"Hello, Massage!"

This is the line that is yelled at you as you walk down the street in busy Hua Hin, and in some sections of Bangkok. So I figure that since I'm in Thailand, I should probably try a Thai massage. Thai massage is a no pain, no gain kind of thing. They push, stretch and pull on your muscles so that you end up in yoga poses. I guess that many people thing it helps to balance out your natural meridians, or something like that. I actually got a foot massage in Hua Hin. It was for an hour and was 250B ($8.40). This place was pretty small, only two chairs, and two workers. Some of you know, I've been having trouble with my feet, and I hoped that this would help. It didn't really help, but I also think she was a little nervous to actually use a ton of pressure. I wonder if she had really dug into my foot if it would have helped. Overall the foot massage was pretty good. A foot massage actually includes up to the thigh (or at least it did at this place) so she worked on not only my feet, but my calves, knees, and thighs. And actually, she did some back and shoulder work as well. I think it was well worth the money I spent.

From Thailand

photo from: http://www.lavanabangkok.com/about_us.php

The second massage that I got was in Bangkok. Shalinn and I were looking online for a place close to where we were eating lunch (post about that to come!) and found the place I eventually went to. She did mention, that some places seemed really nice walking by, but when you looked online, they were "full service" massage parlors. Yikes! Needless to say, my place was not a full service massage place. It was actually a spa. I booked an hour and a half Thai massage for 600B ($20). I walked in, got a cup of tea and filled out a small sheet of paper. I was then escorted over to have my feet washed. Weird! Then after that, we walked to the room and I was given a special outfit to wear. To be honest, I couldn't figure out how to put the pants on. I put them on and tried to tie the thingy, and realized I'd have to tie it in the back, which I could hardly reach. So then I finally realized that I needed to turn the pants around. I am awesome.

From Thailand

photo from: http://www.lavanabangkok.com/about_us.php

After that, it was a pretty traditional Thai massage. She massaged using her thumbs, knuckles, elbows, legs, and feet. It didn't hurt too badly, but I did ask her to be gentle. The hour and a half flew by. I was surprised at how quickly, and i really could have gone for at least another 30 minutes. Afterwards I changed back into my street clothes and we went back to the main lobby. As I was waiting for her to bring me back my shoes, she surprised me by bringing me green tea pudding. It was surprisingly good. Like, good enough that I'd want to eat more than I got. Then I got my shoes back, tipped her, and headed back to Shalinn's house.

Overall, I think that everyone who visits Thailand should try a Thai massage. It's different, but still a relaxing way to spend an hour or two.