...The next evening started well: a pleasant evening outlined by pastel skies. So following my no-tent mantra I decided to rig my mosquito net. This is the first time I have used this particular piece of equipment and I am now firmly convinced that the person who designed it was also responsible for bringing the world the krypton Factor. Rigging this thing, which is basically a box shaped piece of netting, so that a. there is enough space inside it for you to sleep without touching the sides and b. so that it can be pinned to the ground with rocks all the way around the edge (as there is no designed in way of fixing it) is no easy task. This is compounded by the lack of any obvious way of supporting the net other than the supplied piece of string and nail. Not an obvious choice of equipment at any time, but especially so when in open desert. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it...
Having spent an hour or so solving that particular problem and placing all I needed inside the net, I decided to retire for the night. Despite the hassles I was immediately glad of the net when a saucer sized spider walked across the top of it, but I was also quick to note its limitations as scores of ants, for whom the net seemed to cause only a minor inconvenience, decided to join me in my sleeping sheet and help themselves to generous portions of my flesh. And then the sound and light show began.
The idea of not using a tent, whilst well conceived - it is nice (as we discovered in the western desert) to sleep under the stars - failed to consider the monsoon. The monsoon has not officially started here yet but we are on the cusp of it and that means the weather is 'changeable'. In practice that means it is hot and humid as hell all through the day and stormy at night. There is nothing quite like a thunder storm to make you feel insignificant and the choreographers for this one excelled themselves. A mosquito net, whilst an effective defense against saucer sized spiders affords little protection against the elements and it quickly became clear that my little ship was sinking fast. So before I found myself pursuing my Heath-Robinson shelter across the Indian subcontinent wearing just my underpants I decided it was time to cut my losses. Another night in the truck beckoned.
Having spent an hour or so solving that particular problem and placing all I needed inside the net, I decided to retire for the night. Despite the hassles I was immediately glad of the net when a saucer sized spider walked across the top of it, but I was also quick to note its limitations as scores of ants, for whom the net seemed to cause only a minor inconvenience, decided to join me in my sleeping sheet and help themselves to generous portions of my flesh. And then the sound and light show began.
The idea of not using a tent, whilst well conceived - it is nice (as we discovered in the western desert) to sleep under the stars - failed to consider the monsoon. The monsoon has not officially started here yet but we are on the cusp of it and that means the weather is 'changeable'. In practice that means it is hot and humid as hell all through the day and stormy at night. There is nothing quite like a thunder storm to make you feel insignificant and the choreographers for this one excelled themselves. A mosquito net, whilst an effective defense against saucer sized spiders affords little protection against the elements and it quickly became clear that my little ship was sinking fast. So before I found myself pursuing my Heath-Robinson shelter across the Indian subcontinent wearing just my underpants I decided it was time to cut my losses. Another night in the truck beckoned.
posted by Al at 10:47 pm
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