Dropping Bombs

*Published on **2018-03-30** by **Kelley** | Categories: Travel*

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Okay, so technically it’s called a “Lift” but dropping bombs sounds way cooler. The last thing I thought I’d ever do was end up on a movie set, practicing my pyrotechnic skills. But here we are. Surprisingly , the invite from Jack turned out to be real. You know how some people just blow hot air? That didn’t happen. The day of the shoot he put us in the back of a white van with his equipment and team and we were off. We were warned that once we got to the field, we needed to lay down and not get back up until we were told. All of this being super exciting, of course. We drove for a bit, out to a big field. The bumpy ride made sure we were awake when we parked. Now, I’ll tell you why Jack is Jack in this story and why we had to lay low. Technically it’s not safe to bring strange chicks on the set of movie where explosions are being made and recorded. Hmmmmmmmm. Yeahhhhhh. We shouldn’t have been there. But Jack assured us we would be okay. As long as we hid behind these bushes and made sure that the real staff didn’t see us. No sweat. If you wanna see the video of us hiding and giggling behind some trees while a bomb goes off let me know. Apparently it’s too long for WordPress. (Also, it’s not even that good.) 😛 So here we are, learning the ins and outs of how to do a proper lift. This is my first, and honestly probably the only, detonation system I’ll ever see in my life. You start with this nice little cord.

And you attach it to this fancy little box.

You split the cord and tie it in like speaker wires. During detonation you have to hold down one of the black buttons until a light comes on. That’s a measure of safety they use to be sure everyone isn’t just blowing each other up all over the place. Pretty legit I’d say. They call that being hot. Yea, I thought they were talking about me at first but that’s crap. My ego will have to get puffed up another day. So after 10 or 15 seconds this red light comes on and then you’re ready to go. They do a countdown to be even more safe so no one loses an arm. They yell, “Action” and then count. 3….2….1. I pushed the button. You could feel the lift in your chest and see the smoke rise just in front of the bushes that hid us. It went really high. Super freaking cool. Here’s a pic from the video.

Haha. That may or may not be me with my mouth wide open. Chelsea and I got to do quite a few. Then we got bored. I know, who gets bored with bombs right? Well, when they’re safety checked and scheduled and not running so quickly, you can only do so many before you think, “What’s next?” So Chelsea and I are out lounging about in the van. It might be nap time. Then we realize all the locals are gone. This entire outfit runs with local people. They know where the good places are to shoot movies and bombs. They know how much things cost, how to get around the city, the driving rules, the culture. So all the drivers are Cambodian people. They getting paid wicked low prices for us but probably high for them. We ask around a bit to see what’s up. Ahhhhhhhhhhh, dinner. O_o

They’re out catching snacks. Of course we go and join them. They’re running around the field, no where near the shoot and they are looking for small holes in the ground. When they find one, they use a shovel to dig down a bit. Then they reach in and grab out a spider. This will be a snack for their family tonight when they go home.

I used to have one of these when I was growing up. They aren’t so scary if they’re used to people. But I wasn’t too keen on grabbing a wild one and giving it a kiss. Especially when their face looks like THIS!

I mean honestly, look at those fangs!! I ADORE spiders. No really. Always have. Mayhaps I just never picked up Charlotte at home and took a look under her face. This one was wicked. Next up they brought me a puffy little mushroom thing.

What the heck is this? It has a little give, like some sort of poof. I ask and they smile. It’s a spider egg sac. Whooooaaaaaa!!! All those lil babies are in here!! I’d love to take this thing home and watch it hatch. Someone else has plans for it though. Something to the tune of cultivating full grown snacks.

Last but not least we have one last nibble show up. The locals chased these around just as hard as they did the tarantulas. Let’s talk bravery here. I mean, they grab them with their bare hands.

Yep. This is an authorized, lawful, genuine scorpion from the sticks. Well, from the field at least. Our cover had been blown at this point because we were out running around in the field watching and helping our crew gather refreshments. And it’s not like you can miss two white girls running around giggling and clapping every time someone finds something delicious.

Really. Look at this absolute badass. He’s like a tank except angrier. It felt funny in my guts holding it. Something about him made me uneasy. Being that it was the first wild scorpion I’d ever come in contact with I felt my throat tighten up a bit as I held it. But hold it I did.

We both did. I’m lucky he didn’t snatch my face off.

On this last one you can see how they pinch the stinger off. Yep. It’s the only way we’re able to touch it without dying. YAY!

Here’s a cool vid.

[Tank Scorpion](http://www.traversethisearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/IMG_6116.mov)

Look at those little legs go. Seriously bro, you creep me out. But I know you are delicious. The bug free-for-all lasted until the sun stopped punishing us from overhead and shifted off to the side. We grabbed some not so alive snacks and drinks and sat down to chat. One man in particular had really great English. We called him CMAC. And if you think grabbing scorpions and tarantulas with your bare hands out of a field is fearless, wait until I tell you about this guy.