechanic who wasn't bothered left the scene. some light thai arguing - sweetheart ultimately taking the advantage on the grounds of no proof i had done anything erroneously, and some heavier questioning into safety checks, etc.

end of day, it was agreed we pay 400 baht (about us$13) for towing expenses to the buggy, and we all put the matter behind us. not bad in my opinion.