If you want cheap and plentiful massage spas, Taiwan will not make it easy. We were not very close to cities most of the time and knew nothing of the local language, but whenever we stayed in a city overnight, I made a point of searching for the nearest spa. I managed to get to two spas and my experiences were less than satisfactory.
Our arrival into Taiwan was into Taipei International Airport. Nearby is the city of Taoyuan. Next, we found ourselves in Tainan City, a big city about kilometers southwest of Taipei. I went in at about 8 pm with high hopes, not having had a massage in weeks. I chose the latter, a one-hour session, ignoring the rest.
A woman led me to an area with comfortable chairs and had me sit down. A man of about 50 came by soon after and poured hot water into a tub in front of me and signaled that i should put my feet in the tub to soak. He returned shortly thereafter with a cup of hot tea, then he tucked a small towel into the back of my shirt at my neck, and applied another towel, a hot and wet one, to the back of my neck and started kneading various pressure points.
This continued onto my shoulders and upper back. For about ten minutes, I received a head, neck, and shoulder massage while in the fully clothed, upright seated position. I was hoping this was just the warmup while my beautiful masseuse was preparing herself for my massage!
Then it was time for the next part. I said, one is enough! No, no. One oh two. And pointed upstairs. Oh, go to room One Oh Two, ! This is where my lovely taiwanese masseuse will come in, I'm thinking, and lead me into an hour of ecstasy! In comes the same man again! It actually felt pretty good. More work on my arms, then he grabs both legs at once lifting and stretching them away from my torso.
