I'm back...... and ready to report on a fantastic afternoon!
Lynda decided to stay here at our "house" but I was determined to hit the spa and the pool this afternoon so off I went with bag of bathing gear in hand. I wound my way down our little lane way and popped out onto Monkey Forest road where I turned right and had to go only about 1 minute up before I located my destination. We had taken a quick tour of it the other day so I knew exactly where I was headed. Within minutes I'd signed up for a 90 minute Balinese massage with Komang, a 23 year old Balinese woman who has been working as a massage therapist for four years, two of which are at this location.
Komang led me along the natural and slightly rustic path past the accomodations section where staff and guests go quietly about their day. There is the scent of incense lingering in the air mixed with the aromas from the kitchen, the spa, and the tropical gardens. The sound of moving water follows us up the path and once we cross the little bridge leading into my private spa room there is an added scent of aromatherapy - perhaps from an earlier treatment or maybe just because that is the way the room smells. My massage bed was substantial in size which was nice to see. There have been times that I've had to lie on the floor for massage and other times when the table seemed flimsy or so narrow that there was the fear of falling off the edge every time you move!
This was to be my first ever Balinese massage so I wasn't 100% sure of what to expect. I thought...how different can it be from any other type of massage I've had Thailand or Laos or Vietnam or Canada for that matter.....but I will say that in the end.....this was the oiliest massage I've ever experienced! Now, I'm not complaining at all about that but I have to say.....I was pretty slick by the time it was all said and done. LOL. Even my hair was thoroughly oiled so on top of the massage (that was amazing by the way) I had a hot oil treatment on my hair. (I say hot oil because it was oil and it is HOT out!). What else can I tell you about this massage....well.....Komang covered me with a sarong at the start and then she climbed aboard. Yep....she just climbed right up onto the table so she was 1/2 on the table and 1/2 on me. She is a little bit of a thing so I can see why she would have to do that to be able to get the leverage she needed to give as strong a massage as she gave me. That 90 minutes was pure bliss and was just long enough. I'm glad I hadn't opted for 60 as that would not have been long enough!
When we were all finished Komang asked if I'd like tea and I asked if I could have it at poolside to which she replied "of course". Did I mention that because I was having a massage I was also entitled to use their pool and lounge chairs at no charge? I donned my bathing suit....well....I guess I more kind of slithered into it and almost as soon as I'd found myself a chair at poolside Komang appeared with my tea and a plate of fresh fruit (papaya and watermelon) compliments of the house. She gave me a towel for the pool and told me to stay as long as I liked which I did. And.....for most of my 3 hours at poolside I was the only person there! I swam and I lounged and I swam and I read and I swam and I lounged....well.....you get the picture.
When it came time for me to head back to the "house" I paid my tab which in addition to the massage was for a lunch of chicken and pineapple salad and an iced latte. The bill was as follows: 90 minute massage 150,000, salad 35,000, coffee 25,000, tip 10,000 for a grand total of just over $20 CAD for my spa day including lunch! I am a happy camper...albeit a slippery one.
I am sure I left a grease trail all the way back home and when I arrived there I found that Lynda had gone out and appropriately locked the door. I was feeling pretty mellow and so didn't worry about the fact that I couldn't get into the room at all. I'd just laze around on our patio waiting for her return. Bonus! Pasek had brought us a gift of a couple new fruits to try so I decided to try them. One is a snakefruit (named for the look of its skin) and the other's name I am not sure of but it is much like a custard apple only not as sweet and creamy as a custard apple if any of you have ever had one of those before. While both fruits are good the snake fruit is my favourite!! I could eat a small mountain of those. The thin skin comes off fairly easily and there is a stone inside that you have to be careful not to bite into but the flesh of the fruit is some kind of delicious! If an apple and a pineapple had a baby I think it might be a snake fruit! The flavour is like a really mild pineapple and the texture is more like an apple or a barely ripe pear. Bottom line....one of those just tastes like more! While the other fruit was tasty (more citrusy) it was filled with about a million seeds (like the size of grape seeds) and so I struggled with that one until Pasek came by and told me that I could eat the seeds too....just suck out the fruit and swallow. Once I got that technique down I enjoyed it much more but have to say that I still love the snake fruit the best!
Lynda still wasn't back and I'd been home an hour and I really needed to get out of my wet suit so I found Pasek and got another key to the room. It was shortly after I'd finished my shower that I heard Lynda at the door. She was sick with worry as she had been having a wonderful afternoon too and hadn't even considered that I wouldn't be able to get into the room. We had a good laugh and were reminded of other times when we've only had a single key for our shared accomodation. We're all good now though as Pasek has given us each our own key so we can march to the beat of our own drums as we choose and not worry about keys.
So what did Lynda do you're wondering??? Well...she was off making friends as Lynda is a master at. She finished doing what she wanted to here at the "house" and decided a little lunch back at the warung we found the other day might be nice. She sent me a message on FB but as luck would have it the wifi at the pool was not great and so I never rec'd her message. (Not that she would have wanted me to join her for lunch as I would have likely slipped off the chair!). So she made her way to the warung and then spent the next couple of hours enjoying another plate of their tasty wares and chatting with a family from Belgium who were also enjoying a meal. The owners at the warung were thrilled to see her back there again as they had felt so badly that they'd had to rush us out of the there the day before.
So in the end....both Lynda and I had fantastic days. She wins the prize for most interesting and I win the prize for most oily. LOL! Seriously, we're both filled with gratitude tonight as we think about what we'd like to do for dinner and evening entertainment. Maybe it is time to head out to one of the many venues that sport live music daily so....till next time,
L & L
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