My friend Lauren and I really wanted a Thai massage when we went to Bangkok. No, not a creepy back-alley one – a real one. So I asked my Thai friend where to go (always the best way to find out!) He said Health Land Spa, so that’s where we went.

The spa has a few locations, but we went to the one in Sathorn. We just walked right in and waited only a few minutes (yay some WiFi time!)

We opted for the two hour massage at 550 Baht (aka $15). I thought it was a ridiculously long amount of time and that I would get bored. But when it was all over, I wish I had two more hours.

We were asked to put on slippers, and were ushered into a room together. We had to take off our clothes and put on a wrap made of bathrobe material. Then, we laid down on our respective mattresses.

Yep, there are mattresses right on the floor. We looked at each other, having absolutely no idea what we were in for. I literally had never heard of a Thai massage before, but Lauren had and this was one of her bucket list items for our trip, so I was basically humoring her.

The two masseurs came in and had us close our eyes and relax. Laying on my back, the masseuse started massaging my legs, but it was more in a physical therapy kind of way rather than like a classic massage kind of way. Have you ever had PT? It felt more purposeful and effective than just a nice massage.

Ok then it got CRAY. She started bending my legs and putting them in positions that actually stretched my body. I know this sounds super weird, but it was amazing. She went through my whole body stretching and massaging every single muscle…my body was moving positions the whole time, yet I wasn’t moving myself at all, this tiny little lady was doing all the work.

Neck and head was last. Then they left us to relax and met us downstairs with some tea. I felt energized. It was as though I just had an amazing workout…but I didn’t do any work. It was a fantastic way to start off the night and keep adventuring around Bangkok.

Did we tip? Yes, but only equivalent to $2, and they were SO GRATEFUL. I don’t think you’re even supposed to tip, but we went for it because it was the best experience.

Ok so I lied, it was a $17 massage. Sue me.

Have you ever had the traditional Thai massage? Lemme know! @maryinmanhattan. Wanna hear more about my Thailand experience? Here’s an article with everything you need to know when you go.