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Cate's avatar

Loved this. And while the skill set learned in the land of wine tastings and memory foam mattresses might have felt glaringly deficient at the time, you got through the cruxing, climbed down to safety in the end and Alex H praised you - not a bad day! So when are you headed to Taipei to write about getting stuck in the elevator in the 101 building?😁.

Great piece - thanks Sanjiv.

Sanjiv Bhattacharya's avatar

Haha, great analogy! I'll take a lift over a forest any day of the week. Less bears.

Rhony Bhopla's avatar

This is hilarious: “even as a toddler, he always wanted to be high up. I’d turn my back and he’d be on top of the refrigerator or the closet.” This was an amazing read, thank you. I'm inspired and love "vision questing". Goes to show how fear prevents us from experiencing life.

Sanjiv Bhattacharya's avatar

Thanks Rhony! He’s an incredible person, Alex, it was a privilege to hang with him.

Hilary Hattenbach's avatar

So good, Sanj! I lol'd all through part 2. This bit: "And as it starts to get dark, I may as well be wrapped in a brown paper bag with soy sauce and napkins." Hilarious! Very relieved you lived to tell. I would've just sat there and waited for the bears to eat me. I love that Alex sleeps in his crappy van and was embarrassed about his fancy watch. Cool dude.

Sanjiv Bhattacharya's avatar

Nice one Hilary! There's often quite a gulf between me and some of the people I've covered, but never quite as wide as with Alex. I think he might be a superhero of some sort.