Bali Highlights – A ‘4 Hand’ Massage is Twice the Fun
Everyone has had a massage at some point….but are we truly satisfied? So I decided to step things up a bit by extending myself to indulge in the ultimate manly experience on the massage menu – the “4 hand massage”! I silently thought “two ladies have gotta be better than one…it’s only $11 Aust ….I’m on holidays….so why not?” (not that I needed much to convince myself). I decided to visit the Carla Spa in Nusa Dua which always has about 10 young ladies sitting out the front in red outfits ready for their next customer. Everyone takes their foot wear off before entering the establishment. The bottom storey is set up for hair and nails and has tiles and mirrors everywhere. Upstairs were over a dozen cubicles divided by frosted glass with each containing a single massage table and a pillow. In two of the rooms they had a 2 x massage table setup so people can be massaged together.
It was our last day in Bali and I was desperate to get a final massage as we had been at Waterbom Park (Kuta) riding water slides all day and I needed some serious work done. The 4 Hand massage consisted of two young Balinese ladies taking on half a body each( one lower half, and the other top half) and working me over for an hour. I wonder how they choose who takes on which section? The ladies asked me to disrobe down to underwear and left my massage cubicle to allow me privacy. They returned a few minutes later and as I lay flat and stuck my head into the hole in the massage bed, I decided to check out the feet of Massage lady #1..as you do. They were super small and tucked inside pink socks with green frogs on them. My instant thought was ” how old are these ladies?”. A lot goes through your head when you look through the massage hole, although most people will never tell.
The ladies entered the room with a small bucket and the massage had started, I was washed with a flannel…the ladies oiled their hands and then ‘ BOOM’ massage lady#1 jumps on top of my back as though she is riding in Race 7 at Flemington. I thought to myself ” Hello…..if she is on my back after 5 seconds, where is this gonna end up?” Massage lady#2 grabbed my feet and pulled my legs almost out of my sockets. We’re off…and at a frenetic pace. My sore shoulders were being ground by a pointy elbow as she dragged it along each muscle. At the other end the arches of my feet were being given some nasty ‘knuckle work’. It hurt bad and I tried to bite the table to stop myself flinching. No mercy was given as my feet were tortured.
The ladies began to get in rhythm with the ‘jockey’ showing me who’s boss….and it wasn’t me. She was unrelenting as she pummelled me. I watched her feet dance around the end of the massage table and eventually push off the wall as she tried to get some leverage on her sweeping hands. The girls were whispering to each other and thinking they were discreet, but when you are being massaged you hear and sense every move. Both ladies were aggressive with their hands but had sweet, feminine voices and would occasionally ask ” ok Sir?” . Besides this question the silence was deafening. The less they said, the more my mind would wander. Both ladies pulled my toes and fingers until they cracked, then finished each digit with an individual flick making a painful clicking noise.
After 30 minutes, the pillow was presented on the table and I was asked to ” please turnover Sir” . As I did so, a sarong was placed over the nether regions. I could hear other people being massaged in other cubicles, and was amused when I heard an older Aussie gentleman downstairs, trying to negotiate with the business owner for a 6 hand massage. Each massage lady would pick a leg or arm, and ensure they were always opposite to each other. I gather this is to keep the massage balanced and the pain inflicted evenly spread. I have always been fascinated by the ‘ cupping noise’ made when the masseuse chops into my back and legs. I decided to watch how it was done and is similar to the Hindu praying position when they greet you. With finger tips touching each other and some sort of karate chop motion. The ‘popping sound’ is bizarre, and is a mysterious technique of massage that I would like to learn one day.
My time was almost up, and I knew this because a warm bucket of water was fetched and the ladies proceeded to wash down my entire body with flannels. I was given a final face and head massage before hearing those dreaded words “Finished Sir”. I know what you are thinking….was I truly satisfied?…..Was I happy?…Well I can assure you that I could hardly walk down the stairs after the massage, but in some ways left the Carla Spa not sad, but moreso “unhappy”.:)
PS – The first time we visited this salon we did so as a family, with Tanya sharing a room with Max, and I shared a room with Zak. It was the first time our boys had ever received a massage and they loved it, hoping to come back again the next day. Everyone enjoyed their massage with one Partington family member ‘visibly’ enjoying the experience more than the rest:)
