Sahl Hasheesh - First Massage

Massage Facilities on the Beach

As a thank you for her stay, Lena kindly offered to treat me to a massage (thank you, Lena!) at the Dr Fish / Sole Sensations spa in Sahl Hasheesh.

Lena had already received one or two massages there, so she was able to guide me a bit as to the procedures. Although there is a dedicated tent on the beach for massages, we went into the room at the back for ours.

We were tended to by two women; one was wearing a headscarf and so it felt quite strange to be almost naked and then massaged by someone who clearly believed in covering up. We couldn’t help wondering what it was like for this woman to have this job (did she find it weird, was it OK because we were foreigners and she could stay in her preferred dress, did she understand the benefits, etc).

As you might expect from a professional massage, our treatments focused on our individual needs (although somehow we hadn’t really expected this). Consequently, my masseuse focused strongly on my previously broken foot and my calf (which I had problems with many years ago), without me even mentioning them; in fact, she focused on it so much that I began to wonder whether any other part of my body would be massaged at all. At one point, I heard the other masseuse slapping Lena’s body (I was convinced it was her back, but it turned out to be her leg) and I began to feel quite envious that she was getting a full body massage whereas I was seemingly only having a single-leg massage. Meanwhile, it transpired that Lena was worrying that I’d been taken off somewhere because she couldn’t hear any noise coming from my couch at all!

Eventually, the massage did work up to my back and the masseuse was so strong that she almost winded me as she pressed down (Lena said she heard me grunting!). The two of them got up on the tables to ensure that they gave full pressure as they worked. Lena was obviously hardier than me!

Towards the end, we had a hot stone massage, which neither of us had ever had before. We heard the clacking of the stones as they prepared them (I thought it sounded a bit like castanets). I was completely shocked at how hot the stones were when placed on my body. For the first few – placed at the very bottom of my spine – they were extremely hot but just about bearable, but later I had to whimper a bit. Again, Lena was a lot hardier and was completely silent (I began to wonder if they had to wait for me to be finished before starting on her). All in all, though, it was a truly brilliant experience and I felt totally relaxed afterwards. A huge thank you to Lena!

When it was over, we did the Egyptian thing of accepting the offer of a cup of tea with the guy in charge. Although it appeared to have been a slow day, he mentioned that they were opening up an extra section, so the spa must be doing OK. Many Egyptians are very happy to talk about the political situation, which I find quite surprising. Despite the hard circumstances and poverty that many face just now, there is an underlying current of optimism. I’m not sure if this is based on the sense that the people have power to change things or whether optimism in the face of adversity is an inherent trait of the Egyptian people. Or maybe it’s a bit of both.