Our second trek and a story about showering

Last Saturday, I returned to SECMOL with the other VIS students and teachers after our second trek. You can see some pictures below. This trek took us to the eastern part of Ladakh where we saw Pangong Tso (Lake) which is around 130km long and stretches into Tibet. The lake was frozen and everyone had a good time sliding around. No ice fishing huts here; the lake has no outlet, making the salt content very high and unsuitable for fish. We hiked into Raley, a village in a valley with no road access where the few residents are semi-nomadic. They have houses, yet spend a significant portion of time moving their herds to other pastures. In summer they grow some barley. This was the most beautiful valley that I’ve visited in Ladakh so far, and the absence of noise from the combustion engine probably helped me come to this conclusion.

Upon our return, I felt in need of a shower. We had arrived in the evening so there was no longer any hot water in the solar hot water heater. I put a large pot of water on the stove to boil (3-4 gallons I imagine); some of which would be for drinking water and a portion of which I would use for my shower. Luckily, there is a faucet in this small kitchen; most homes in Ladakh have no running water. At SECMOL, there have been plenty of times that we have also needed to carry water. The source spring is a quarter to half a mile away and in February the pipes were all frozen, and last week someone had clogged our supply pipe with a bit of plastic, putting a shower even further out of reach!

I readied my bathing things including my bucket, scooping cup, ditty bag, and towel. I poured some of the steaming water half way up in my bucket, leaving the rest to cool for others to drink. I carried all of this to the bath house where I filled my bucket the rest of the way with cold water to prevent myself from being scalded, and stepped into one of the small bathing rooms. Taking a bucket shower is a great way to conserve water since one only uses what he needs because there is no stream to just stand under. Using the cup, I scoop water out of my bucket and pour it over myself to get wet. After soaping up, I dribble some more water to rinse off.

Having hot water is a luxury. The first week at SECMOL it was so cold that the solar hot water heater would not even thaw, let alone warm some water. I was too conservation minded and proud to use the propane stove then to heat my bathing water. My first couple showers I took with water that was probably no more than a few degrees over freezing. Standing in the cold bathing room, naked, I could hardly bring myself to dump the first cup of water down my chest. With a gasp, it took my breath away completely. After that it wasn’t so difficult because my body was entirely numb, covered in goosebumps as the blood left all of my capillaries and I was in a rush to get this process over with. Needless to say, I didn’t find much reason to shower more than once a week.

The effort that one needs to put forth just to shower is merely one example of the way things progress in India. Projects are always delayed because there are unforeseen hitches along the way. Getting a permit from the Indian bureaucracy is test of anyone's nerves as the first time one visits the office, the officer in charge may be out, then the following visit he is out to lunch, and on the third visit, when he is there, he can't do anything because he tells you that you need further paperwork, etc. etc. It has taken a long time to adjust to this world and I think that it has done wonders for my patience. I just keep telling myself, "Tomorrow is another day...it can be done then," or "Why do today what can be done tomorrow?"