Day 5 - What a whirlwind last 24 hours. December 22
Man setting bricks out to dry at brick factory
Kilns at brick factory
I took the bus to Thakhek yesterday, unfortunately bypassing a few very beautiful sections, but fortunately bypassing a few hills as well. Not sure I’ll choose to do it again, for fear of missing out.
I had a haircut and a shave in Thakhek today. What a weird experience. The place was little more than a shack by the side of the road. To be accurate, it was a shack by the side of the road. When I first rode up on my bike, there was a lady with a miner’s headlamp on, bending over a guy tilted back in the chair, with all sorts of strange instruments laid out on a towel on his chest. I thought he was having dental work done. Turns out he was having his ears cleaned.
When his turn was up, I was offered the chair. I mimed to the guy that I wanted to have it all about 1 inch all over, and trimmed around the ears and across the back. He proceed, much to my dismay, to, against pretty clear miming, to chave the sides and back, and cut the top to about 1/2 inch. It looks ok, so I didn’t complain. Besides, as with all bull-headed barber experiences in Asia, he started with the least obvious part first, the back and sides, and so by the time I figured out what was going on, it was too late. But he was forgiven, being that it turned out ok.
Then for the shave. Straight razor. He shaved even my earlobes and nose. Which made me want to laugh from the absurdity of it. Which I managed to hold down to a big grin. Which, I decided, wasn’t a terribly wise action, considering I had a very sharp, unprotected blade being scraped racher quickly across my face. So there I was, trying to stifle my grin, desperatelytrying to think of anything other than the absurdity of shaving your earlobes. I don’t think the barber could figure out what was so funny. I had a pretty hard time holding myself together.
I finally got the zipper on my bag replaced. One would think it was the most undesireable tsak in the world, given the reactions I was getting. But I finally found someone who would.
Lao women I was offered at a temple
Sleep now, details later: brick factory, riding south on the dirt road to Nong Bok, buddhist festival, another offer to stay in a village (and offers of women), getting to Nong Bok to find no promised guesthouse, staying at the monestary, pissing off the head monk, being told I’m the first white person to come here, and the first white person many of the children have seen. Too much language teaching, not understanding enough Lao. Baw khao jai! (I don’t understand in Lao)