daily exits

We have not yet given justice to the toilets and bathrooms in Nepal and India yet.

I dedicate this blog to 'poop'
(and tea)

First I will share this heavily edited gem I found on the internet:

How to use a public squat toilet:

Rule One: Exhaust all other possibilities.
If you are truly in need and condemned to use the squat toilet, comfort yourself with the knowledge that you are several thousand miles from friends and family. No one has to know. Remember that this is why the left hand is to never touch food, utensils or be used for greeting others with a hand shake.
Make sure you leave any bags or excess clothing with your family or friend(s) outside the bathroom, as there will be no where to hygienically hang purses or bags.

Proceed as follows:
Most stalls do not have toilet paper. Bring your own or use the water tap and small plastic jug that is located by the squat toilet.
Approach the squat toilet apprehensively and make sure it's not covered in stool. If it is covered in stool, choose another stall. If another stall is not available, accept the cards that have been dealt you.

Close the door to the stall (if there are doors), knowing full well the handle has an uncountable amount of germs on it.
Place your feet on the appropriate foot grids, assuming they are not covered in poop. If they are covered in stool, place your feet on the least fouled space you can find, being careful to maintain balance. While making sure the bottoms of your pants don't touch the floor, at the same time unfasten and drop your pants and underwear, making sure that they do not make contact with the urine and stool covered surface area. This is where skirts would be super- handy, unless you pair them with pants, like I do.

Assume a squatting position like a competitive ski jumper. Stick your butt out.
Use your right hand to prevent the soiling of your trousers and underpants by holding them off the ground and pushing them forward, away from any Danger Zone.
In your left hand should be the assortment of paper/wipes/anti-bacterial sheets you intend to use after you are finished with your production.
You would think you would want your left hand to brace your squatting self against the stall wall. However, the stall wall is covered in nose nuggets and other unknown dark stains and as such is not touchable.

Be sure not to drop any of the objects in your left hand as they will be rendered horribly irretrievable should you do so.
If you are able to maintain balance for several seconds, you are ready to begin bowel evacuation. At this point the bulk of your focus should be towards the quick evacuation of your bowels without soiling your clothing, missing your mark or - God forbid - losing your balance and falling.
For aiming purposes keep your head tucked between your legs - like a bombardier on a very unpleasant mission assigned by General Squalor.
If your aim is true you will have the pleasure of watching poop (yours) drop down a deep, dark hole to a resounding ploot. If it's not true, you will have the pleasure of watching poop (yours) come to rest on the floor between your legs.
After you have completed your bowel evacuation, DO NOT STAND UP. Remain squatting and miserable.
Continue using your right hand to prevent contact of your pants/underpants with urine/stool. Place your tissues and wipes in your left hand on top of your underwear/trousers and select the items you need for wiping.
Wipe and curse culture simultaneously, all the while maintaining the squatting position. If this was a very urgent situation, and you have found yourself without paper, fill the dirty little plastic bucket with water from the dirty handled spigot whilst holding your clothes, raise your butt higher and further into the air and attempt to pour the water from the plastic jug from the top of your bum down, without getting your clothes wet. Continue as many times as necessary, using your left hand to ensure cleanliness.

Do not drop soiled tissues. That would be too easy. Sadly, the 16th century plumbing can only handle poo. Soiled tissues are to be placed in the bin behind you. (If there is one. Otherwise, use the floor or take your chances with the drain.) Without leaving the squat position, twist your body in order to see the bin and make a good throw. Don't worry if you miss, as it's obvious from the poo-sheet pile on the floor that the other tourists and perhaps the locals are missing.

Once sufficiently wiped, traumatized, and potentially wet, you may stand and re-underpant and re-clothe yourself.

 

clean public loo

Don't miss on a moving train!

\

The filth-covered flush button is behind you and may or may not work.
Open the door to the stall, again knowing the handle has more germs on it than any bathroom in Canada. Exit the stall and wash your hands with the soap that you hopefully brought with you in a dirty sink that dispenses only cold water.

That may be the dirtier side of a public toilet experience- the bathrooms in the budget hotels we choose are much cleaner! Sit down toilets are typical, but sometimes there are both kinds. Unlike our side of the world, we need to supply our own T.P. In hotels, and there is never a separate stall for the shower. This was the same in our home-stay in Nepal, and every hotel we have been in. The bathrooms floors are slightly slanted, with a drain at the lowest end. Shower shoes are highly recommended. Our home-stay had flip flops outside the bathroom door for all bathroom usage. For religious and cleanliness sake, outside shoes are kept outside the front door of houses and some shops. This rule, for practicality's sake, isn't kept in hotels.

Corner stores sell individual sachets of shampoo and conditioner for 1-4 rupees each. The favoured brands in these mini sizes are Pantene and Garnier Fructus. Large international corporations have taken over the world. 

Coke products are present everywhere, as they own probably all the bottled water companies in India. We are travelling as ethically as possible. We filter our own water so we don't create more plastic waste. There is little recycling that I can see, as the bottles say “Crush after use”. India has less road side garbage fires than Nepal, but it seems that is still the only way to get rid of refuse. There are more cows and dogs on the streets, they eat much of the garbage. Just now, sitting on the porch in the Kum Kum Home hotel in Tala, I watched a small cow reach it's head into the wastebasket and pull out a piece of thick paper (the back page of Raven's math package) and eat it. After getting the basket stuck on its head (oh for the want of a quick camera!) it continued on and found my (folded and wet from the rain) newspaper page and ate the crossword. I wonder how many times it will regurgitate on the English words?

Wasteful (and costly) take out containers thankfully haven't found their way to India to increase garbage. It is a little less convenient, but my leftover curd (plain yogurt) the other day was spooned into a little plastic bag 'to go'. Samosa shops use newspaper to wrap their tasties into before putting them into a plastic bag.

our favourite tea stall in Sarnath

Before leaving for India, Heath had told us about chai being old in single use clay cups. In Varanasi we were excited to see this was still so. The cups are unglazed and brittle, and most probably sun baked instead of being fired in a kiln. Raven really wants to take one home as a souvenir, but I don't think this will be possible, as they are super fragile. Some of the roadside tea sellers use paper cups, and I refused the larger size in one stall after noticing they were using Styrofoam cups. Tea on the street is typically Rs5 (about 10 cents). You don't receive a huge amount of tea, about 1/4 cup (62 ml for our metric readers), but it is super tasty. The vendors have their little business set up along a road, sometimes in a raised wooden box that can be locked up at night and they generally only sell tea. They have a small burner, and the ingredients at hand. Milk, loose black tea, fresh ginger, one pot, one kettle and a strainer. Tea is always served after a rolling boil. They crush the ginger and add it to the tea and milk, stir it, then pour through a strainer into the kettle before pouring into your cup. If there is bench seating, you will get your tea in a glass cup to drink there. Glasses are always washed in cold water, and I am doubtful that soap is used, but we haven't been sick yet, probably because of the boiling process. Tea is served so hot one cannot drink it for the first few minutes. It is usually thick, rich and perfectly spiced. Raven and I dream about making huge pots of masala (spiced) chai at home. Sorry Celestial Seasonings and Stash, but you will not be on my shopping list anymore.