In Reply to: Hair braiding why posted by wacky_jackie on Wednesday, 20. April 2005 at 14:39 Bali Time:
The reasons are varied. Once you've had it done, you won't be hassled by women on the street wanting to braid your hair. Yes it's cooler if you have long hair, means you don't have to worry too much about tying it up, drying it off after swimming etc.
BUT, there's some things to be careful of. Firstly, you can get massively sunburned on your scalp if you're out in the sun without a hat. Learned that one on my first trip 10-odd years ago, lol. Got it done in 2003, but lasted less than a day as it gave me headaches. So its good for it to be tight as it stays in longer, but too tight can mean you just want to rip it out sooner.
You can wash your hair while it's braided. If you get it cheap enough, just get it re-done every 4-5 days or so. Should easily last that long, depending how much swimming etc you do and how tight it was braided in the first place.