Travels in Nepal # 29 Some Facilities are very Basic

Some facilities are very basic in Nepal

Living in Australia one becomes accustomed to certain levels of comfort. Most public facilities are clean, well maintained, airy, roomy and hygienic. We become spoiled by our standard of living.

Visiting a third world country can be a bit of a culture shock. Actually – it can be a big culture shock. It can be rather confronting, in your face and challenging.

At times though it can be somewhat amusing.

“HOT SHOWAR” screamed the sign roughly painted on the door – see the photo above.

I had a sneak look inside. How one was supposed to carry out one’s ablutions in that tiny shed is a mystery. It was so small you’d have to step outside to change your mind! Notice the little drum on the roof with a rustic ladder leading to it.

This is the system: you order and pay for your shower. After about an hour’s wait – for the water to be heated up in the kitchen – the hot water is poured into the drum. You then enter the shower enclosure and bathe – as quickly as possible. If you finish before the water runs out you’ve obviously missed washing some very basic parts of your body. (What is THAT smell???).

And when you finish you run run the risk of freezing to death unless you can dry yourself and dress in thirty seconds flat.

Actually, the shower we used in Namche Bazar was simply palatial compared to the one shown in the photo above. Oh – and it was sooooo good to have a hot shower.