A Day At The Imar Spa

"Situated in the heart of Umm Al Quwain, UAE, Imar Spa is a haven of tranquility, a caring and peaceful environment created to nurture the true spirit of modern women." This is a quote from the brochure of the Imar Spa. I spent the better part of a day at this spa last summer while visiting my sister, Lavina. And this spa lives up to it's promise. It is surrounded by a tall fence and a beautiful beach. Men are not allowed on the premises. The buildings are beautifully designed and the atmosphere is very calming and relaxing. Cell phones are required to be turned off inside the spa.

Lavina and I tried a treatment for the first time called Abhyangam. It's a traditional massage from South India and it features very brisk massage combined with warm aromatic oils. It's different from other massages with oil in that in abhyangam they use lots of oil. It's warmed in these metal bowls and liberally poured on you. The massages are given in little rooms in a separate villa and once you enjoy a long, hot relaxing shower and change into your robe and complimentary flip flops, you are escorted outside and across the yard to your room. (Just a little footnote........I was in a country where the women are very small in stature and I wear a size 12 shoe. . . .you can imagine how comfortable those complimentary flip flops were.)

My masseuse was a small Indian girl dressed in traditional Indian clothing, complete with the jewel on her forehead. I began the massage seated on a little stool and oil was poured over my head. It was massaged into my hair until it was literally dripping in oil and then I was told to lie down on the table. Now, this table is not like a conventional massage table. It was large and dark hardwood, with leather bumpers all around. And the top was quite high for me and I had to step up on the stool I had been seated on in order to sit atop it. Next the little gal poured the warm oil over the rest of my body. The massage was very relaxing and the oil allowed the masseuse to squeeze the tension right out of my body. All was well with the world.

That stress free feeling lasted about 10 seconds! The masseuse, in her strong Indian accent, told me that she would leave me to relax on the table for as long as I liked. When I was ready to leave, I was told to walk back through the courtyard and return to the showers and wash all the oil off before proceeding to my manicure. With that said, she shut the door and vanished.

I didn't feel like staying on the hard table any longer than necessary so I immediately sat up and dangled my feet off the edge of the table. All of a sudden I realized what the bumpers were for. Had it not been for those bumpers I would have slid right off that table and found myself on the floor in a pool of oil! I didn't spend very long thanking the powers that be for that bumper when I realized that I was going to have to either jump off the table or slide myself over the bumper in order to get to the floor. I was not at that time, all that happy to find myself alone! I decided to try sliding over the bumper until my foot touched the floor and proceeded to give it a try. My plan was good until my slippery foot hit that marble floor and headed east without the cooperation of the rest of my body. . . . It was all over in a matter of seconds. It took considerably longer to get up on my feet and get that robe and those complimentary flip flops on again and get headed out the door. Once outside, I realized it was not a good idea to walk in the hot sun in 125 degree temperatures covered in oil. I arrived back in the shower room half baked. It was then that I made the suggestion that they put a slide in between the massage rooms and the showers. One could slide right off the table and not stop until she hit the shower.

Those of you who know me know that I love a good story. And while this was a good story, it was also a wonderful day of pampering. We started with a long swim in the pool and went from there to our massages. Then it was on to manicures and pedicures and I finished off the day with a artful henna tattoo. And there was so much more available at the Imar Spa. We just didn't have enough time to enjoy it all.

These are photos I took of the swimming area at the spa. It features a great view of the beach and ocean. Muslim women swam in the pool with their abayas on for years until the lint from the abayas started clogging the filters. Now these woman are required to swim in bathing suits but they are very modest and prefer to cover whenever in public. So when the Muslim women are swimming the doors are closed to give them privacy and those of us who do not cover in traditional abayas wait for the other swimmers to finish before entering the pool area.

Lavina and I spent the day here before going to the Burj Al Arab for high tea. It was the day that I flew home and it was the perfect ending to a great vacation. Thanks Lavina!