The smell of success

Okay, okay, I know I touched on this already but I felt it needed a little more attention.

Let me share something with you: 14 days of trekking, two t-shirts, two sets of socks, and one pair of boots is a recipe for stink. Not to mention the fact that in an effort to reduce backpack weight, deodorant did not make it onto the packing list, coupled with the fact that we were too cheap to pay for warm water for washing let alone a hot shower, to say we were ripe would be an understatement.

In our defense though, check out this example of the hot shower 'contraptions', as I like to call them, that were available to us. Does it really look like a recipe for clean to you? I don't even know how you were supposed to see your body to clean it as this little gem of a shower shed doesn't even have windows.

Seriously though, have you ever gone for 14 days without showering? Now to be fair, Troy claims he did splash his armpits a couple of times and stuck his feet in a river once (as I recall, his voice was a few octaves higher afterward). So if you want to judge someone, judge me. I just couldn't rationalize the use of freezing cold water to clean any body part that was going to immediately be clothed with dirty laundry.

You come up with little systems to make yourself at least feel less dirty. For Troy, it was the little celebration he had every 4(!) days when he allowed himself a fresh pair of ginch, I myself ceremoniously pulled my second t-shirt out of reserves after we crossed the Chola Pass, and a hat or tuque became a no-brainer after Troy inquired one day why my hair was wet (it wasn't, ewww.).

Seriously though, think back, what's the longest you've gone without a shower? Not that this is a competition but I think I could have this one all wrapped up. I have a cousin (not to name names, Scott) who went through a phase when we were growing up of wearing the same clothes every day, even to bed, so he wouldn't have to get dressed in the morning. He might be able to give me a run for my money but other than that, I'm pretty confident about holding the title. Notice I didn't say proud...just confident.

Anyways, not to dwell... just had lots of time to think about how disgusting we were as we passed all the sparkling clean people just heading out on their treks. I smiled inside and thought, just you wait...