Tuesday, January 7 and I
don't want this day to waste away so I go to the beach first thing and hang out
there and enjoy my last dip in the Gulf of Thailand.
I walk
into town for my 3:00 spa appointment. It ended up being quite comical due to
the language barrier. I was to get a 30-minute steam, a 1 hour aloe vera gel
body wrap, then a 1 hour aromatherapy massage, then a 1 hour facial. Well due
to the communication barrier it didn't go as planned. At the end of the gel
wrap I gather I was supposed to get into the shower but there was a lovely
jacuzzi tub full of water and rose petals so that's where I went and it was ice
cold. I'm trying to sink gingerly into it when the woman looks at me and
points to the shower and I ask her if she wants me to go into the shower but
she starts to add more water to the tub. Whatever, so I soak in the tub but the
water is barely lukewarm and I'm not enjoying it. Then it's time for the massage.
It's the same as the aloe vera wrap - not a great massage by any stretch -
moreso like a vigorous body rub. Oh well, it is what it is. No clue if she's
just not that good or if this is the way it's done so I just go with the flow.
Then the facial.... well man, she's rubbing my face as vigorously as she was
rubbing the rest of my body. What? That's unlike any facial I've ever had. Oh
well... She's got my eyes covered with a cold compress but I hear a man's voice
in the room. What? First of all, there has been zero privacy at all since we
started this 3.5 hour session. I mean Thais don't care if they see all your
body parts or not... the woman never left the room just because I had to get
naked, or get in the tub, or the steam room... it just doesn't faze them and I
didn't let it faze me either... just an interesting difference between North
American and Thailand massage treatments. But why is there a guy's voice in the
room? Well I think he came in to turn on the steam room. The steam room is an
awesome contraption. It's the same room as the shower. The time comes after the
facial where she wants me to go in the steam room as she said "for a few
minutes" and I repeat "for a few minutes?" and she nods her head
in the affirmative. So I go in just for a few minutes because once again I see
a lovely bubble bath awaiting me. So I steam then go in the tub and she comes
into the room and points to the steam room. By this point I have no clue where
I should be or where I should've been so I get out of the tub and go back into
the steam room...and I'm thinking "I'm supposed to be getting a 30 minute
steam" but by now surely 30 minutes is coming up so I figure I'd best get
back into the cold tub to finish off the hydrotherapy treatment but I look and
there isn't a drop of water in the tub. Oh well, whatever. By this point
I'm ready to call it a spa day and get dressed which is what I do by the
time she comes back into the room. All of that for $101 Cdn dollars. Thinking I
might have to treat myself again on my last day in Bangkok to get the city
grime out of my pores because this was just an overall odd experience.
On
Ian's recommendation I have my last dinner on the island at Ka-Ti Culinary. I
order a prawn and noodle salad with my very favourite Thai dish Tom Kha Gai (I
thought it was called Tom Sum Gai but I was corrected tonight). The difference is that Kha is chicken. Sum is prawns (I think?). The salad was
okay. Too spicy for my liking.... too much lemon grass and something green that
looked like green onions (but weren't). The prawns, however, were huge and
delicious. The soup though... OMG... if I could pack some to go I would've. It
was the tastiest Tom Kha Gai I've had thus far in Thailand. I also enjoyed a
"lemon" shake (no ice), they call it "lemon" here but I
swear it's lime. Looks like lime and tastes like lime. Homemade coconut ice
cream for dessert. It was delicious. Wish I had dined at this place more than
once. Another live and learn moment.
My
shuttle comes at 9:45 AM to take me across the island to the ferry and then across
the island of Trat. I have an early afternoon flight back to Bangkok where I'll
be hanging out until very late Saturday night.
My favourite dish in all of Thailand.
Thom Kha Gai
As I
said before, after booking the details of this trip, I feared I would be bored
with 10 days on this island. To the contrary it is actually quite diverse and
now on day #10 I realize I could've done so much more than what I did. I loved
Klong Prao beach and the warmth of the ocean water. This island was a good
experience. I'm glad I came but wish I could have another day to hang out at
White Sands. Oh well, you know the saying, hindsight is 20/20.
Over
and out from Koh Chang. Next stop: Bangkok.
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