Contrasting Nature
One of my most favorite things on this trip are the little surprises. No, no. Not the "Wow, that pyramid is surprisingly tall", or "Hey! Never thought I'd run into you at this end of the earth!", but the more subtle ones that make me appreciate the world we used to live in. Revelations like "Wow, that toilet has a seat on it" or "Hey! And toilet-paper too!" make me smile. I love surprises.
Leaving ARCAS was hard. The animals became family, and the proud evidence of hard work, in the form of ugly blisters on our hands, made us feel like we really did something important here, even though it was something pretty much anybody could do. But we left, nonetheless, with now only two thoughts on our minds: Laundry and Hot Shower. I barely used any clothes on our stay here. The only thing I changed day to day was my underwear. There was just no point in wearing clean clothes knowing you will not only sweat through them, but also most likely get three different poo colors on it and, if you are really lucky, some vegetable residue from when the fruit-cart arrives and you have to carry forty pound bags of beets, on your back, a few hundred meters through the narrow paths. All that, just before breakfast. Now, the dirty and smelly stuff was isolated in a few plastic bags and ready to be boiled at the nearest opportunity. All, but one. My "Snoopy" shirt that I was wearing to work these past two weeks was beyond repair and on our last night I ceremonially burnt it in the campfire, right after we ran out of marshmallows and sausages.
The dirty laundry could wait, but our longing for a hot shower could not. It's now been two weeks of cold showers that don't really wash much off you, and you can roll the dirt off your skin as you stand there, dripping wet, trying to dry your hair when drying anything is impossible in this humidity unless you go stand under direct sun. Oh well, at least the cold water is supposed to be really good for the skin, and I figured that if I jump into the shower right after work, when I'm piping hot, there is a chance I will not freeze my eyebrows off. So now the mission is hot showers, but where is the nearest one? I suggested we go "regroup" for a night in Flores, but Shurik had a better proposition - Thermal Waterfalls! You've got to love this earth for what it comes up with…
It took us some time to pack and hug everybody (especially Kinkajou) goodbye, but we were out of there by lunchtime. The road was rough, and I was surprised to notice how unaccustomed I've become to riding in a car only during the few weeks we were in ARCAS. We drove and drove, towns, villages, uniformed man who would search the car for fruit but find only dry soup, and, of course, we drove right past it. By the time we realized, the day has ended and we found ourselves hot-shower-less for yet one more day.
Looking for a place to sleep was bizarre as usual. The only place we found offered us a camping spot next to some shady looking bathrooms. We checked them out and found an angry chicken nesting under the bowl. I told the man in charge that if he wants to see any camping fee ($2) from us, we will be sleeping in our van next to the restaurant, and using the restaurant's facilities if we need them during the night. There wasn't any discussion about the showers seeing that next morning we jumped into the freezing waters of the river and swam up to the nearly scalding waterfalls.
*Sorry for the big delay in the Journal. I've been out of commission with some stomach thing that sent my temperature to 103.6
Leaving ARCAS was hard. The animals became family, and the proud evidence of hard work, in the form of ugly blisters on our hands, made us feel like we really did something important here, even though it was something pretty much anybody could do. But we left, nonetheless, with now only two thoughts on our minds: Laundry and Hot Shower. I barely used any clothes on our stay here. The only thing I changed day to day was my underwear. There was just no point in wearing clean clothes knowing you will not only sweat through them, but also most likely get three different poo colors on it and, if you are really lucky, some vegetable residue from when the fruit-cart arrives and you have to carry forty pound bags of beets, on your back, a few hundred meters through the narrow paths. All that, just before breakfast. Now, the dirty and smelly stuff was isolated in a few plastic bags and ready to be boiled at the nearest opportunity. All, but one. My "Snoopy" shirt that I was wearing to work these past two weeks was beyond repair and on our last night I ceremonially burnt it in the campfire, right after we ran out of marshmallows and sausages.
The dirty laundry could wait, but our longing for a hot shower could not. It's now been two weeks of cold showers that don't really wash much off you, and you can roll the dirt off your skin as you stand there, dripping wet, trying to dry your hair when drying anything is impossible in this humidity unless you go stand under direct sun. Oh well, at least the cold water is supposed to be really good for the skin, and I figured that if I jump into the shower right after work, when I'm piping hot, there is a chance I will not freeze my eyebrows off. So now the mission is hot showers, but where is the nearest one? I suggested we go "regroup" for a night in Flores, but Shurik had a better proposition - Thermal Waterfalls! You've got to love this earth for what it comes up with…
It took us some time to pack and hug everybody (especially Kinkajou) goodbye, but we were out of there by lunchtime. The road was rough, and I was surprised to notice how unaccustomed I've become to riding in a car only during the few weeks we were in ARCAS. We drove and drove, towns, villages, uniformed man who would search the car for fruit but find only dry soup, and, of course, we drove right past it. By the time we realized, the day has ended and we found ourselves hot-shower-less for yet one more day.
Looking for a place to sleep was bizarre as usual. The only place we found offered us a camping spot next to some shady looking bathrooms. We checked them out and found an angry chicken nesting under the bowl. I told the man in charge that if he wants to see any camping fee ($2) from us, we will be sleeping in our van next to the restaurant, and using the restaurant's facilities if we need them during the night. There wasn't any discussion about the showers seeing that next morning we jumped into the freezing waters of the river and swam up to the nearly scalding waterfalls.
*Sorry for the big delay in the Journal. I've been out of commission with some stomach thing that sent my temperature to 103.6