Kamar Mandi
on Really Out There Experience (Indonesia), 23/Jan/2010 02:16, 34 days ago
20 January 2010It has been relatively cool recently as we have had a lot of rain– 5 days with hardly a break in the rain of more than an hour and significant winds. This has made the process of washing a little less pleasant than normal. This made me realise I had not described the kamar mandi (washing room) on my blog. Basically by kamar mandi consists of a small tiled room where most of the tiles assist the water to drain towards the drainage hole, unfortunately there are a few tiles that defy the system and part of the floor is always wet. There is a squat toilet and a bak mandi (a large trough which is filled with water from the tap). The bak has to be drained and cleaned every three days before the mosquito larvae grow big enough to turn into mosquitoes. Every time I am going away I have to remember to empty the bak and all other stores of water to prevent the house being full of mosquitoes on my return. Unfortunately there is a reserve of water in the toilet so there is always a small rise in mosquito numbers when I have been away. To mandi (wash) you scoop cold water out of the bak mandi using a gayung (see photo) and throw it over yourself. Sadly I did not record the noise emitted by Chris the first time he did this– I think Sonya did very well to remain smiling for the camera.