Agra Cadabra - Part 2

After a hectic morning at the Taj Mahal and the general hecticness of the journey so far we decided to spend the rest of the day chilling out. We had a spa appointment at four so could spend a good few hours relaxing. We lay around the pool, sipping drinks and munching on rather excellent club sandwiches. The pool was great, set at the bottom of a "valley" , steps leading up either side to little pavilions. One end was overhung with the balcony above and under it the water lapped right up to the pool edge, which featured gold paintings of Ganesh and Chaise Lounges to chill on. We played around in the water for ages (maybe a little too long, I got rather pink) and put up with the racket from a bunch of South Africans who seemed to feel everyone was interested in their loud chatter and bad manners. The British, French and Germans did not look amused. All over the surface of the pool were massive bright dragonflies. Pink, blue, green, all picking off tiny insects from the surface of the pool. Fantastic.

At 4pm we headed up to the spa. The treatment room was on the 4th floor overlooking the Taj Mahal and was set up for two people. There was a massage bed for each of us and a large clawfoot bath in front of the window. We started by completing an application which assessed our Ayurvedic balance - this would determine the oils used on us. Next came a foot bath and a very fetching little pair of paper pants! Lying down on our beds we were smeared with a honey mixture and then massaged with a muslin bag filled with fine wheat. With my eyes closed it felt very odd. The wheat bag felt like a big, rough tongue licking you - kind of like a cow - but it was very nice. Water the mixture was smelt sweet and creamy and was very warm, once wrapped in a towel I quickly drifted off to a lovely sleep. After a while we were peeled out of our towels and sent for a shower (there was a large walk in shower room in the treatment room), a good rinse and then out to get our hair oiled. The came part two - the oil massage. Lying on our fronts we were given a very long, smooth massage with oils selected for our Veda's. Starting with your back and then working on long strokes from foot to hand via your back and then down again. Very gentle and relaxing, hardly any pressure. We were then flipped over and the same lovely experience was repeated and then we got a facial massage as well, before they finished off our head massage - I was nearly unconscious with relaxation, lol. Next we were dumped in to the steam room for ten minutes to sweat out the oil and then we were each given a bowl of green goo and we used this to scrub ourselves down with. Finally, as if it hadn't been enough already, we got to step into our milk and rose petal bath. Warm milk covered in fresh rose petals, we relaxed whilst sipping our herbal tea and gazing at the Taj Mahal - wow!