One of the subjects that I thought about quite a lot on this trip was washing. Not clothes so much as me. Normally I'm fastidious about personal hygiene and while I don't mind, even quite enjoy getting myself into a sweaty and/or muddy mess when I'm out on my bike I need to get properly clean soon afterwards.
On this trip that routine broke down. Sometimes there was no water to wash with. Sometimes it was too cold to strip off to have a wash. Sometimes there was no privacy. Whatever the reason I sometimes went for days without washing, and on occasions not even being able to change out of my riding gear.
I had a fair idea this would happen and wasn't looking forward to it. I assumed I'd end up looking terrible, smelling like a goat and generally being a public health hazard, but to my surprise that didn't happen. After a day I smelled. After two days I smelled really bad. On the third it hadn't got any worse and by the fourth I didn't smell any more. It seemed to be the same for the locals. Apart from teeth and face they seem not to wash either, or at least not often and they don't seem to smell.
So is it the case that our habit of washing all the time makes washing necessary? Or had I just grown accustomed to the smell? I don't think it was the latter because as soon as I got to Lhasa where I could have a hot shower as often as I liked I immediately became aware of the need to wash soon after I'd last washed and reverted to the two showers a day routine I have at home. I suppose the cold dry climate in Tibet must help with all this but I still found it surprising.
For me the two most unpleasant aspects of all this where when I couldn't change out of my riding gear at night because I was staying in a one roomed Tibetan place which I shared with the owner's family, and not being able to shave which meant a hideous two months worth of growth by the time I got to Lhasa. Lots of men have beards so they obviously don't share the same distaste I felt for mine, but when I got to Lhasa one of the first things I did was go to a barber to get it hacked off. Having a beard was interesting but not something I'll repeat if I can help it. The bits of food stuck in it were at least useful when I was short of something to eat.