I thought I would hurl at the next curve in the road as the car bumped along this dirt path, heading for the highest point of the mountain. It had already seemed like ages ago that I had been stuffed like a sardine into the car with a small crowd of people.

Finally, I can’t take it anymore and I roll the window down in a last-ditch effort to keep me from spilling my guts down the side of the mountain. The wind blasts my face and I breathe it in greedily with the smell of rain forest invading my lungs.

As my head clears, we slowly pass a small, dingy bar. The tables outside are full of men playing cards and dominoes. I casually glance at them but my eyes get stuck. A young man is staring at me. His eyes don’t blink as the most disturbing smile forms on his face. His smile broadens as I turn away from his hungry gaze.

We finally go around a bend and the bar is out of sight. But the man’s face is still grinning.

And now I think I’ll be sick for a very different reason. But this time, I roll my window up.