The idea to photograph a group of crazy tourists, ready to throw themselves into a 525 foot deep canyon over the Bhote Kosi river on the Tibetan border seemed quite appealing to me. Also, I was about to leave Nepal a couple days later so I wanted to end my 3 month long adventure with a “sweet” conclusion.
We got on a bus in Kathmandu and about 3 hours later faced one of the deepest bungee and swing jumping spots in the world.
Some participants seemed more scared then others, but all were determined to jump regardless of their fear. And they did. However, as I interviewed them every step of the way somehow I felt lucky not to be one of them.
It was not until later that day, when I was confronted with the question: “So, you gonna jump next?” I laughed and continued working.
I photographed one jump after another, climbing up and around the bridge from all possible directions realizing that I was dealing with the most challenging assignment I had came across in the entire 3 months. I just couldn’t get a good photo out of it.
That frustration, most likely, had a lot to do with what was coming up next.
When I was asked again and again and again when it would be that I would jump, “to be able to better write my story” I didn’t laugh anymore. In fact I was getting irritated and had about enough. “Fine!! Where is the damn harness, where are the clips, put that ‘hell’ on me and whomever wants my lunch ticket take it, I’m not gonna need it anymore!”
Peer pressure is certainly underestimated..
There I was, a few minutes later, falling through the air with two questions that seemed crucial at the moment: “What the hell am I doing?” and “Why in the world can’t I scream?” I had 6 seconds of free fall to deliberate on those two topics, which at that moment seemed more then enough time..
It took me the whole 30 minutes walking back up the steep hills to realize what had just happened. I sat on a stone to take a break, I put my feet in a waterfall and splashed the cold water all over myself. I was in a zone and loved every second of that sweaty steep hike up back to the resort.
So, my dear “co-jumpers,” thank you for not letting me focus on my work properly that day and pushing me off that bridge instead, by your so consistent and so annoying comments.
I’m truly grateful to you for so nonchalantly erasing this task from my “Never to do” list…
