Thailand - Bo Derek Hair

After a few months of challenging travel I usually went on a 2 or 3 day beach retreat. I got bored at the beach so easily that usually after 3 days I was ready to get going again. I always felt like I was wasting time there. Therefore, even at the beach I had to try something new.

When in Thailand I tried 2 new things on the beach on Ko Pha Ngan. The first was an hour long massage. I was really hoping that I would not like it so that I would not crave a massage when I got back to the States. Well, I was in luck. I absolutely hated the massage. It was so painful. Every time she went to touch me, I tensed up in anticipation of the pain. Maybe I got the wrong type of massage, but it definitely was not for me.

The second thing new that I tried was a new do. I call it my Bo Derek look. You know, from the movie 10. I got cornrows. I sat on the beach and had 2 women braid my hair. It took them 1 1/2 hours and it cost me $4.

I loved the cornrows. The 2 women did a fantastic job. They gave me nice straight lines and tiny braids to the very end. The colorful beads were a nice touch too. I was loving my new do.

With my new hairdo I went about my daily business as usual. I got up in the morning, went for a swim, had breakfast, went back to the beach, read a book, went for another swim, went for a walk, ate lunch, watched a pirated movie, took a cold shower during the hottest afternoon hour, headed back to the beach, and got one more swim in before dinner. Of course it was sunny and beautiful. I could not complain.

Here are a couple of lessons I learned about cornrows. First of all I burned my scalp very badly. Remember how I liked the nice clean lines. Usually my hair covered my entire scalp and protected it from the sun. I had no idea that I needed to protect my newly exposed skin on top of my head. My scalp ended up peeling gross dead skin all over the place. It was not pretty.

Since my hair is naturally curly, it really wanted to curl. For me this came in the form of frizz. As you can see from the picture on the left, the top of my head became a big frizz ball. Even though I was told that I could keep the braids in for a month, after 2 1/2 weeks I absolutely had to take out the braids. This is when I learned my third lesson.

My braids were so tiny at the ends and there were so many braids in my hair, that I needed help taking my frizzy braids out. Fortunately for me I was traveling with a woman named Melanie at the time in Sumatra, Indonesia. I do not remember how long it took the two of us to get all the beads and braids out. What I do remember is the fact that I lost close to 1/3 of my hair or it at least appeared that way to me. Usually a little hair falls out every day. With the braids the hair can not fall out. When you do get around to taking the braids out, all the dead hair can finally come off. It was an unbelievable amount. So much hair came out that at the time I said I would never do cornrows again.

Even on the beach I learned a few lessons. One, I do not like rough massages. Two, if you get a Bo Derek do, then you need to have a sun protection plan for your scalp. Also, do not be surprised by the large quantity of hair that falls out after weeks in braids.