i have a thing for hats; i buy them wherever i go. years ago a friend of mine gave my wife and me a pair of turkmen hats as a wedding gift. the hats made me look like i had a massive afro when i wore it and smelled like a dead goat. i didn’t wear it very often, but the hats were displayed proudly in our apartment.
a few years ago, my wife noticed that one of the hats appeared to be moving. it was infested with moths and fell apart in my hands when i picked it up. the moths, realizing the hat was gone, migrated to my closet and ruined a bunch of clothes before we managed to get rid of them.
in khiva, i saw the same hat for sale on the side of the street. i managed to explain to the seller the problem with my last hat, but he said that his hats did not smell; the hides had been cleaned and treated. (at least that’s what i’m pretty sure he said, our conversation was a mixture of broken english and pantomime). i was a little suspicious, so i buried my face in the furry hat and took a big whiff. that would have knocked me out with my old hat, but this one smelled clean. i bought the turkmen hat, carefully folded it up, and put it in my pack. the next day, i was rearranging my bag to prepare for the trip to bukhara and a familiar stink emerged from my pack. maybe i can find some gullible tourist so i can unload this thing
