I arrived at the Mascot Hotel in Trivandrum at 5am after travelling for a day and a half - so the challenge was - how to stay awake until bedtime?? I unpacked and sorted out my stuff, had a shower, went for breakfast (or was it dinner?) and then looked around the hotel. I found the pool and the gym and then the spa. Ah ha - a massage, I thought. So I booked in immediately for an ayurvedic massage. Our VP (who is Indian) told me I should treat myself to lots of relaxing ayurvedic treatments - and I always do what the boss says!
Was it relaxing - no, not really. Was it nice? hmmm ... not sure. The masseuse was tiny - but she was so strong! First she made me remove ALL my clothes, then tied a cord around my waist and draped a bit of muslin between back and front as a vague attempt at modesty! Then I had to lay on a HUGH redwood massage table (which was VERY hard) and she proceeded to completely smother me in hot oil. I felt a bit like a turkey! The oil smelled herbal and slightly sweet - like burned sugar or toffee. The massage was ROUGH and FAST. I was expecting a deep tissue massage but this was more like a rub down with an oily (very oily) rag! It was almost impossible to turn over without sliding around and falling on my chin. Thankfully I had told her that I didn't want oil in my hair or on my face!
The massage lasted an hour and it took nearly as long in the shower afterwards trying to soap off all the oil. Once I got over the shock and got used to it, it was almost pleasant - and my skin is definitely not dry now, but as massages go, I think I'll stick to what I'm used to. There's another treatment which Asha recommended, which involves having warm oil dripped in a steady, swinging stream back and forth across your forehead (thoughts of gentle water-boarding came to mind when she descibed it to me ) I think I'll give that one a miss!
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