My fairly recent Art of Bathing series is growing into a something to be quite proud of. It is not as extensive as some of my other collections, but on top of the theoretical discussion of the health effects of hot-cold hydrotherapy, there are examples ranging from natural hot springs to gorgeously built spas, and locations from Japan to New Zealand. Go ahead and check it out!
Conceived in Pain
Thinking back, it's interesting how I got the idea for this series: Just before flying to Germany I was suffering from a sinus infection. Excruciating pain from one side of my head , even while of firm ground, made me not want to submit myself to the sudden change in altitude that was already booked and coming up in only a week's time. So I literally pulled all the stoppers and tried every single trick in the book, from inhaling steam from a pot to taking a hot bath, of course. The problem here was just: in our Mexico City apartment we didn't have a bathtub!
A Place I Never Would Have Visited Otherwise
It was a good friend of my wife who suggested a "bath" I should visit, the Baños del Peñon. It's a place she swears by, as she is a big fan of bathing, and takes advantage of it every time she's in the city. Also, supposedly the waters have some amazing healing properties. For me, the prospect of sitting in hot water, and breathing in the steam sounded good enough, so following her instructions I found my way to that spa thing. When I got there I was a bit amazed at myself for not turning around right away.
The location was close to the airport, making it not fully barrio but certainly not upscale and touristy. I guess "public" is a good description. Would it be clean? was my great concern. The building was a mid 20th century economic brick-block construct, built around a colonial era church. Anything but fancy, but inside I got this impression of impeccable cleanliness. Also, the hourly fee was quite affordable, so I decided to check it out.
The place was not very busy. I didn't see anyone, other than a couple of elderly gentlemen coming back from what I assumed was their regular visits. A friendly staff member clad all in white took my ticket and bade me to wait while he prepared my bath. I sat down on some fancy colonial era chairs that were in stark contrast to the alternative of white plastic chairs. Finally I was shown into the bathing chamber that was ready for me.
Overcoming My Last Inhibitions
Looking at the tub room was the last mental hurdle I had to jump through, because what I saw was anything but inviting. Sure, the water looked nice and hot, steam rising into the moist air... but everything around it was just simple, old, if not to say shabby: A windowless room, a white plastic chair, and a stretcher with a pile of white sheets serving as towels. Once again I was reminded of the movie Tuvalu, but instead of the old art-nouveau style of the bath in the film, it was its decaying aspect that came to mind.
However, it did not look dirty by any means. In fact, my previous impression of impeccability persisted up to here, maybe even stronger than at the entrance. So I thanked the staff member, and entered. What can I say? As soon as I lowered myself into the hot water, I felt I was in heaven. I could feel my whole body relax, and not long after that my sinuses were opening up. Sure, occasionally I had to leave the tub and lie down on the stretcher, as the heat was getting too much, but I made complete use of my time while I was there.
Was It Worth It? - I Guess!
In the end I'm not sure how much I can recommend this bath. It's certainly not as bad as looks, and that alone may be a factor in its favor. At times I was thinking that it could maybe use a window, but being in Mexico City, I'm not sure how much of an improvement that would be. After all, the idea is to sit in a steamy, hot room! Does the water have any medicinal properties? Maybe! At least for me, I could not really tell any immediate effects. My sinusitis kept torturing me for another couple of days, but fortunately it was gone by the time I had to get on the plane. In the end I was glad that I went, and the sudden idea of "I must make a post about this!" grew into a nice collection of well-liked posts.