How to Refresh and Revitalize Yourself in a Thermal Bath

Paipa Thermal Mineral Water Therapeutic Center


Healing Treatments from Hot Spring Mineral Waters

My shoulder was still killing me. After weeks of therapy sessions with a physical therapist, and injections by a sports medicine specialist physician, my left rotator cuff was still bothering me. My wife Doris strained a muscle in her back from a minor fall and I limped slightly from a bruised right heel. In such a state as we were, the three and a half hour trip from Bogota to Paipa was a no brainer. Why? It’s because of the well-known thermal baths and therapeutic mineral treatment center located in this tiny town in Boyaca.

Pool Hydro-Massage

The first stop in the six-phase, hydro-therapy treatment sequence has you in an algae rich therapeutic pool where two steps occur. One is to have a jet stream of water cascade down on you from above. The thermally warmed powerful flow gives a deep tissue and muscle massage to your head, neck, shoulders, upper back and arms as you position yourself beneath it, There were twelve of us in the pool so we alternated between the overhead cascade and the second stop of the sequence which also takes place in this pool, a hydo-massage jet stream below the surface at navel level or below depending on your height and standing position. This lower, under water powerful stream effectively ripples your lumbar region, kidney area, spinal column muscles, abdomen and gluts.

Jacuzzi

A too short forty minutes later we were beckoned out of the green waters and led to a Jacuzzi room with two pools bubbling to a froth for the third of our six water therapy sessions. The water is quite hot but pleasant to most. Again we split up into two groups. One set gets the Jacuzzis, while the others head for the hydro bubble beds situated next to the Jacuzzis with their neck deep water. The water is pretty hot so you’ll need to go to the cool down shower on one side of the room a couple of times during this session, our therapeutic treatment guide advises. Our treatment schedule allows for twenty minutes here. At the end of this time we are to switch to the next twenty minute phase, the hydro-bubble beds.

Hydro-Bubble Bed

Have you ever been in a Jacuzzi lying down Thus begins our forth therapeutic session. The concave cement hydro bubble bed requires you to lie down, first face up while jets of warm water and bubbles shoot up along your spine, legs, back and shoulders through openings in the pebble surfaced bed. The water here is decided cooler than that of the Jacuzzi although still on the warm side of the temperature scale. I liked the hot Jacuzzi waters better, but am soon lulled into a blissful state by the bubbling streams gently pounding my back from head to toe. Turn over face down for some time too our guides voices cautions during the session. I flip over so my front can also get done, but soon decide I much prefer the effect on my back. A couple of minutes or so later I roll back over face up again and remain so the rest of the session which ends with a time to move to the sauna from our treatment guide.

Sauna

A Thanksgiving turkey must start off feeling like this I think to myself after seating myself on a wood bench at the far end of the wood lined sauna. The wooden slat lined walls are too hot for me to rest my back against at first. Soon, as planned, sweat begins to flow and our group glistens in the dim glow of heated rocks near the front wall of the room. We all fit comfortably enough into the room. One teen girl plays a guess who game with her parents while we sweat out a horde of toxins form our pollution stressed skin and systems. My wife Doris has a tendency towards high blood pressure so she pops out for regular cool off showers in an adjacent room. The cooler outside air is noticeable each time someone opts out of the steaming room. “Is it a politician?” “Is it a singer?” “No” “Is it a famous person?” “Yes.” It’s an athlete the girl coaches, “that should help you some”. It didn’t help me, my brain doesn’t work well at these temperatures, I decide. The game continues with an elderly man joining in. “Is it a Colombian?”, the mother asks. “Yes” “It’s a famous soccer player like Pembele.” Everyone breaks up in laughter. All the adults are well aware that Pembele was a boxer, not a soccer player. But then you knew that too, didn’t you? Doris heads for the cool off shower for the third time and a drink of cool, natural spring water available near each station, while I stick it out in the sauna.

Lodoterapia - Mineral Mud Therapy

For our last session we’ll head for the “lodo” (mud) therapy area states our guide from outside the opened sauna room door. Many of the ladies have been waiting for this one. Mineral-laden mud from the nearby swamp has been prepared as a skin treatment pack. This particular treatment has some distinctive benefits that include:

1. Peeling off of dead skin cells
2. Stimulation of the circulation
3. Providing essential nutrients to the skin
4. Aids in fortifying muscles and skin tone
5. The act of vigorously rubbing on the mud aids in soothing sore muscle areas

Here’s where some more fun begins, Upon entering the mud treatment room we are each given a wooden tray of the rich black mud to spread all over our (or someone else’s) body. So, each of us in turn, sets to work smearing the slick mud onto our skin. Soon we re all the same tribe or a t least we look to be as everyone is now covered with a thick coating of fine textured mud with sandy grains mixed into it to help its dead skin removal properties. I’ve never been so black in my life. Let it dry, then, rinse it off in the shower over there. As the inky colored body mask dries you can feel your skin tightening. When dried, the mud takes on a gray hue. The whole process takes fifteen minutes or so including drying time. Large mirrors are hung on the walls so you can see your smeared self. Most of the ladies actively indulged in this rare type of mud gazing. The aroma wasn’t at all unpleasant and I didn’t taste the mud, especially after seeing the face of one woman who did. Her expression convinced me alright.

Hydro Acupuncture Showers

The showers were another unique point of the hydro therapy treatments. They feature seven multi-stream shower heads which spray you from the front, back and above all at the same time. Hot water came from one side and above while cooler water pummeled your front from chest to knees. Actually the experience was quite pleasant and in a fit of hedonism I asked my wife, is anyone else waiting to get in. Her “No” response meant that I could sneak an extra few minutes in the hydro acupuncture showers as they were called. Man was it great.

The Paipa Thermal Mineral Water Therapeutic Center is open seven days a week from about 6 am to around 9 pm. In addition to their popular hydro therapy treatment the center also offers full or partial body massages and there are three thermal pools adjacent to the therapy center facilities. Whatever ails you, you’ll get relief and a relaxed session to calm your stress and frazzled nerves to aid in the healing process at a thermal spa of your choice, wherever you may live.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 135 countries. Get your FREE E-book, “If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.

Part 3 – 20 Critical Problems that Keep Colombia in the Third World

For Foreign Nationals and Expatriates with Children

For foreign nationals and expatriates with children you’ll have some of the following concerns in addition to a few others of your own in these critical areas. Here in part three, we continue to consider critical problems of Colombian society including the educational system, consumer protection laws, crime, minorities and the impact of unemployment that reaches as high as 80% - no, that’s not a misprint. Read on …

11. The education system promotes "vagabond" attitudes.
There currently exists a policy in public schools NOT to “fail” learners. You can miss classes (Did YOU ever play “Hookey”?). You can fail even an endless string of “makeup” exams. You can neglect study, class participation, homework or virtually productive activity in class and the learner will still “pass” to the next grade level at the end of the school year. Now in many schools, there is no homework. Slothful, slow, uncaring and unmotivated learners pass from one grade to the next with practically no effort at all knowing that they almost can’t fail. This means that barring all else the learners don’t get their rude “wake-up” call until they enter the university level or the workforce and find out, that in life, you can fail. The quality of Colombian education can vary widely depending on location, cost and administration from primary through the university level.

12. There is little or NO consumer protection.
Talk about a bone to pick, this one’s a biggie for me. Never before has the phrase “Caveat emptor” – “Let the buyer beware” been more appropriate. From buying a house or condo, to a car, major appliances, furniture or goods and services (maids, plumbers, electricians, contractors) of all types, there is practically no recourse for an unwary consumer. Sellers disappear moments after a major sale, consumer cases rarely make it to a court docket and enforcement of contracts or legal agreements can be laughable. Workers, when hired for in-house jobs in any occupation, trade or service must be constantly be “watched” to avoid theft, taking excessive “breaks” or simply “goofing off” on the job. There is no “overall system” for certifying workers or professionals, so finding competent service personnel can be a bit of a challenge most of the time.

13. Cities and regions of the country inhabited primarily by minorities are highly under-developed.
The first few times I went into black-populated regions of the Pacific coast, I nearly cried at the absolutely primitive conditions people live in – this is the 21st century, I reminded myself. Men have landed on the moon, orbited the earth for weeks at time, plumbed the ocean’s frigid depths and constructed buildings that stand up through the clouds. Yet people are obliged to live without even the most basic of amenities. No running water or toilets. No electricity. Forget even the hint of a telephone. Unpaved streets and roads where there are even roads at all. Constant flooding. No sewage facilities. Flies and mosquitoes infest everything bringing the predictable diseases with them. Poor diets consisting of but a few fruits, vegetables and whatever they can hunt. In 2001 though, Colombia crowned Vanessa Alexandra Mendoza Bustos, originally from one of Colombia’s poorest most undeveloped regions – the Choco, its first black Miss Colombia. Even a more recent black Miss Colombia finalist also stated that she had “never seen a car until she was nearly 20 years old”!

14. Unemployment is often at sky-high rates and is continually rising.
The stark contrast of the “Haves” and the “Have Nots” has almost never been more pronounced than it is here. The city of Cartagena, the so-called “crown jewel” of Colombia is but one example. While millions of dollars are spent to fund the pageantry of the Miss Colombia Beauty Pageant, just a few blocks away local residents endure flooding, open sewers, rotting buildings and other basic amenities – even while the pageant is in progress. The unemployment rate among blacks in the area is reputed to be in excess of 80%. Is it any wonder that crime is a major problem there and in other locales as well? But this of course, is not the face of Cartagena that gets publicized outside of Colombia.

15. Violent crimes are considered passé.
It used to be that violent, heinous crimes shocked, staled and amazed even the staunchest of us. Not here, not anymore. When Luis Alfredo Garavito, one of Colombia’s most notorious convicted serial child murderers (who has now confessed to more than 200 child murders over a multi-year period) was released from prison, not once, but TWICE, families and residents were finally up in arms. Each time he was released, more children died. He almost got released again a couple of years ago, but fortunately, hasn’t been so far. Violent murders on the streets of Cali, Bogota and Medellin, Colombia’s three largest cities, hardly rate the news anymore with only the most bizarre, tragic or heinous of these ever being reported. How would you feel if you’d personally witnessed 11 violent murders in the streets as I have over the past twelve years?


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 80 countries. Get your FREE E-books,"If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" or "7 Techniques to Motivate Your English Language Learners and Make Your Classes More Dynamic" by requesting the title you want at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blog or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.