weather, shoe repairs and a haircut
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009by those concerned (Mama, Jgirl14 and Dadda)
Guilin, China
COLD.
I don’t know how we walked down the street yesterday in summer clothes. We went out this morning morning in long-sleeved shirts, long pants, polarfleece jackets AND raincoats – and we were still cold. Wet too. Yes, it’s raining. Our first morning rain in four and half months of travelling. We had wondrous tropical downpours many afternoons in Malaysia and Bangkok, but they only lasted an hour. Then in the next three plus months we had only one evening shower in Chiang Mai and a few overnight rains in Cambodia – nothing that actually wet us.
For a family from a city where spring rains follow a wet winter and it rains half the summer in preparation for the autumn rains, to go for quarter of a year with no grey drizzly days is PHENOMENAL, bloggable, even.
So we are wet and cold, but not at all miserable. It’s fun to be putting on so many clothes (though the novelty might wear off), and our hoods afford us the invisibility we were looking for yesterday!
BROKEN.
I got new sandals in Thailand and they fell apart within a month. Mum found a man on the side of the road in Laos, who looked like he might repair shoes so she asked him. And he did. I got new boots a couple of weeks ago in Vietnam and they’re falling apart already. So we went looking for a man on the side of the road. Only differences this time were we found ladies and instead of bright sunshine, there was pouring rain. Both times we waited under an umbrella. Thanks to that lady, I now have boots invisibly stitched, and even if the sole falls apart, they will hold together (just like my sandals have done).
CHOP.
After $1 haircuts in Cambodia, the Vietnamese one I wanted seemed far too pricey at $4. I decided China would certainly be cheaper, so I waited. This wet, grey afternoon provided the opportunity to whip around the corner to the hairdresser’s that we had noticed. Finding the hairdresser was easy; communicating what I wanted was not! The language barrier meant I had to rely on sign language – can you sign beyond “snip snip”?
There was a sign on the door saying 20 yuan – so I pointed to it questioningly, indicating my own hair being cut. Nodding heads all around seemed to confirm that was the price – there must have been at least eight or nine staff sitting around in the salon… all eyes glued on me! I was ushered to a seat, and was shown another card (all in Chinese, of course) with different prices, ranging from 15 yuan up to 50 yuan. Thinking it was just a confirmation of what I wanted, I pointed to the 20 yuan and indicated my hair to be cut. This seemed to get things underway… for the next half an hour I had my hair thoroughly washed, and then, bliss…. a head massage. Following this I was taken to the rinsing area, furnished with a comfy reclined lounger – followed by further bliss and another head massage, including shoulders and arms (oh yeah, a blow-dry was in there too). Maybe you also get this in NZ if you pay top dollar….but they certainly don’t give a head massage in the budget barbers I frequent. I thoroughly enjoyed it all, and struggled to stay awake. I had to decline the facial I *think* I was offered – maybe those baggy black eyes really DID look bad!
After all this, I finally got into the chair and a young guy with a fancy holster full of scissors stepped up. I again tried to indicate my basic requirements, just a trim all round thanks! These hairdressers clearly went to a different training school to the Cambodian crew. There, you had to be careful not to be shorn clean… today I had to ask three times to get the smallest amount cut off my mop. I also had to decline the palette of hair dye options I have been shown most times I’ve been to the hairdressers in recent times… hmmmm, those grey hairs again! No, thanks, I’ll stay natural! The hairdresser used an unusul style of cutting, which was certainly NOT fast. It was not until well over an hour later that I was again ushered to the hairwashing station, followed by another blowdrying, and then finally, we were done.
I went to pay and following the hand signals ended up having to pay 40 yuan – still only about $12 NZ – and I am not sure if the extra was for the massage, the hairwashing or just because I was a foreigner! Regardless, it was worth every cent – even if it did end up costing three times the Vietnamese cut.
rayres