That Time I Made Chocolate Milk… In Bali… In A Bath Tub…

There I was, getting my fourth massage.  Hey, when I decided to travel to Bali it was meant to be relaxing and therapeutic, so don’t judge.

My first massage was at a place down the road from the first hotel I stayed at in Ubud (I stayed at five different hotels in Bali as I moved around the island).  I happened to be walking back after a long day of adventuring when I saw a sign that said “Amazing Relaxation” so without hesitation I walked right in.

It definitely wasn’t a fancy, or even completely built, building.  Some walls of the little complex were exposed, with cinder blocks lying around haphazardly. I noticed that there were breathtaking rice paddies all alongside the outer wall, which hadn’t been visible from the street.  I continued to follow the young woman dressed in a sarong and tee-shirt that had greeted me at the door.  She took me to the back of the complex where there were makeshift walls made of bamboo with colorful curtains used as doors.  The best part of that massage was that, as I got massaged, I could hear the wind blowing through the rice paddies and the palm trees that surrounded it.  It was the best sound in the world.

My next two massages were more like what I was used to back the US. But back to that fourth and final massage…

At this point I was staying at a luxury resort where I had my very own two story villa with my very own infinity pool (my hotels got progressively more impressive as I went along.  Go big or go home, right?).  This hotel was in the middle of a lush valley and the spa area had balconies that opened up to amazing views of the green jungle, a waterfall, and a temple off in the distance.  You could hear birds and monkeys in the background.

After my reflexology foot massage I was scrubbed from head to toe with chocolate.  Yes, chocolate.  It smelled heavenly!  It took all my strength to not turn my head and lick my shoulder!  I was left alone for a while to relax and as I laid there I could feel the chocolate hardening.  Eventually the woman came back, scrubbed most of the chocolate off, and walked me over to a bathtub in the adjacent room.

She had drawn a warm milk bath. I got in and thought to myself that life couldn’t get much better. And then it hit me. I still had chocolate on me, and I was lying in a tub full of milk. I had just made chocolate milk! I don’t know why, but that thought made me giggle. Maybe that just shows what a big kid I am. But as I laid there for the next 20 minutes, soaking in chocolate milk, I couldn’t have been happier.  Well… maybe if I’d had some cookies…

What’s the best spa/massage experience you’ve ever had? We’d love to read your comments below! 🙂