Desperate times call for creative solutions. Mike and Tara spent a couple days freezing their butts off (quite literally) in Shimla, India, surrounded by the Himalayas. With no hot water and a desire to shower, Tara received her inspiration for sink bath from months of hand washing clothes in the sink. Below is how you can recreate one of Tara’s lowest moments of the trip. Good luck.
Sink Bath Directions
Attempt at your own risk. Experiences executing sink bath may vary. It’s important that you follow the rules of sink bath, or risk anything from crying like a small child to hypothermia.
Warming up clothes under the bedsheets and above an electric blanket.
Set up:
Freezing weather required
1 freakishly small sink that expels ice water (highly recommended versus bucket)
1 kettle or water heater (required)
1 bar of soap (optional)
1 drain stopper (necessary)
1 pair of shower shoes (highly recommended)
Before entering the sink bath area, place clothes below bed sheets to keep warm. An electric blanket is preferable in this instance. Then, remove hygienic items from the sink bath area. This may include toothbrush, toilet paper and hairbrush.
Advice for a successful sink bath:
Place your drain stopper in the sink and fill with one part ice water from tap. Heat three parts water to a boiling temperature in the kettle and add it to the sink. Submerge frozen hands with soap into the sink bath. Bring water from the basin to your body and begin soaping from the top down.
Avoid washing your hair and back, lest you run the risk of crying or freezing. Also avoid the desire to urinate during sink bath. Sure, the outside air is freezing and the warm kettle water feels amazing, but this will only require more time in the sink bath and additional cleanup.
Sink bath ingredients.
Refill sink bath as necessary but as quickly as possible to avoid hypothermia. Be sure to have a towel nearby so you can quickly dry off upon completion of sink bath. Immediately jump into bed and put your clothes on under warm sheets. Good luck.
Sink Bath is a non-registered trademark of Two Travelaholics. Two Travelaholics is a non-registered trademark of Tara and Mike.
Looks more like a small salad bowl then a sink. Time to move on……….
Wow! Sounds like the winter baths my mom gave me when I was a kid. Only difference is she washed my back and my hair too. But, I survived! We also had an outhouse to run to in the cold to relive our inner needs. The seat was cold and there was steaming fog arising.