Verala Ayurvedic Massage

Not your standard massage in the US, to be sure.

Madhuri mentioned that we should get an ayurvedic massage. Turns out the hotel doesn't offer them, but they set us up with one at a center across town. So off we go. First we ended up getting a little lost, but we finally arrive at the Verala Ayurvedic Centre. This is Jeremy Ashley, the Vice President of User Experience for Oracle (that would be my boss' boss), standing at the door. He's happier to be there than you might think from the picture... =)

Up until we got there, I don't think any of us really had any idea what we were going to get. Turns out we were getting a massage from 2 people simultaneously who work symmetrically. Jeremy was to get a massage from two men, Madhuri and I from two women. They are working each side of your body at the same time with the same motions. It's really interesting.

And it's not like any massage I can say I have ever had. First, there's no pretense. You walk into the room, which they lock with a sliding bolt. You are, at that point, to undress. Completely. One woman then tied a loincloth about my waist and pulled the loose end up through my legs to tuck in from behind. None of this "I'll give you a moment to change" and the robe to discretely drop and slip under the sheets. No way baby. They are massaging all of you--what's to hide now?

I was instructed to sit, while she gave me the most intense head massage. She started by rubbing oil vigorously down the center of my head. That was followed by slapping the top of my head rhythmically. Then she started working my hair--getting her fingers up and lightly pulling it. This is a really unusual and in the end, pretty pleasant experience. Your scalp feels great afterwards. By this time my hair is soaked in oil and she scooped it up on my head with a rubber band.

Then they instruct you to get up on the table. This isn't the usual massage table, nicely padded. This is more like a formica tabletop. You lie face up with your head on a sponge, and they put sponges under your knee and ankle joints. Then they scoop handfuls of warm oil, mixed for your particular needs. It had a very unusual earthly quality--sort of like sandlewood and camphor. Jeremy thought his smelled like mushrooms. They get to work, vigorously massaging you with each woman (or man, in Jeremy's case) making the same sweeping motions on your muscles and tighter massaging motions on your joints. Up the front they go, with no alteration in technique to avoid the, ah-hem, upper chest area. It's all getting massaged, baby.

The funny part was when they had me turn over to work my back, legs and backside in general. By this point I'm thoroughly greased, and with every rub, I would slide on the table from all the oil. When every inch of me was covered with oil, they steamed me to soak the oils in and release the toxins. Afterwards, I was rubbed down with towels and instructed not to shower for at least 45 minutes, to give the oils a chance to soak in and the toxins a chance to seep out.

They only had rooms for two of us at a time, so when I finished, I went out to talk to Madhuri. Turns out she'd never had one of these massages before, so I was telling her about it. She went in for hers and after a bit Jeremy came out.

"You can't say we aren't trying the local experiences" he said. We compared notes and all agreed that the head massage was almost the best part of the whole experience.

Two people massaging you for an hour or more cost us each 800 rupees, or about $18.

To top off the local flavor of the day, we decided to take one of the motorized rickshaws back to the hotel. Here we all are in our blissed out, greased up splendor: