UNUSUAL HAIR SALONS

Washing, cutting and curling in hair salons can cost RM 120 to RM 400. The expensive ones have a better ambience and they serve you tea but one can do without the extras and save some money. But the hair salons I encoutered in Laos were so simple and reasonable priced, yet the hair dressers got the job done well and to the customers satisfaction. Imagine a hair salon in the wet market besides ladies selling spices, vegetables, baguettes, chickens and motor cycles. The water for washing the hair is stored in large plastic drums. The customers have their hair over hanging make-shift plastic wash basins. The hair dresser uses a scoop (red scoop as seen in the drum) to pour water over. Nothing fancy. The water from the plastic sinks flow through a attached tube straight into the drain.
I found the scenes totally incredible. If someone had asked me to start a hair dressing salon in a market, I would have thought it impossible with a hundred cannots - Where to get the water? Electricity for the hair dryer? Sinks? Inlets and outlets? Basically IMPOSSIBLE.

Yet, these girls have made the IMPOSSIBLE, POSSIBLE with a bit of ingenuity and preserverence. I will admit I have been spoilt with too many conveniences and with that maybe I have also become a little less creative and more lazy. Too comfortable with piped electricity, gas and water arriving at homes with just a flick of a switch or turn of a tap. Visiting Laos has awaken me, made me think about how lucky I am to live in a developed country. To leave my comfort zone and try things that I had in the past thought to be impossible. To take less and give more.

HEAVEN IN LAOS

We were in Laos during the first week of November for a short educational trip. Laos is surrounded by Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Thailand and China. Compared to its neighbours, Laos only recently opened up to tourists in 1988, thus it has maintained its "old" look and remains one of the few Asian countries unspoilt by rapid development and tourist influences. The capital Vientiane can be covered on foot and it was fun to detour into the little quiet roads and observe the people.

We took a ride to Buddha Park, about 40 minutes from Vientiane, a sprawling area with over 200 statues towering us, a place to walk and enjoy the fresh air. The Mekong River meanders at the peripheral and Thailand is just across. One structure towers 3 storeys high in the park and one starts in Hell, climb narrrow steps to Earth before seeing daylight in Heaven. It is not for people afraid of heights and only 4 of us in the group of 9 dared to brave Hell to reach Heaven.

We were in the jaws of Death - HELL

The path to Heaven is littered with challenges and how true as we climed narow steep cement steps higher and higher in darkness
Light at the end of the tunnel and we enter Heaven.
The 40 metre high reclinning Buddha as seen from Heaven

The statue of Buddha with many arms

After having seen Heaven, we still had to come down to Hell and continue with life as before. SIGH, there is really no short cuts to Heaven for us mortals
If in Vientiane, this is a worthy visit.