Parents and bro arrived safely. Marie and I had a not so safe trip in a rented Maruti van to pick them up. Everything about the van was sloppy – brakes, steering, even the side mirrors had a case of droopy ear. But we made it. And we made it up and over Chilela 4000m pass in the rain and down to Haa on the other side. The local dogs welcomed them by fighting all night and giving a dawn finale in the corridor of the hotel.
We had dinner with one of Marie’s colleagues who also guided us around the town this morning. It was a treat for him because it got him out of cleaning duty. The whole town turned out for the annual cleaning campaign. They gathered in the car park outside our hotel to be given their duty areas, then marched through the streets with buckets, hoes and shovels to their assigned fields or rivers.
This must be a new activity and it’s great to see it happen in such a big way. Until 10 or 20 years ago, every piece of rubbish was biodegradable and they’re having trouble changing their habits. People constantly throw plastic bottles out car windows or dump household rubbish in the river. Not a problem in the past, now it stays long enough to be cleaned up at the end of the year.
But the cleaning habit may soon evolve into a cleanliness habit and littering could become a rarity.