I always dreamed of going to a spa at least once a week, but it was only a dream when I was raising my kids in the 80’s. I didn’t know I had to move to South East Asia to make that dream come true. But it did, in 2012 Rick and I sold everything but the kids, who were grown by then and moved to Viet Nam by way of Africa, Thailand and Cambodia more on those later. So for 18 months I totally indulged in going to a spa at least once a week.
You see in Viet Nam Rick could go to a #Hot Toc (mens salon) and get a 2 hr massage, facial, hair cut, hair wash (which is amazing by the way) all for the big price of $9.00 total and then leave a $5.00 tip and they would say thank you a 1000 times. I would go to my favourite ladies salon #PinkSpa (which now unfortunately is under different ownership) and spend hours getting a hot stone massage, hair wash, mani and pedi for $15 plus tip it was utterly amazing.
So lets talk about the hair washing in Viet Nam, well you lay down on a table and put your head back into a basin and for 30 glorious minutes they massage your scalp and wash your hair, it’s pure heaven for $5.00, I still miss that soooooo much.
Just be careful if you go into a spa to get a bikini wax, you might come out with a veritable topiary that you had not bargained for haha. Also the south east asian community have very few space boundaries so be also prepared to have several young ladies working on your bikini line together as the culture does everything in groups.
The most amazing spa we found while living in Viet Nam was up in the city of #Mui Ne about a 3 hr train ride from Ho Chi Minh City. The #Nina Spa was outstanding although not the traditional low Viet prices but still an amazing day we had visiting there for the week. Nina Spa Facebook
Just had a massage here in Italy 2 days ago which I will share another time but it sure made me miss my South East Asia massages. So when I go Spa shopping I look for a place with some sort of Asian influence typically they will be superior just because of the cultural tendencies that inspire good service and technique.
“Traveling it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller”
check back soon for our next story,
Susan Horn-Deubel
