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By Kit C. Cauw
Pampering 202: Intermediate Self-Indulgence. Students of pleasure
who have learned the basic knack of receiving massage treatments
will hone their talents while learning new skills required for spoiling
themselves.
Syllabus includes: learning to steam, rudiments of accepting facials,
body wraps, body scrubs, and massage. Based on the premise that
few people are accomplished, or even competent, in the arts of relaxation
and healthful extravagance, this course teaches awareness of every
sense in the present moment. Offered on location at The Spa of Nakamanda
Resort & Spa, Krabi. With but 6 treatment rooms, enrollment
is limited, so do reserve early.
The Spa at Nakamanda is set behind a formidable sandstone wall
abutting the cerulean pool. Treatment rooms look through windows
copied from the temples of Angkor out across the pool, the gardens,
beach and cove. There's a sense of reenacting history, yet the old
Khmer kings never had it so good. They didn't have air-conditioning,
for starters. They didn't even have ice. Odds are pretty high, however,
that they did sip on something similar to the lemongrass, ginger,
cinnamon, and honey elixir that we enjoy at The Spa. And there's
no doubt that someone was on hand to thump and rub out all those
knotty muscles after a hard day of reigning.
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Pampering 202 combines "The Peace Package," a session
of 15-minute steam, a 45-minute body scrub, and 60-minute body wrap,
and "The Indulgence Massage." A three hour marathon of
relaxation. The best part about it was that we had no idea of what
we were getting ourselves into. All we knew was to show up at two
o'clock, one of the hottest hours in the scorching March day. We
left everything else to our hosts, or instructors, if you will.
I love turning everything over to other people. Delegating responsibility.
This is one of the keys to relaxation. Of course, all is predicated
on the need for the best service, staff, or help. The whole point
of laying out large sums of money to stay in a fancy resort is that
you will be taken care of. Excellent hotels meet and exceed this
expectation. By the time we got to The Spa, we were already comfortable
with Nakamanda, knew that their product is excellent, their service
on par with Thailand's finest. We could relax in the perfect faith
that we were literally in the best of hands.
After we showered and changed into cotton robes and rubber slippers,
our massage doctors, as they are known in Thailand, led us to the
steam room, where we disappeared into the hot mists. While it may
sound strange to seek heat on a hot season's afternoon, the pleasure
of steam remains independent of climate. It seems to enter your
every pore, even as the water beads and rolls along your skin. As
you breathe its anionic moisture, you feel enveloped; the outside
world melts away.
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Next the Banana Soothing Rub, our body scrub. We lay, as though
etherized, upon our respective tables while our good doctors rubbed
a rich paste of banana, honey, tomato, ground rice grains and milk
all over our bodies. According to the menu, acid in the banana is
the main exfoliating ingredient. Milk and honey, tasty though they
may be, are naturally humectant, making this scrub particularly
suited to patients, or students, with normal to dry skin. Rather
than risk sounding like a wine steward, I'll keep the language simple:
the banana concoction felt cool and just slightly abrasive. The
pleasant smell and chill ambient music produced a narcotic effect
and I nodded off before I had to be rolled over.
Again, referring to the menu, "Body scrubs not only cleanse
your skin but moisturize and heal as well by using only natural
products that are very gentle on skin." The Spa makes pastes
specifically for certain skin types. Soft Cinnamonic, which uses
scented essential oils and herbs along with its namesake, is the
"ideal treatment for oily skin." I probably would have
chosen the Romance Coffee Body scrub, mostly for the smell of coffee
beans, and of course the romance. The Royal Dill Moisture Body Rub,
in which dill seeds are combined with sandalwood, rice, honey and
milk, also sounds lovely, though could compliment cold poached salmon
nearly as well as my skin. Which raises questions about food for
health.
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After marinating in the banana soothing scrub our doctors whisked
us off to the showers. Next, mine laid me out in a sheet of plastic,
for a Papaya Body Wrap, while my fianc?e's prepped her for a Tropical
Facial. The term "metrosexual," is applied to men who
are not afraid to indulge feminine fancies yet still manage to be
"one of the lads." As the papaya cream was smeared over
me and I was sealed in plastic, I surely entered the realm of metrosexuality.
I'm a big fan of papaya: I like it for breakfast, I like it for
dessert, I like it in shakes, marinades, hot sauces. Now I even
like it smeared all over my body. Cool, smooth and moist. Apparently
its acid content-the same as in bananas?-removes dead skin cells
and "draws out toxins from within." True to advertising,
I felt clean and refreshed. Other wraps include: Herbal Honey Wrap,
which might be more of a challenge in the shower; Cucumber Body
Wrap, specially designed for those who have imbibed too much sun;
the Thai herbal wrap, employing the main ingredients of curry and
the Seaweed Detoxifier, the concept of which reminds me of my childhood,
when I delighted in putting the stuff all over my head and shoulders
so I looked like a very scary monster.
On the other table, my fianc?e's doctor first washed and massaged
her face, then applied a cucumber mask, followed by a yogurt mix,
a third cream including watermelon topped off the facial. She reported
positive results, a cooling, soothing effect and was convinced that
her sunglasses "raccoon eye" lines had diminished.
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The final exam of our intensive Pampering 202 course was the Nakamanda
Massage, The Spa's signature, which uses a variety of techniques,
"that allow deeper penetration into and around muscle areas."
I'm proud to report that neither of us had to cheat to pass this
one, just lay back and let our doctors knead us into blissful stupors.
The Spa's second most popular massage is the Nakara, "like
a graceful Hawaiian dance, this massage uses long and rhythmic palm
and elbow strokes that flow from one to another seamlessly. Ideal
for the sensitive body and soul who yearn for a caring touch."
Sun Lovers Massage, using aloevera, is a brilliant idea. Balinese,
Royal Thai and Velvety massages are also available.
After nearly 24-hours of doing nothing but lazing around, eating
and gazing out to sea, the Nakamanda massage was the perfect prescription
for our atrophied muscles. Upon graduation from our marathon of
self-indulgence, we felt healthfully rested, advanced in experience
and more than ready to return for Pampering 303, which, they say,
lasts all day long. The Nakamanda of Krabi is the place to do it,
the perfect school to immerse oneself in "a celebration of
bliss, wellness, and harmony."
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