I decided I needed a day “off” from travelling around. I had woken up around 0300 again from the cold even though I was more warmly dressed. I couldn’t sleep for a few hours then must have nodded off and woke again at 0930. I must have needed the sleep.
I had thought of going to Kerma for its market day but one book says it is on Sunday (today) whereas another says Monday. Then the hotel manger said it was yesterday. Feeling jaded, I stayed in my “lovely” room and did admin like reconcile bank statements which I had downloaded online.
It turned out to be a scorcher of a day when I ventured out for a shave and a haircut in the mid-afternoon. The shave was painful even though the barber used two new blades in the process. Perhaps the dry desert condition makes the stubbles harder, or perhaps they’re just crap blades?
Then came the haircut. I took a risk having one in a country where everyone has wavy hair if not frizzy Afro-capable hair. After shaving the sides and back (as requested), he attempted to trim the top (also as requested). I don’t think he has had much practice with scissors and he tried trimming my hair as if it was a firm piece of frizz. I had to suggest that he used a comb to pull the straight hair up in order to get an even length throughout. He kinda got the idea and the job wasn’t too bad.
All in all it was SDG10 (USD1.25) for the shave and SDG20 (USD2.50) for the haircut. That makes it about the same price as Malaysia (for the haircut anyway), so it wasn’t that cheap.