Haircuts and Ear Trims

Just one small slice of life in Vietnam.  Yesterday I had been cruising the streets of small town of Ben Tre, in the Mekong Delta, looking for a barber.  Twice I had gone into a shop where women worked. They looked shocked and gave the Vietnamese sign for NO (the hand motion you use to screw in a light bulb).  Then I passed a solo barber who was flourishing his scissors like an artist.  His open-air shop was 8 x 10 feet, and led to his family's home.  While I waited for his one customer to be done I watched the passing traffic.  I counted at least 200 bikes or motobikes for every car or truck that passed.  In the countryside two wheels rule.

When it was my turn for a haircut I tried, in sign language, to indicate what I wanted.  The barber didn't speak a word of English.  I tried to show I wanted only a trim for my hair and my beard. So much for my sign language abilities.  He gave me a major haircut and was on his way to taking off my beard before we negotiated a severe trimming.  I would bet I was the first foreigner ever in his chair.  He was on a side street in a small town.  His scissors were snipping a mile a minute, even when they were nowhere near my head. At times three or four passerby hovered a few feet away asking questions, or making comments, just watching the unusual procedure.

By the time I was done I had received a major haircut, a major beard trimming, and had my neck, forehead,  and cheeks shaved.  It's common in Vietnam after a haircut to have your ears cleaned.  When in Rome...  So he took out his long, somewhat sobering tools, switched on an old flashlight, and started excavating my eardrums.  With pride he placed little balls of earwax on my arm.  He also shaved my ears. Total time elapsed - 1 hour, 20 minutes.  Haircut and beard trim - $1.50.  Ear cleaning 50 cents.  He bowed and gave my hand a hearty shake when I left.  I think he'll be talking about this hairy foreigner for some time to come.