Water and Bathing

It can be surprisingly easy to get water when you are out on the Steppes (kind of like grassland). Fill out a form and the government will drill a well and give you a manual pump. It may take a bit, but at least you get water. At least in principal. One place we stayed they brought buckets from a nearby lake each day to meet their needs.

Bathing on the other hand sucks. Water is not the big problem, finding a good place to bathe is because, as you see on an earlier post, the bathrooms are not suitable, well, for anything. Either way, you have to forget your modesty and bathe outside. I think in parts, but I am not sure. The second, and bigger problem, is the weather. During the summer it is cool, but bathing is doable. In winter, the mid day temperature in winter hovers around -10 Fahrenheit (-23 Celsius).

Bottom line on bathing, people do it 2 to 3 times a month in summer and once every month or two in winter. I was desperate to find a place to post a picture of this girl who we gave some jam to. I am guessing her bathing time was soon after we left.