The last day of our trip, we had time to waste. In the morning, we braved the streets of Hanoi to find an ATM before finding a café with an upstairs patio to drink some Vietnamese coffee. Once we were more awake, we hung out at our apartment until we had to check out at noon.
We found a fancy Vietnamese vegetarian restaurant for lunch, which had incredible food.
However, it also had a ton of mosquitos inside somehow. And by a ton, there were probably like 2 but they both found me and had a feast because that is just my fate in life. So, instead of time there, we ate and hurried out.
I figured a good way to occupy part of the afternoon before spending 30 hours on planes and in airports would be to get a massage. So I found a place online that was nearby with great reviews. It was catered to the locals rather than tourists, and I was interested in stepping outside my comfort zone a bit and having a unique experience, so I jumped on it.
That was one big step outside my comfort zone, but well worth it! No one there spoke any English, so I pointed at the Standard Package on the menu (cost equivalent to about $15 for an hour and 45 minutes), not knowing what I was getting into, and someone came and led me away.
Immediately, they brought me to some lockers, where they signaled I should take my clothes off and leave them there. And I mean all my clothes. There was no room for insecurity here. I was then led to a shower and given a shower cap. Next up was a cup of herbal tea while sitting in an herb-infused wooden barrel bathtub. And then some more soaking in a jacuzzi tub with an exfoliating back scrub. This was followed by the steam room that smelled again very strongly of herbal tea. I soaked my feet in a bucket while relaxing before I could stand the heat no longer. When I came out, they had me shower again and then led me upstairs to the massage room.
That’s where the real magic happened. They used several techniques and were very thorough, working from my face and scalp, to my neck and shoulders, my arms, my hands, my legs, my feet, even my stomach before I flipped over for them to repeat everything on my back. It was incredible, and well worth the $15.
Once I was done, I met back up with Anthony and was served some fresh fruit and more tea. We went and got our shoes and headed out, back to the lake to hang out in a café for awhile before dinner.
We ate dinner at a delicious Indian restaurant, grabbed a beer at Bromance, picked up our luggage, and got an Uber to the airport, sad to leave, as we always are.
Also, here’s a picture I forgot to upload of a cool cloud with a colorful halo formed by ice crystals that we saw in Cambodia. It was awfully purdy, and I couldn’t let it go to waste ;).
