Natural hair gel.

I stink. No, I mean I really stink bad. I smell something like a mix of week old socks, the odour that hits you when you open a rubbish bin after a heatwave and mouldy cheddar. I didn't think it was actually possible to smell this bad. The wall of stench that assaults me when I take my boots off in the evening should be illegal.

We get strange looks in restaurants when we get to town. The smell, unkempt hair, dirty clothes and straggly beards gives people the impression we are vagrants, homeless. I am past caring about how people label me now. To be frank, it's them that smell bad. The odors that waft around my nose make me close my eyes. A cocktail of deodorants, hair products, after shave and perfume makes me gag in a sea of offensive chemicals. It's everyone else that stinks, not me.

I carry a toothbrush, toothpaste and soap, that's it. It's all I need. Deodorant carries a weight penalty and it doesn't work out here. After 2 hours hiking it screams 'Ok, I give up'! Hair products? What's the point? I don't use them back home and there is no call for them here either.

That said, after 2 days hiking, the mix of sweat, dust, grit and filth that accumulates acts as a natural hair gel anywhere. My hair sculpts into all sorts of weird shapes. I scare myself when I see what peers back at me when I reach town and look hesitantly in the mirror.