Kurdish barber cuts hair in his boat

RANYA, Kurdistan Region – A barber has set up shop in a boat on the Strait of Ranya in Sulaimani. Customers can get a haircut on the water while listening to live music from the onboard musician.

It’s a haircut with a difference. Jalal Mohammed is a young barber from Sulaimani who wanted to offer his customers a unique experience.

So he came up with the idea of cutting their hair while listening to music – on board a small motor boat.

“I wanted to move my shop into a boat in a touristy place such as the Ranya Strait to cut hair, far away from politics,” he says.

“I have got many customers and they are happy with what I am doing here.”

Visitors pay for a boat trip to view the scenery – and the hair cut is thrown in for free.

These sight-seeing journeys take place every Friday when people come to the area to picnic.

Customer Aras Nasralddin thinks it’s a good service.

“Actually, there is a big difference between here and a shop,” he says.

“Here, the atmosphere is great and the environment is nice and clean. So, for us it’s like going on a picnic, and we take a boat tour as well. So it feels really good.”

Darbandi Ranya or the strait of Ranya is situated 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) east of the town of Ranya in the Sulaimani governorate.