Desert Spa

Bangkok

Vince and I love a good spa experience. We usually will sample the massage menu wherever we travel and we try to go for "his and her" massages when we can, especially after a long day of skiing or hiking.  The one we had at the Victoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa in Interlaken, Switzerland was particularly well-earned and appreciated. 

On one such voyage, massages even became a trip theme. We traveled all through Asia and sampled the various massage styles available in each country. A Polynesian Deep Tissue Massage like the ones the natives gave to the rather fleshy kings of yore in Hawaii, Thai massages in Bangkok and Phuket, Hot Stone & Aromatherapy massages in Bali, Shiatsu in Tokyo, and my absolute favorite, the massage we had in Hong Kong. The masseuses hang from bars attached to the ceiling and massage your back with their feet achieving just the right amount of weight distribution-to-pressure ratio to get the job done. 

Ile de Re

We enjoy a good body treatment as well. We spent a week at a thalassotherapy spa on the Ile de Re in France during one memorable anniversary trip (France is a favorite). In the morning we would have a spa treatment like a seaweed wrap using the local harvest or take in a saltwater "cure" including a very interesting saltwater spray massage. And in the afternoon, we would bike or sail around the island and take in the sights, local markets and fresh-from-the-bed oyster bars. Perfect mix of pampering and touring.

The Spa at Castle Leslie

But my sister and niece have made a spa experience a requirement wherever and whenever we travel. We try to find the spa treatment that best exemplifies our location using local ingredients and techniques. For instance, a grape seed body treatment in Napa Valley, CA, a corn husk body wrap in Santa Fe, New Mexico, an oxygen facial in Sun Valley, Idaho, a Dead Sea mud bath in Israel, a sea salt scrub in the Camargue and a peat and seaweed wrap and bath in Ireland.

Vince's and my recent stay at Le Mirage Desert Lodge and Spa in Namibia provided an opportunity for one of the best body treatments I have ever had. A Dune Sand Scrub Massage!

Come on in ...

The Dune Sand Scrub Massage room.

First you have your entire body scrubbed with their homemade dune sand scrap, after which they wrap you up like a sand tortilla and leave you to bake your hiking aches and pains away. 

Then you relax in a warm aroma bubble bath to wash it off.

this is heaven!

 

After I forced myself to get out of the tub, it was back on the table for a deep tissue massage with aromatic oils, the effects of which reaped rewards days later. Nice!