Last day in Ao Nang

Our last day in Ao Nang was really interesting. We found this bit of unexplored road the night before and decided to walk down there and see what was happening. It seemed way more touristy with restaurant after restaurant more Western than the previous one. As we walked, we were approached by this bubbly young lady wearing a bright pink t shirt and jeans. She had a big smile on her face and she was holding yellow fliers in her hand. She started speaking to me in Thai. When she realised I wasn't Thai she started speaking in English and telling us about her family run massage parlour. We weren't really keen on getting any massages done, but we followed her anyway, just to suss it out. She gave us some really delicious pineapple, then offered us some seats near the beach. we were a bit confused about what was happening, but went with it. It was a good view.We sat there and watched a French family swimming at the beach. The breeze was also refreshing in the tropical heat.

I had a look at the flier. They listed all these kinds of massages and since I had a sore foot from exercising, I decided to get a foot scrub and a foot massage. The Thai lady came back with some watermelon and we told her what we wanted to do. She said it was an excellent choice and told me that we both could get free manicures and pedicures. I was pretty stoked about that.

It took me a long time to realise that this was probably some kind of massage spa resort thing. You know, the ones that feed you and stuff. I guess that's what all the free fruit was about. I've never been to one before because I have issues with people touching me. This place was a simple, big hut with straw mats on the ground for those keen on being pampered. It was surrounded by other very similar massage places. It must get competitive if all of them offer the same stuff.

We first got our feet scrubbed. We had to lie on our stomachs while our foot scrubbers applied some kind of liquid to our heels. After a few minutes, they used what looked like nail filers to scrape off the dead skin gathered on our heels. Let me tell you there is a lot of dead skin on our heels. They just peeled all that skin off. It was alarming.

After, we had our feet and legs massaged, which was really nice. We didn't really talk much so I just watched all the people on the beach. A young but tall girl came over to my masseuse and he gave her some money for soup noodles. He told me she was his daughter and that she was 11. I said she was very big for 11 and he nodded. He pointed to my boyfriend's masseuse and said he was his cousin and he was really small for a 27-year-old. I kept watching the family for a bit. There was a grandmother sitting at a table, talking to the lady in the pink t shirt, who was getting a 4 year old girl to eat her food. It was just really nice.

My boyfriend then pointed to a bunch of 60 year old men sitting at a nearby table. My boyfriend said he saw one of them place his hand on one of the staff's butt. I found it disgusting. It was weird because I've heard so much about the whole sex industry in Thailand and the old western men going there for sex, yet I hadn't seen any evidence of it. It kind of shocked me.

In fact, when we landed in Bangkok the next day, as we were collecting our luggage, there was a man maybe not quite 60, but getting there, in front of us and his girlfriend was probably my age. I say that because she looked quite young and I was admiring how cute her outfit was. It startled me a bit when I saw this, but I don't think I'm the one to judge.

Anyway, so that was the end of our trip to Ao Nang. It was really wonderful. If you are ever in the area, please go visit that massage spa place that we went to. I have no address or anything, but if you are approached by a friendly Thai lady with a big smile and long hair, smile back and get massage, because it was a great experience. When we left after our massage, the whole family said goodbye to us. If we ever come back to Ao Nang, we'd definitely go back for a massage and a foot scrub. The foot scrub is a must. We left with the softest feet ever.