We have a training day for indian head massage the coming sunday and I remembered the very efficient Ayurveda massage I had in Kerala. The previously mentioned owner of Saj's booked us a 'massage and steam bath' combo at the medical parlor he attends on a regular basis.
Sounded great and I'm always ready to try anything new and presumably relaxing on a holiday..
The place looked like a potion shop from the 20's with all the brown glass bottles lined up in the front with no obvious labels on them. There were separate sides for both sexes and I was greeted with 3 women who wasted no time in getting me naked and pouring a cup of oil on my head. I was given a pair of gauze G-string ( I was told the guys were left without) which pretty much just soaks to your skin with the oil used.
A nice head massage including the insides of my ears and nose and i was whisked onto a curved plank of wood which served as a massaging table. Trying to balance yourself on your back on a convex piece of wood all covered in oil while two strong pairs of hands briskly swing their way all over you was definitely a challenge :) My muscles felt really loosened after 45 minutes of work and you could see the masseuses sweating so a thorough job was done.
I had been dreaming about the promised steam bath for a while before the massage was over and was hopefully peering towards the half-open door at the back of the room.
To my surprise the showed me into a cubic meter sized wooden box where there was a bench inside and your head would stay out after they closed the latch on the top.
So there you sit, all helpless and the two girls start going through your bag on the bench! Luckily they were only curious of the book I was reading and I explained them about the twists and turns of Bergdorf Blondes. Meanwhile someone had placed a wash basin at my feet and a flexible hose from the nearby boiling steamer was pulled to it. Finally I realized what the bath was about and was happy to feel the warm steam spread in the cold box I was in. As a Finn I'm used to and quite like the sauna-like atmosphere but the locals seemed to be very concerned about my ability to tolerate the heat. They kept on asking if it's ok and I kept on telling them to turn up the heat and the minute I said it was good and ok they shut the whole thing down and pulled me out.
A quick shower and a vigorous rub with a towel which left me with two great starts of dreads on my head and I was good to go.
I met a couple of fairly confused looking guys in the lobby (they said a shyer bloke might have felt a bit intimidated with two big guys telling you to strip and oiling you all over :) and we all agreed our skins were soft and despite all the weirdness of it we felt great and the experience did what was promised. I can't remember the name of the place (I'm not sure we were even told) but call Saj or find any local traditional Ayurveda center and I'm sure you'll enjoy it!
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