Razor Ramblings - On Tour

The lure of a new "Razor Ramblings" blog post was the reason I held off getting a shave at my usual place. I knew I would be heading to Varanasi and that would only mean a unique shaving experience. I can tell you that I was not disappointed in the least.

After a agonizingly painful train ride that saw my shoulder tighten up something fiercen, I boarded a rickshaw en route to the banks of the Ganga. Not two seconds after I reached the banks, someone was asking me for a boat ride. Seeing how I wasn't going to be taking a boat ride anytime soon, the guy told me his name and said that if I come back, I should ask for him. Then another guy approached me, "Indian shave at an Indian Price...five rupees."

I asked, "I don't see a chair around, where are you going to shave me?"

"See the boxes on the steps," he responded, "right there."

"Sweet. Let's do it."

So I sat down on the cloth, cross-legged, facing the guy who was about to do the honours. I must say that it was an interesting way of sitting and I didn't know what to expect.

Location: Steps on the banks of the Ganga, Varanasi

Number of Nicks: None

Rating: 4.5/5

His shaving kit consisted of a small metal bowl, a razor, a horsehair brush, healing stone, cream, and a bottle of what I can only assume to be Ganga water. I guess sometimes it not what you have, but how you use it.

It was hard to judge the quality of the lathering job because the services of a mirror were not provided to me. On the plus side, he really worked the left side of my face (instead of the normal right side, due to the position that the shaver usually stands). I could tell, though, the the amount of lather was probably below normal and that the sun would probably dry it out.

Then we whipped out the razor and proceeded to do his thing. There didn't appear to be any rhyme or reason to his technique...just shaving randoms bits in whatever order he felt was appropriate. Where this guy earned the 4.5 rating was in his care for my neck. Instead of long strokes that are so common in India, this guy made very short and slow strokes. I could hardly feel the blade. He was a bit rough around my chin and jaw bone, though. Didn't end up with any nicks, thank goodness.

When he was done, the healing stone was applied. To my surprise, there wasn't the usual pain around my throat and chin. Unfortunately, no aftershave or cream was applied, but that didn't do anything to hurt his rating.

As I walked away, I did the customary "close shave check" to see if it was worth the five rupees. This is where he lost the .5 rating...the shave just wasn't as close as I am accustomed too. No problem, though, at least it wasn't the disaster in Jaipur (see last Razor Ramblings - On Tour).