Getting My First Thai Massage after Spending 12 hours in Phuket, Thailand

Let's talk about my first Thai massage experience. I arrived in Thailand around 6:00am in January 2020 and hit the ground running. I only had a few days to explore Phuket before heading to my next destination and had to make the most of it. Couldn't find the inexpensive bus to take me to old town Phuket, so I ended up getting a taxi which was reasonably priced. Just a warning, the driver took me to a tour company and a woman tried to sell excursions before the driver dropped me off at the hostel. I had to politely had to say no as I was not there long enough to do any of the activities and already had my own plans. Finally, I arrive at my hostel!

As it was too early to check in, I was able to leave my bags with them and sought out some food. The Neighbors Hostel had this cute restaurant on the first floor so had a bowl of fruit and it was time to hit the road. I was on a mission. Had a list of activities for the day and then ended my day with a much needed massage!!!! Can't wait.

After consulting google maps, I figured a 25 minute walk to my first place wouldn't be so bad. I was so wrong. It's. On. A. Hill. It took me more like 40-60 minutes. Remember this is Phuket in January. Humid and hot for someone from Indiana. I was sweating buckets and I was having some gastrointestinal issues from my breakfast and it just wasn't the best start of the trip. Side note: I just learned this year that dragon fruit is a fibrous food and as someone who is to be on a low fiber diet, I didn't know dragon fruit and I were not a good match at the time. Finally made it to Khao Rang Samakkhitham Temple. Yay. This is my first Buddhist temple I've ever seen and I made the right choice. It has the first ever built large sitting golden Buddha. Another 10-15 minute walk will lead you to the Khao Rang, or Rang Hill, viewpoint that lets you look over southern Phuket, the eastern coastline and on a good day you can see the Big Buddha Phuket.

Now it was time to head back into town. I certainly did not walk back. Thailand has an app called Grab and I used that to hire a car to take me back into town. Walked around old town Phuket and checked out some of the urban or graffiti artwork that can be found throughout the city. And now it is lunch time. I figured Pad Thai would be a great first Thai meal to start with on my trip. I found this restaurant near my hostel that looks like it is no longer open. The Pad Thai was delicious. The mix of spiciness and crushed peanuts tasted out of this world. It was a combo I was not expecting! Luckily the server knew to ask me how spicy and even though I said not much, it was one of the spiciest meals I've had to date. Whew. Talk about sweating tears. Yogurt was a lifesaver.

Once I was able to check in my hostel and drop off my bags in my room, I use the Grab app to get another taxi to finish my day. Next on my agenda was Big Buddha Phuket, Promthep Cape and Wat Chalong and finally Tarn Tara Spa. The driver was very nice. I used my google maps to showher where I wanted to go as we both didn't speak each others' language and she gave me a set price for the afternoon so I didn't have to keep ordering for a taxi. It was honestly the best way to go and I'm proud of myself for putting myself out there and just simply asking if they could do this. Sometimes being deaf/ hard of hearing, I have insecurities about trying to communicate with people from different countries that do not speak English and I get flustered easily. One thing I will say, traveling in typically touristy areas, the locals are very patient and have much understanding at language barriers and I just find them so calming to be around because the people in Thailand wanted to make sure I had a good time and that I got to where I needed to go. At least that is my experience.

I highly recommend seeing Promthep Cape around sunset or in the afternoon. You get to see the beautiful coast line as well as all the elephant statues that are there to honor Brahma the Hindu God of creation. Big Buddha Phuket is quite the sight to behold. I cannot describe just how massive it is and how neat the temple is. And you are so high up that, again, it's another great viewpoint that overlooks Phuket. Unfortunately I was not able to get to Wat Chalong, another temple, in time before they closed but its just as well as it was almost time for my MASSAGE!!!

Thanking my driver profusely for driving the precarious trek up to Big Buddha for me, I bid her goodbye and proceeded to walk the 5 minutes to the Tarn Tara Spa. Whew, I made it. It was a long 12 hours of running around and now it was time to relax. As a massage therapist, I believe it is important to get massages from different places and maybe even learn a few things here and there. I chose the 90 minute Thai massage with herbal compress. But first I needed to wash up. I asked the staff if they had a shower or a place where I can clean up and thankfully they did. Because, whew, I personally have worked on athletes right after their workouts with no issues but, me, I was running around sweating all day wearing the same clothes I had on the airplane for 15 odd hours and not to mention what I had written earlier about having GI issues due to the food, I wanted to be a bit fresher for my massage. Score on the shower!

The shower was interesting. It was outside but away from prying eyes. I'm trying to remember if I was in a tub or a square standing shower. I cannot remember why I found it to be an odd experience. Maybe because it was dark at 6p and I did not have much light. Anyhow, after washing up, the therapist shows me where the table I will be laying on and my first thought is, "I hope I'm the only client tonight." Why did I think this you ask? This room has maybe 8 massage tables and I am to be almost naked in a this room with no dividers. Not only that, instead of a sheet covering me, it was this harsh cloth that reminds me of a rug runner and it barely covered the width of my body. As I'm about to get on the table, the massage therapist tells me, or rather by her actions, she was trying to tell me to take off my underwear. I told myself don't think about it, don't think about it, just do it. The massage started with me laying face down. I will be grateful for that because holy moly did I feel exposed. I have no regrets in receiving the massage as it was what I expected. I just didn't know that I would be so exposed. That was new experience for me as in the US most places tend to use a sheet to always cover certain areas of the body at all times. I'm not big on heat but I wanted to try the herbal compress as that was something I haven't tried before and after such a long day it was the best thing ever. As this was a Thai massage, this also included stretching which I was nervous at first because my shoulders had a bit of a smaller range of motion at that time but the heat of compress and with the expertise of the therapist, it did not hurt at all. Aside from being exposed, especially during the stretching, think of being in a sitting up position with legs straight in front of you and the therapist is behind you pulling your arms back and now your chest is completely exposed because the thin runner has fallen off and things felt chilly, this was hands down the best massage I have ever received. It felt amazing! If I ever go back to Thailand, I will get another massage.

It is now 9:00pm. The spa offered a free ride back to my hostel which I gratefully took advantage and upon arrival I took a seat outside the hostel for a moment debating whether to hit the nightlife on Bangla Road. I had my answer as soon as I sat down. I was dead tired. Got right back up, went upstairs to my room and promptly crashed. What a great way to start my first day in Thailand.