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Saigon - The City Spas

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Worn out by the bustle of Ho Chi Minh City? The city's new urban spas promise to take you out of this world.

If you're on a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Tokyo or Osaka, the plane is probably full. Observe your fellow passengers and you'll note that, along with the usual crowd of businessmen in suits, there are scores of Japanese women toting overstuffed carry-on bags. Thanks to Japanese press reports about Ho Chi Minh City's great shopping bargains, the city has become a hot destination for young Japanese women eager to shop, sightsee and relax.

Relax in Ho Chi Minh City? While the city may seem anything but peaceful, some local entrepreneurs saw an opportunity in the chaos. They reasoned that after a hard day of shopping and touring, visitors were in desperate need of rejuvenation. What was missing was a spa.

Women only

With its high ceilings, polished wood trim and glittering chandelier, the front room of the Saigon Spa resembles the lobby of a swank boutique hotel. Upon entering, guests are met by young women in Chinese-style cotton blouses and skirts, who usher them into an airy waiting room where they are served cups of scented herbal tea that is said to stimulate blood circulation. From there, customers can proceed to the herbal saunas, a Jacuzzi strewn with rose petals, or various screened massage rooms. The place smells divine.

"We use more than 10 kinds of fresh herbs in the Jacuzzi that we buy from the market," says Miyuki Wada, Saigon Spa's manager. "The Japanese boss went to s traditional sauna in Cambodia and was inspired to operate in this way."

Customers can choose to be massaged with ginger oil or lemongrass, have themselves slathered in Deal Sea mud, or coated in fresh papaya pulp. Many customers - 80 percent of whom are Japanese - opt for the works the Blissful Day package takes six hours, costs US$110, and involves a shower and herbal steam bath, a body scrub, a Dead Sea mud wrap, an aromatherapy massage, a dip in the b=herbal spa, a collagen facial treatment, a manicure and pedicure, foot reflexology, a paraffin hand treatment and a snack.

Catering only to women, this Japanese-Vietnamese joint venture opened in February 2002.

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