Thai Massage

During the one week trip to Thailand, I had five massages. I wish I could have more. The first massage I had was at D2 Hotel in Chiang Mai. After a whole day of oxcart and elephant riding, I had a herbal compress with traditional Thai massage for two hours. Thai massage was like passive yoga. It was not meant for comfort. The masseuse would twist and turn your joints, press awfully hard on your pressure points, and bend your body the way you thought you'd never make it. Even for me who practice yoga regularly, it was an ordeal. She bent the arch of my feet backward so much I whined in pain. When I returned to my room, I felt that I had multiple bruises on my pressure points. I was sore for two days. However it felt very good.

In the night bazaar in Chiang Mai, there were lots of massage shops. They were right off the street displaying the incredibly cheap prices of different services, such as foot massage, head/shoulder massage, etc. When I first saw people (mostly foreigners) through the glass door, I thought they were such seedy places. Not until I went in one myself in Bangkok a couple days later near the Lumpinee stadium. Mike, my friend Tero, his wife katia and I were waiting to go to a Thai boxing show. It was after a whole day of tour and we had some time to burn before the show. As we got out of the Lumpinee metro station, the first thing we saw was this massage shop. We bargained the price to be 100 bahts for 15 minutes. Tero had a foot massage and the rest of us had a neck/shoulder/back massage. In my friend's words:" It was the two euros best spent ever."

I would visit Thailand again, if not for anything else, for the massage.