Anyone who has turned on a TV or radio recently cannot have missed this amazing piece of news.
But it is not true! I discovered Asia's first toilet. It is in Nepal, to be precise it is in the Kaligandaki gorge on the trail to Jomsom, and I have the photograph above to prove it.
And I must admit I was mightily relieved to find it.
So there have been toilets in Asia from at least the late 1980s.
However if we ignore the lying claim to have discovered the first toilet, there is the possibility the archeologists - or should we call them scatologists? - may have discovered the earliest toilet and I urge you to read the article in Asian Science. It is interesting for several reasons because it tells us something about the increasing importance of archeology in the search for a South East Asian cultural identity and its development as a science.
I leave it to you to unravel the meaning between the lines as it would take too long for me today.
While we are on the topic of archeology, I am reading the four volume Cambridge History of South East Asia and came across a reference to one of the great mysteries of South East Asian history. Why were massive temples built of stone but hardly any fortifications?
As soon as the Westerners arrived they built stone forts for protection from both attack and fire.The Cambridge history just mentioned that some rulers actually banned the use of stone for building anything but temples and fireproof warehouses. Something I had not heard before but suspected.
The mystery is not that this happened locally but why the practice was so wide spread across SEA.
Chinese influenced Vietnam may have been a halfway house exception.
It is a fascinating subject and I have not yet found a convincing answer.
Most likely it is down to a mixture of religious, political and cultural influences and we will never have a satisfactory answer.
All I know is that if I were ruler like Jayavarman II I would have built myself a massive castle to keep out the pesky Chams as well as all those fancy temples.
Or perhaps instead of.
I'm off to my brother's house in Shropshire soon to house and dog sit for the night and friends Maggie and Neil arrive to take over dog house sitting proper tomorrow. I'll stay until Monday the go over to see Viv before returning to NUL.
After the joyful excitement of the rat sanctuary I have been feeling very down.
It was such an Indonesian experience.
Not a single reply to all the job applications. Not even an automated reply. One begins to feel like a non-existent person.
Invitations from Madison and Brooke to visit the USA and Sulawesi fill me with longing to get away.
Particularly to Asia where you are never invisible. Among all the chaos, the dirt, the noise, the flies and the rats people always want to know where you are going to, what you have been up to, can you lent them a fiver and get them a good job in Europe, and would you like a cup of good strong black coffee so thick you can chew it?
For invisibility there is always the forest.
But it is not true! I discovered Asia's first toilet. It is in Nepal, to be precise it is in the Kaligandaki gorge on the trail to Jomsom, and I have the photograph above to prove it.
And I must admit I was mightily relieved to find it.
So there have been toilets in Asia from at least the late 1980s.
However if we ignore the lying claim to have discovered the first toilet, there is the possibility the archeologists - or should we call them scatologists? - may have discovered the earliest toilet and I urge you to read the article in Asian Science. It is interesting for several reasons because it tells us something about the increasing importance of archeology in the search for a South East Asian cultural identity and its development as a science.
I leave it to you to unravel the meaning between the lines as it would take too long for me today.
While we are on the topic of archeology, I am reading the four volume Cambridge History of South East Asia and came across a reference to one of the great mysteries of South East Asian history. Why were massive temples built of stone but hardly any fortifications?
As soon as the Westerners arrived they built stone forts for protection from both attack and fire.The Cambridge history just mentioned that some rulers actually banned the use of stone for building anything but temples and fireproof warehouses. Something I had not heard before but suspected.
The mystery is not that this happened locally but why the practice was so wide spread across SEA.
Chinese influenced Vietnam may have been a halfway house exception.
It is a fascinating subject and I have not yet found a convincing answer.
Most likely it is down to a mixture of religious, political and cultural influences and we will never have a satisfactory answer.
All I know is that if I were ruler like Jayavarman II I would have built myself a massive castle to keep out the pesky Chams as well as all those fancy temples.
Or perhaps instead of.
I'm off to my brother's house in Shropshire soon to house and dog sit for the night and friends Maggie and Neil arrive to take over dog house sitting proper tomorrow. I'll stay until Monday the go over to see Viv before returning to NUL.
After the joyful excitement of the rat sanctuary I have been feeling very down.
It was such an Indonesian experience.
Not a single reply to all the job applications. Not even an automated reply. One begins to feel like a non-existent person.
Invitations from Madison and Brooke to visit the USA and Sulawesi fill me with longing to get away.
Particularly to Asia where you are never invisible. Among all the chaos, the dirt, the noise, the flies and the rats people always want to know where you are going to, what you have been up to, can you lent them a fiver and get them a good job in Europe, and would you like a cup of good strong black coffee so thick you can chew it?
For invisibility there is always the forest.