Talk about an over the top spa ““ it’s the Spa at Vietnam’s Nam Hai, a resort set on a mile-long beach of powdery white sand near Hoi An on the Central Coast of Vietnam.
I am here to spend a few days on the beach and to visit Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a magical historical site of old tiled roofs and wooden bridges and historical buildings by day and a magical place where hundreds of lanterns glow at night. But touring is exhausting. I need a spa treatment.
The Nam Hai Spa is a sanctuary set on a lagoon just off the beach where lotus flowers float in the water and the spacious light-filled spa pavillions are surrounded by palm and frangipani trees. I’ve never been in such a huge spa villa. It has a steam shower, en suite, dressing room, and floor-to-ceiling sun-filled windows with the lagoon just outside.
I choose their signature treatment, the Nam Hai Jade Massage (90 minutes, $250), a four-handed massage in which Oanh and Thuong, my smiling Vietnamese therapists, work in synchronized movements using techniques from around the globe: Japanese, Shiatsu Ancient Balinese, Traditional Thai and Hawaiian Lomi-Lomi. I am salivating just thinking about it.
But first, as is the Asian custom, they serve me ginger lemongrass tea followed by a footbath. They wash my feet, scrub them with a pumice stone, then dry them with a fluffy towel, and lead me to the treatment villa, a haven of serenity surrounded by the lagoon which makes me feel I am floating in the middle of nowhere.
I lie face down on the massage table and peek through the head opening to see seven frangipani flowers floating in a bowl of water.
Oanh and Thuong work either one side of my body together (one does my left shoulder and left side of my back while the other does my left thigh and calf), or both on an opposite arm or leg, so synchronically that it feels like one pair of hands. They do my feet, kneading with their knuckles, pulling my toes. I am in heaven. Their movements and both long and slow plus quick release techniques, coaxing out the knots. I lie in a trance inhaling Essential Oil of Chi, Jade, Orient, Imperial and Yin/Yang. In Vietnam, they believe that plants absorb the spirit essence of the land. Not only is my spirit being absorbed, but every ache in my body is melting away.
When it’s over, I don’t even have to sit up (I wouldn’t be able to as I have now dissolved into a glob of happiness). The massage table is automatic, and gently raises my back to a sit up position, I teeter-totter back to the dressing room. Naturally, I am too relaxed to walk back to my room, so a driver arrives in a little golf cart to escort me the three minutes to the entrance of my sumptuous villa. I open the doors to the South China Sea and lie comatose watching the blue of the water, a smile on my face.
“Margie Goldsmith
Where have you been that has left you in a similar state? Share your best spa experiences with us by leaving a comment below.
With her love of health and writing, Melissa has written for such publications as Shape, Natural Solutions, Yoga Journal, Self and Pilates Style, and has created recipes and food-oriented stories for such publications as Delicious Living and Cooking Light.
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