My Flaming Turkish Haircut
Bornova, Turkey

Haven't paid for a haircut since Guatemala—back in 2006. It was a bit of a strange and wild experience here in Turkey.

I sometimes miss learning about the haircut cultures of countries. For example, in the Caribbean they use tended to use razors to shape and cut bold, precise lines around my scalp.

The barbershop I visited, full of men chatting and getting their hair done. Cheapest in Bornova, just $2 for a simple trim.

Here in Turkey, every single barbershop is staffed and visited by men only. Much like the coffee houses with regards to total gender segregation, you'll never see a woman cutting a man's hair. (But it's been occasionally known to see a man cutting a woman's hair in a beauty salon).

Some of the barbers came off as gay, others as straight. But who really knows in this culture, where repression and man-on-man contact runs rampant.

The real wackiness of my haircut today came at the end, when the guy took a frickin' flame to my hair!

A small fireball of alcohol-soaked cotton on the end of a thin metal rod (like an oversized cotton swab) was repeatedly slapped against my cheeks and temples. It was actually a little painful at times—not a sensation I'd opt for in a haircut.

Apparently the process is used to take off little hairs, but also had the result of scorching almost off of my sideburns.

Weird.

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