A Little Beautification…Manis, Pedis, and a Haircut
Eight months on this rtw trip has taken a toll on me. Not just mentally, because there is certainly some of that, but physically too. Helen and I indulged vanity in India with the purchase of a small bottle of nail polish. And with more than six days in our little cottage first up on the list was some serious help for my feet. I will spare the gritty details about my feet, but let’s just say that they were not looking too pretty. Every time I unleashed these puppies in communal company my heels cried a little at their sad state and begged for some exfoliation.
And even though Jenn is only on the road for a few weeks, she jumped into the spirit of our girly day with great enthusiasm.
We started off the with a morning wrestle. Wait…what? Umm…yes. Although it was not on the agenda Jenn and I let off a little healthy steam by tackling each other on the bed. She started out really strong.
But I’ m a scrapper.
And the tables began to turn.
And in the end…I am VICTORIOUS! Hahahahahaha!!
Jenn has forced me (under threat of releasing unflattering sleeping pics of me) to note that I may have told a bit of an untruth in the precise outcome of the match. But, well, it’s my blog and all, so that’s all I’m gonna say about that!! ;-)
Ok. Sorry for the tangent. Back to the girly day. My last haircut was a 50 center in Hongsa, Loas (this town is where I got the worst illness of my RTW trip…remember? There were good Laos moments too though).
Anyhow, I kid you not on the price. I was so desperate for a trim that I sought out the local Laotian lady who gave scalp massages for roughly 60 cents. Not knowing what to expect from her I pantomimed to her that I wanted a trim. At that point she combed all of my hair onto my back and literally cut my hair in a straight line across my back and requested just 3,000 Laos kip.
So, fast forward another four months or so and my hair is looking tattered and battered and oh-so-sad.
Insert Magda, the local hair stylist in Milna. Helen desperately needed her hair thinned, I needed some sort of style, and Jenn was game for a trim. Magda was quite the character. Her hours were a bit funky but we managed to pin her down and all headed in for our new “dos.”
Helen went first and had more hair thinned off than I think I possess on my entire head. I volunteered to go next and Magda could only shake her head at my terrible hairstyle –she was more than willing to give it some personality and I gave her free reign – it ended up shorter (thankfully) and with some funky long pieces that only I notice. Jenn’s trim went well and Magda loved her hair because it’s so long and lush.
All throughout our stylings more than half of the town popped into her salon for a quick chat. She was an absolute riot and so animated as she greeted everyone and chatted away, all the while her scissors were just snapping away.
With our hair looking fabulous we picked up some fixings for dinner and headed back to the cottage for our pedicures. This is where we had to get creative.
Brać is known for its lavender and with a splash of our hippy all-natural soap, piping hot water and a few sprigs of lavender we had the whole place smelling like an aromatic and delightful five-star spa. Next up was an exfoliator.
Hmm…that’s a bit tougher. Pumice stones aren’t precisely the thing I just keep stashed in my backpack.
Ah hah. Rocks!!
Helen popped out of the front door and came back with three rocks.
Perfect. Jenn was skeptical but agreed that they actually worked fabulously well in a pinch.
By the end of the day our feet and toes looked stupendous, our bellies were full of yummy food and our hair looked fabulous thanks to Magda’s creativity and mad skills. It is so nice to just relax a bit after the hustle and bustle of repacking the bag and moving towns every few days.
