Log
Charley Boorman Log- Day 37
July 20, 2012
In which Charley gets to enjoy some very large machines at Sishen Mine!
Yesterday we got to look at Sishen mine’s enormous trucks, but this morning, thanks to the kindness of the mine’s management, I’m being allowed to ride in one of them.
I did of course ask if I could drive one myself, but I was politely told that it takes at least two months of training. Dissapointing though that was, I understand that when the truck costs almost Three Million Dollars and has a 15 foot blind spot on every side, it’s probably best if you know what you’re doing.
Dressed in full safety gear, we step cautiously out of our competitively tiny vehicles onto the red dust of the mine pit. We can taste the dust in our mouths and will smell it on our clothes for days to come. We’re surrounded by the noise of machinery while the towering, rumbling trucks pass close by with surprising, sometimes startling speed.
I climb the staircase to the cab of the truck I’ll be riding. It’s a long way up and every step sees me getting more and more excited…
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