Sleep! A man's right, a woman's prerogative and a child's necessity.

We have been on the road for 5 months now and have traveled on bike, scooter, tuk-tuk, bus, train, plain, boat and of course by our very own two fair feet. As you will probably know we are in a rather humid and hot climate. Bar the first couple of weeks in Delhi where it got quite cold when it rained and the sun went down, we have rarely seen lower than 20 degrees unless we are above 2000m. This can have a detrimental effect on one's ability to stay alert and, quite often, awake. We have often fallen victim to this and assumed the fly catching

position (head back, mouth open, eyes closed) while on buses, waiting in train stations and sometimes in a hammock while reading (it's a tough life). However we have been truly amazed at how, when and where the locals do the same thing and have consequently written the following categories.

1.The Lolling Head ­ This can be achieved on most methods of transport but is mostly seen on buses or seat cars on trains. You may be familiar with it if you are a teacher or general observer of people. This is when the person is trying desperately not to fall asleep and is trying to keep their eyes as wide as possible so they stay awake. They inevitably fail and slowly drop their head, accelerating constantly until their chin hits their chest, at which point the head shoots up and they pretend they are not asleep.
2.The Knee Eater – This is really only possible on a bus due to the cramped like position the sleeper is in. Quite often the said sleeper sits down, removes their shoes, hoicks their knees up above head height, leans back and falls asleep in Olympic quick time. This should not be attempted by those who are weak kneed or with any type of paunch due to the available space, otherwise the fire brigade may be called to remove you from your seat.
3.The mobile snoozer – This is a variant of the lolling head and usually limited to children who are being held by mothers or who are squashed between family members on a motorcycle/scooter. Quite often their head just sticks out while they potter along the road, tongue quite often sticking out and oblivious to the world.
4.The Transiter – This has probably us with the most amusement along the way. Within India, Nepal and Sri Lanka we have just mused in wonder at the knack of those able to fall asleep while traveling. We are quite unused to sleeping in the middle of the day, although due to the heat we are really seeing the benefit and philosophy of the seista. What is so surprising is the quantity, regularity and ability some have to do such an act. We have seen those fall asleep in quite normal positions, such as on buses, rains and cars. We have seen Nepali locals fall asleep while seated on small wicker stools in the aisle of a bus traveling at supersonic speeds. We have seen a Sri Lankan lady sleep with her whole head sticking out of a window. However the winner most definitely goes to the Sri Lankan man who, while standing up, managed to fall asleep and even adjusted his position when went round the many turns up the mountain on the way to Kandy. Ah, some of you may say he wasn't asleep and merely had his eyes closed. I too made that conclusion until he started snoring.
5.The shop keeper – We have walked along many shopping streets, through many markets and visited many shopping malls. In most, especially because we have the same habit as mad dogs and Englishmen and are walking in the midday sun, we wake up the shop keeper or walk past the shop with the proprietor fast asleep. Most are sitting on a chair, lying prostate on a desk or in some position on the floor. Some of the more interesting ones have been an old man lying on a

desk, head out the window and legs in the air. Or the fruit seller who woke up and waved their fly swatter in panic as they moved into the conscious world. The winner has to be when we were walking along the streets of Hoi-an, we stopped at a shop and Louise entered. I had a quick look in the shop next door and thought something was odd. It was quickly revealed when the shopkeeper woke and moved their feet which were placed conveniently within the shoe display as she had made herself a comfy bed in the fake Calvin Klein underpants adjacent to them. What topped it off was she looked up, saw me there and just turned over and went back to sleep, now that is true dedication.

So, I hope that clarifies our definition of what sleep is to those in more humid and warm climates.

Right, I'm off for a kip!