While out wandering on Friday, I passed a hotel spa and perused their services on offer. Their massages were decently priced and my body was crying out for a massage after about 20 hours of traveling, so I went in. I settled on an hour long aromatherapy massage and followed the young man upstairs. I wasn’t sure if he was just leading me to the massage room or if he was the actual masseuse. Turns out he was the actual masseuse. He instructed me to get undressed as he ran around preparing some things. “Everything?” I asked, as I was down to my Grrranimals. “Everything!” he assured me. Now I’ve been massaged by men before, both in the States and in Bali. In the States, there’s always a sheet for me to crawl under; in Bali, there’s always a sarong. For the male masseuses that have glimpsed me in the buff, it doesn’t phase me much. I’m certainly not in the shape I was a few years ago, but I’m still not that self conscious. Although there was neither a sheet or sarong to cover myself with, I took it all off and lay face down on the table. He was back in a few minutes and covered me with a towel. He started on my lower extremities. Rather than slide one leg out from the side while keeping the towel over me, he simply pushed the towel above my derrière to start on my legs. Ummm, ok. As he worked his way higher and higher up my first leg, I thought he was getting dangerously close to my… Never mind, I told myself; I must be over thinking this. The massage proceeded smoothly and he asked me to turn over. I did, he covered my eyes and pushed the towel up to my waist to start with my legs again. Obviously, he could see my entire entertainment center then! Not only that, but he bent my legs at the knee out to the side while massaging each one, which meant he could also see all the way to China!!! However, he was doing a bang-up job and it didn’t feel sexual or scary in any way. In fact, he asked me several times if I was ok. Thus, there was nothing untoward in that massage. It was just that “element of surprise.” I tipped him well and my body thanked him immensely.
Saturday morning was my day trip to Ha Long Bay. The tour guide picked me up promptly at 8:00 a.m. The group was composed of 4 guys from Singapore, a guy from Malaysia, a couple from Australia, a woman from Germany and 3 girls from Singapore. It was a 3 to 3 and a half hour drive to Ha Long Bay, with a half hour “happy room” (as they call it) break at some crafts center where you could also shop for overpriced goods. Once at the Bay, another group joined us and we boarded the boat. The cruise on the Bay was nice. We were served lunch shortly after the cruise started, though – tomato and cucumber salad, steamed rice, prawns, fish, calamari, Imperial rolls, a chicken dish, some type of greens, bananas and watermelon. The food was good and gave us a chance to acquaint ourselves with others at the table. After lunch, we stopped at some fishing village. Some stayed on the boat, some got off and took pictures and others went kayaking for 40 minutes. I was busy taking pictures. Then we cruised some more to see certain rock formations, went inside an amazing cave, then got back in the van and left. Most people fell asleep on the way back to Hanoi. Some of us exchanged info as we’ll all be in Hoi An at the same time. Ha Long Bay was a very nice way to spend the afternoon. It wasn’t spellbinding as some books and people would lead you to believe, but extremely pleasant.
Now I’m in Hoi An, in central Vietnam. Apparently, there was a typhoon here last week; so glad to have missed it! However, scattered showers are predicted for the entire week. I have a beautiful room in a new hotel about a 10 minute walk from the ancient center of the town. Hoi An is famous for tailors, shoemakers and purse makers. The amount of tailors within the rather small area of the ancient center is overwhelming, to say the least. You don’t even know where to begin. That’s why I’ll begin tomorrow. This afternoon I got my bearings, took a few photos and had a delightful lunch at Faifoo. Their Happy Hour is from 3 to 11 daily; 2 for 1 cocktails. Their 5-course set menus are only $4.50 to $6.50, give or take. Not only that, but it’s a relaxed cafe-style interior and the food is good! I wasn’t ready to tackle 5 courses this afternoon. Nor did I want to drink cocktails. The waitress suggested Biere LaRue. I’ve never heard of that beer before, but it’s my new favorite. My food choices were the white rose dumpling (filled with minced pork and shrimp) for which Hoi An is also known, plus papaya salad with shrimp. Both dishes were excellent; very fresh. My waitress was the “famous” Yum Yum, who everyone mentions on Trip Advisor. She’s as sweet and friendly as they say. She recommended tailors, shoemakers and other restaurants to me, plus showed me pictures of when Hoi An was flooded and people were boating around the streets. You know how your grandma used to say “cute as a button?” That describes Yum Yum perfectly! I’m sure her charm is responsible for many a repeat customer. I’ll be back several times this week!