The Philippines: TARLAC, Pinatubo Spa Town

Children enjoy this!

From the Pinatubo trek, I can feel my body aching all over!  Not used to much physical activity, the trek was a "step-on-the-moon-giant-leap-of-mankind" thing for me.

Pinatubo Spa Town beckons!  We arrived at the Spa Town (actually this is also where we registered at the start of the whole Pinatubo adventure) at around 4pm.  We got the whole 'spa'ckage which includes a volcanic ash spa, mud pool, and a full body Thai-Shiatsu (super relaxing!) massage, all for only USD23; since the mud pool is free with the volcanic ash spa and the massage.  Each service, taken individually, costs USD12 each.



Volcanic ash spa
This takes out toxins from the body by widening pores and drawing impurities out.  We were buried under hot volcanic ash and sweated it out for 30minutes.  Their brochure said "it is believed to lessen body cholesterol, refreshes and relaxes tired body".  Sweating from this spa is like being to the gym and running those treadmills.  If you can't bear the heat, you can opt out at anytime.

This photo is courtesy of pinoymountaineer.com.
Since everyone in our group wanted to try this, nobody took our picture.

Mud Pool
Next, the mud pool. Have you ever tried facial mask?  The mask tightens on your face when dry, right?  This is what happens with the mud pool, except that, instead of just the face, you can rub the mud over your whole body, wait till it dries and play statue! Ha-ha kidding aside, it's really like being a statue.  We stayed in the mud pool till our bodies were dry and statue-like all over.

You can feel the tightening of the mud "mask" over your body.  After the mud pool, the cold shower to rinse the mud from the body leaves you refreshed and with smooth tight skin!  Their brochure says "a pool of volcanic mud to apply all over the body to dry; softens skin and stretches the skin to look younger."  Oh if this is only readily available where we live, cosmetic dermatologists will go bankrupt.

We were having fun playing statue

Thai-Shiatsu Massage
Finally, after a final shower indoors, we were ready for our hour-and-20minute massage.  The massage area is one big area with a roof but open at all the sides.  The exhausting trek, fresh air, the shower and the massage made me drowsy.  The expert hand of the Aeta therapist named Janet made the Thai massage in Bangkok pale in comparison.  Ironic but true!  It depends though, on the therapist coz some of my companions found their massage lacking.

This photo is courtesy of pinoymountaineer.com.
Since everyone in our group had a massage, nobody took our picture.

The Pinatubo Spa Town experience is a must-do after the trek.  If we had not taken this, our bodies would have been sore for days from the trek.  After the volcanic spa, mud pool and massage, our bodies were refreshed and soothed.  And no exaggeration - body aches became things of the immediate past.

Complete your Pinatubo tour/ trek with this unique spa experience!

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Pinatubo Spa Town
Website: www.pinatubospatown.com
Email address: pdcspatown@yahoo.com
Office Number: 63-45-4930031
Mobile: 63-909-9513103, 63-908-8858479
(Attn all Globe users, as of May 2010, there was no signal for Globe in the area)