Vanity

Haircuts – (or how I attempt to feed my vanity)

Unless you are willing to join the hippy trail or adopt the unkempt backpacker look haircuts become a necessity after several weeks of travelling.  Allan toyed with the idea of dreadlocks but gave that up when he realised you had to have a significant amount of hair to which to attach them.  I decided to try to stay reasonably tidy although I did flirt with the idea of colouring the hair a bright purple (a thirty second moment of madness). Vanity, however, does not allow me to adopt the colour of hair that nature is trying to impose on me.

How to find a decent hairdresser and communicate my tonsorial needs in an unknown culture, with no knowledge of the language was a challenge.  The scarecrow look that my hair takes on if not trimmed frequently does not sit easily with me.  Something had to be done.

My first “on the road” haircut was in Ayutthaya in Thailand.  Hairdresser number one greeted me warmly, her beautifully coiffured poodle jumping up and down excitedly demonstrating her owner’s skill. No English, no signs of hair colouring products and a beautiful canine frizz as an example. (Did I want to be white and fluffy?).  I backed out smiling.

My second choice seemed more promising- no English but a shade card to choose from.  It should be noted at this stage that the natural colour of Thai hair is black, very black.  I chose a colour, pointing to my eyebrows to confirm that I wanted mid brown colour.  Eagerly my hairdresser set to work.  The dyeing complete out came the scissors and crunched their way through my hair.  Was it rust I heard or just extreme bluntness?  Eventually the deed was done and the creation unveiled (I put my glasses on).  A raven haired scarecrow stared at me from the mirror.  “Beautiful” said the hairdresser mustering up a long forgotten piece of English. Still the magnificent creation cost me only about £2.50 and it would grow out.

“Beautiful” said the Thai hairdresser

Eventually as nature competed with chemicals I developed a magnificent piebald look with a white Dulux would be proud off forming a cap beneath the black.  In Bogor Indonesia I sought out another hairdresser.  This time a professional looking salon in a modern shopping mall.    Still no English,yet another country where the natural shade is unremitting black.  This time I pointed out a light brown optimistically called light blonde.  The result – BLACK!  The cut was done by a pleasant young man.  It was more professional than before but not quite a short as I wanted.  I was wary about gesturing “shortness” with finger and thumb coming together in case the lad mistook my meaning and was offended.  Still this time there was a hint of brown in the black and the tidier cut merited the extra expense. £6.

            The result – BLACK! 

Who knows what the next visit to a hairdresser will bring.  Maybe I should go for the purple after all.