My Visit to~ A little bit of heaven  ~by Suza

I arrived in Bangkok the 24th December 2000. 

 My son, Nicolas, met me at the airrt.  The first thing he arranged for me was one of the best remedies  for jet lag. 

I started in the super-deluxe Oriental Spa, even being in the heart of Bangkok, the spa remains long on sophistication and short on pretension.  Tucked away in a colonial-style house, the spa is cocooned in golden teakwood, and simply appointed. 
In the privacy of my own spa suite, high ceilings emphasize that this is, indeed, a temple of wellbeing.  The treatments themselves have, over recent years, reached the lips of the chattering classes, presidents and princes; such is their exotic and effective nature.  The Jet Lag Massage, which is a combination of Swedish and Thai techniques that releases energy.  The Thai herbal pack is excellent at the Oriental Spa.

The next day I had another authentic steamy session, to soothe sore muscles, relax and bring down the water retention from the trip.  This is my favorite massage.  A heated muslin parcel of aromatic herbs and spices is a heavenly health treatment in the raw; it is the same since Thailand's Ayutthaya period (14th - 18th century) when a fragrant hot-pack was administered to war-weary soldiers returning home with muscle aches and bruises.

My masseuse knowingly placed the hot bag filled with Thai herbs, turmeric, lemon grass, camphor and Kaffir lime.  With the combination of the pack and another massage I was relaxed, and ready for my adventure in Thailand.  This treatment is available also at the Thai Massage School, located in the corner of the beautiful Wat Po temple in Bangkok. I had been here on a previous visit yet the tranquility of The Oriental Spa is unique.

In the foyer of the Mandarin Hotel a large group of beautiful Thai women greeted us singing  "Jinger Ben ” with their gentle soft accents giving this Christmas Carole a different slant.  Christmas eve buffet was served on the veranda overlooking the river.  Every delicacy imaginable was available to choose from their exotic buffet, with a great fireworks display to close the evening.

We welcomed the New Year with a group of friends. From our 45th floor apartment, we looked down to see the traffic stopped on the bridge, and crowds waiting for the stroke of midnight to sound. As we were so high it appeared as though we were inside the bursting explosion and the red strands of the fireworks were falling from the moon.

There is a road by the name of               where your taxi can deliver you for every type of massage imaginable.  In Asia an ancient technique for foot relief has been practiced for centuries.  It originated in India and China more than 5,000 years ago and is known loosely as reflexology. It has grown out of the understanding that every part of our faithful pair of feet corresponds to a part of our body, making them key healing zones.  After all, one quarter of all our body's bones are resident in our feet.  It seems they deserve as much, possibly  more, attention than any other part of our body.

 It is fabulous for stimulating circulation and restoring physical and mental harmony. It little  mattered  where I had the facial, foot massage, Thai massage as they were all excellent. The only difference was price, and the ambience of the exotic spa or the busy rooms of the different massage parlors.

                                                         HUA HIN

                                                         CHA-AM

The beauty and fascination of the western Gulf of Thailand are
beyond comparison

 ~ from Thailand, brought to you by Suzanne Cohen,
 now here in California ~