After 6 weeks or so of travelling I thought I’d treat myself to a fresh trim. The next major stop would be Kazakhstan and I felt that Tbilisi would be a safer bet. I made enquiries with the guy from my hostel who confidently told me there was a man in the alleyway at the bottom of the building where he goes. I investigated.

Upon further inspection I found the place but thought it prudent to wait until the next day to consider my options. I’d been told the price was 5 Lari, around £1.40. It did seem good value despite looking like it might be a public convenience.

Following a period of reflection, I returned the next day. I strolled in, attempted a greeting and tried to explain what I was after. He was stern and did not speak a word of English. I tried showing him some old photos I’d dug out on my iPhone but he didn’t seem in the least bit interested and so I settled for gesturing how much I wanted lopping off and leaving him to his own devices.

Once seated, he reached for his white jacket. There was a moment where I wondered if I’d made a terrible mistake and was about to have a tooth extracted, or worse, but soon enough he started snipping away. The only unusual part was when without warning he dove in for a little trim on the eyebrows, perhaps necessary but a new experience for me. Otherwise, I was pretty pleased for my £1.40.

He was deeply serious and expressionless throughout, and there was only one fraction of a second where I managed to get him to crack a smile. It was more a slight upward quivering of his outer lips but I settled for that. He was not so obliging when I asked him for a selfie!