A towel... is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
As an homage to Douglas Adams' immortal Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, quoted above, I present the following list of uses for scarves in summertime Nepal: (Note: I have used my scarves in all of these ways in the past 6 weeks, and there are probably a few more that I've forgotten).
1) Scarves can be used as air filters when worn over the nose and mouth. Of course, they only strain out the largest polluting particulates, but when you can see black smoke billowing out of literally every motor vehicle you encounter, it's at least psychologically comforting to have something to put between that and your lungs. Scarves worn in this way are also helpful at diminishing the overwhelming smells of human/animal BO, human/animal fecal matter, incense, burning plastic bags, burning or rotting flesh, and whatever other smells you may encounter in the course of your daily routine.
2) Scarves are good for covering your head/shoulders/other possibly offensive body parts when encountering any place, person, or thing who may reasonably presumed to be more holy than you (including but by no means limited to temples, monasteries, shrines, stupas, lingas, monks, nuns, llamas, sadhus, rinpoches, cows, monkeys, etc.)
3) If you've forgotten your umbrella, you are 100% guaranteed to get caught in a monsoon shower. In this situation, it's comforting to have a scarf to put over your head; most of your body will still get soaked, but with luck you will be able to keep enough water off of your glasses that you'll still be able to see your way home.
4) Scarves can be used as shopping bags when buying vegetables or other goods, especially if you want to avoid using the highly polluting and basically useless cheap black plastic bags that will break on you as soon as you entrust something of even nominal weight or value to them. Several Nepalis have told me that the government is in the process of banning these plastic bags. Since the government doesn't seem to be able to do much of anything, I'm a bit skeptical that the plastic-bag ban will be in effect any time soon, but it certainly would be nice. Perhaps the government can start small by banning plastic bags and then work its way up to the bigger, more bothersome things like writing a constitution. In the meantime, though, if you plan to do any shopping, do be sure to bring a scarf.
5) Scarves can be used as towels to dry your hands if you have been so lucky as to be able to wash your hands after using the toilet. There are sometimes towels by public sinks, but I think that using them completely negates the effects of the hand-washing.
6) Scarfs can be tied around your waist/hips as belts. This is not merely a fashion tip; after a month or so in Nepal, you will have lost weight and your clothes will have simultaneously stretched out because of repeated hand-washing and air-drying. Therefore, the scarf-belt will serve the necessary purpose of helping you keep your clothes on.
7) Since monsoon weather is somewhat unpredictable, it's good to have a scarf for temperature regulation. Even a 100-degree day can drop to the 70's after a solid rain shower; especially if you've gotten wet during that rain shower, you'll want a scarf to warm you up a bit.Of course, if the weather stays around 100 degrees all day, you'll want a scarf to mop the sweat off your face once in a while.
8) Scarves can be used as pockets for keeping track of your keys, cell phone, and other small-but-important items. Simply tie the item/s into a corner of the scarf for safekeeping. The trick is to knot the corner securely enough that the item doesn't fall out but not so securely that you can't untie it again later.
9) In Nepal, many people consider it meritorious to feed pigeons, especially near holy sites such as stupas and temples. Therefore, there are sometimes literally thousands of pigeons flying around these sites. If you cover your head with a scarf, you can reduce your odds of being directly shat upon.
Bottom line: if you ever travel to Nepal, it's definitely worthwhile to pack a few lightweight, durable scarfs. Dark colors or patterns are good for hiding dirt. It's also possible to buy scarves once you get here - I brought a few and have bought a few. As Douglas Adams might say:
"Any woman who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where her scarf is, is clearly a woman to be reckoned with."
As an homage to Douglas Adams' immortal Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, quoted above, I present the following list of uses for scarves in summertime Nepal: (Note: I have used my scarves in all of these ways in the past 6 weeks, and there are probably a few more that I've forgotten).
1) Scarves can be used as air filters when worn over the nose and mouth. Of course, they only strain out the largest polluting particulates, but when you can see black smoke billowing out of literally every motor vehicle you encounter, it's at least psychologically comforting to have something to put between that and your lungs. Scarves worn in this way are also helpful at diminishing the overwhelming smells of human/animal BO, human/animal fecal matter, incense, burning plastic bags, burning or rotting flesh, and whatever other smells you may encounter in the course of your daily routine.
2) Scarves are good for covering your head/shoulders/other possibly offensive body parts when encountering any place, person, or thing who may reasonably presumed to be more holy than you (including but by no means limited to temples, monasteries, shrines, stupas, lingas, monks, nuns, llamas, sadhus, rinpoches, cows, monkeys, etc.)
3) If you've forgotten your umbrella, you are 100% guaranteed to get caught in a monsoon shower. In this situation, it's comforting to have a scarf to put over your head; most of your body will still get soaked, but with luck you will be able to keep enough water off of your glasses that you'll still be able to see your way home.
4) Scarves can be used as shopping bags when buying vegetables or other goods, especially if you want to avoid using the highly polluting and basically useless cheap black plastic bags that will break on you as soon as you entrust something of even nominal weight or value to them. Several Nepalis have told me that the government is in the process of banning these plastic bags. Since the government doesn't seem to be able to do much of anything, I'm a bit skeptical that the plastic-bag ban will be in effect any time soon, but it certainly would be nice. Perhaps the government can start small by banning plastic bags and then work its way up to the bigger, more bothersome things like writing a constitution. In the meantime, though, if you plan to do any shopping, do be sure to bring a scarf.
5) Scarves can be used as towels to dry your hands if you have been so lucky as to be able to wash your hands after using the toilet. There are sometimes towels by public sinks, but I think that using them completely negates the effects of the hand-washing.
6) Scarfs can be tied around your waist/hips as belts. This is not merely a fashion tip; after a month or so in Nepal, you will have lost weight and your clothes will have simultaneously stretched out because of repeated hand-washing and air-drying. Therefore, the scarf-belt will serve the necessary purpose of helping you keep your clothes on.
7) Since monsoon weather is somewhat unpredictable, it's good to have a scarf for temperature regulation. Even a 100-degree day can drop to the 70's after a solid rain shower; especially if you've gotten wet during that rain shower, you'll want a scarf to warm you up a bit.Of course, if the weather stays around 100 degrees all day, you'll want a scarf to mop the sweat off your face once in a while.
8) Scarves can be used as pockets for keeping track of your keys, cell phone, and other small-but-important items. Simply tie the item/s into a corner of the scarf for safekeeping. The trick is to knot the corner securely enough that the item doesn't fall out but not so securely that you can't untie it again later.
9) In Nepal, many people consider it meritorious to feed pigeons, especially near holy sites such as stupas and temples. Therefore, there are sometimes literally thousands of pigeons flying around these sites. If you cover your head with a scarf, you can reduce your odds of being directly shat upon.
Bottom line: if you ever travel to Nepal, it's definitely worthwhile to pack a few lightweight, durable scarfs. Dark colors or patterns are good for hiding dirt. It's also possible to buy scarves once you get here - I brought a few and have bought a few. As Douglas Adams might say:
"Any woman who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where her scarf is, is clearly a woman to be reckoned with."
love it :)
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