Slight Misunderstanding

Today we were finally heading to Turkey and we were pretty excited. We had to be up fairly early and when we arrived at the terminal we found ourselves to be the only ones around along with two other backpackers and two stray dogs that had followed us all the way from the hostel. Rick was a little unimpressed when one of the dogs jumped into the sea then proceeded to shake off the water off all over him. After we paid our extravagant port tax (the guy who sold us the tickets failed to mention this added cost until afterwards) we headed to the shop to get something to eat. We have learnt from experience that Megan gets a bit seasick so she needed some food to settle her stomach before boarding (quite an annoying thing to discover whist traveling the Greek Islands by ferries). We got chatting to the other two backpackers, Kira and Jen from Canada, who had been traveling on their summer break. Even though we were the first people at passport control we were pushed aside by a tour group who, as soon as the doors opened, surged to the front. Eventually we made it through onto the boat and thankfully had a very quick and smooth journey to Mamaris, Turkey.

01 - Getting a Head Shave

On arrival we were ushered to a shorter queue for people staying in Turkey, not just day tripping, and made our way quickly outside into the streaming sunshine which seamed twice as hot as Greece had only an hour away. We were thankfully approached by a lovely guy from the local youth hostel who informed us about how to get there and helped Kira and Jen with some info on where to get a bus to Fethiye. The rooms were very nice and clean and we bade farewell to the girls and headed off for Rick to get a haircut and shave.

02 - Flames

This is where it got very interesting and for Megan, hilariously funny. Rick haggled over prices with the barber, as is custom, and eventually they settled on a price for a number 1 clippers and a shave. He sat down in the chair and relaxed as they bustled around him trying to find some clippers that worked. Unfortunately they were all broken (obviously clipped hair is not a popular haircut in Turkey) so the ever industrious barber said "Don't worry I will cut it with scissors". He proceeded to cut Rick's hair, keep in mind it wasn't that long by normal standards as he always keeps it short anyway. Once he was done Megan and Rick exchanged a look in the mirror thinking that wasn't really worth paying for. The barber then reached for the shaving cream and Rick tilted his head back so he could begin the shave. However the cream didn't go onto his face, the barber proceeded to lob the shaving cream onto Rick's head all the while chattering away asking if Rick had ever had his head shaved before. Rick's face was a look of pure fear, mixed with incredulity. Megan initially looked astonished until she realised what was about to happen. She had to bite her tongue to hold back a flood of giggles threatening to escape. Quick as a flash the cream was on and whilst Rick was still frozen with fear he began to shave Rick's head. Now due Ricks hair being very blond and very short he constantly wears a baseball cap (a lot of people think he is American because of it) so the skin on his skull a natural shade of "pure white". With the shave came glimpses of white skin Megan had never seen on a live person before. It was all over quick as a flash and then it really was onto the facial shave with Rick's skull left with small nicks and a huge variety of scars we had never seen before emerging from under the hair.

The shave went routinely up until the point where the barber dipped a wooden stick into a glass jar, of what we now know was alcohol, and proceeded to light the stick and direct the burning flame at Rick's cheeks, nose and ear hairs. The array of facial expressions from Rick throughout the entire process was hilarious enough and Megan just managed to keep from laughing out loud, but could not help the tears of laughter from flowing quietly.