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Shave and a Haircut, Two Bahts

Online travel forums are filled with gems, if you have the time to dig for them. Luckily we do the dirrty work for you in our somewhat regular Forum Ferreting feature.

This week's forum ferreting is all about follicles in foreign lands. Getting a haircut abroad can present a challenge. The experience can reflect the culture of a place in a clichéd way--we've found German haircuts to be exceedingly precise--but subtleties are easily lost in translation. In countries where they may not be familiar with a strange hair type, like parts of Asia, haircuts can get really interesting, and shaves even more harrowing--but worth it for that baby-soft feel. So we hear, anyway.

Here are some frosted tips on what to expect when getting a haircut in Southeast Asia:

·Laos: No hot towel, just cream lathered on my face, and she starts on my beard, with a open blade, the old fasioned kind. I almost felt like I was at the dentist, hands clenching the arms of the chair, while I feel each stoke over my rough face....ouch! Two razor blades and 30 minutes later, I was done, I open my eyes, and half the village was watching the Falang get a shave... I looked at my face in the mirror, and it was nick FREE...Nice job. Painful, but nice.

·Thailand: I wanted it short on top, and shorter on the sides. He did a pretty shitty job on the sides, and I was getting kinda nervous. Then when it was all done, instead of using a brush to clean the hair clippings off my ears, neck, and shoulders, he began to blow on me! Then I notice what he did: Instead of making it the same length in the back, he left a big curly section of hair near the base of my neck! It was like some Asian mullet.

·Vietnam: I did get an amusing hair-experience in Hanoi. She cleaned my ears out with her fingers (during my head massage that was part of the haricut) and then she proceeded to pick my nose as well with her bare fingers. Then my friend had to blow her nose on her hairdressers hands rather than use a tissue!

[Image via B Tai/Flickr]

Related Stories:
· Travel Forum Ferreting [Jaunted]
· Laos and Then [The Guardian]