medication or treatment, it’s down to
good luck if they survive.
As I was the only person there for
the injured rider, I spent quite a bit
of time in the hospital, waiting, and
a fair amount of my own money to
ensure the rider was getting the right
treatment as he was unable to fend for
himself.
With all the medications and sur-
gery costs to date, (and we're only
talking hours since he was admitted
into that hospital, that fund didn't last
long, I soon ran out of money. I need-
ed to collect more cash as electronic
funds transfer or credit card was not
accepted.
The closest ATM and money ex-
changer was located near the first
hospital, about 15 minutes away. So,
the rep and I had gone back into town
to get more funds, and as we were on
our way back to the hospital, the rep
had received a phone call from the
police inspector asking why we hadn't
made any payments yet. It quickly be-
came clear to what had happened at
the police station.
As the injured local’s family had
called the police to tell them that
TRAVERSE 81
we had left the hospital, and that we
weren't making the deposits. It was
then I understood that the payments
I was making into the account we had
with the pharmacy was for the treat-
ment of both injured men.
It was explained that, one of the
greatest bureaucratic laws of Nepal,
was regardless of how the accident
happened, whoever is in the larger ve-
hicle will always be deemed at fault.
I still don't know if that law is true or
not, but if it was, then the rider in this
case was found to be at fault and was
apparently now responsible to pay for