In the Sumerian scriptures, Bahrain, which in Arabic means “the two seas“, i.e. the sweet water and the marine springs, was the legendary Garden of Eden, the sacred land where water resources flowed and millions of palms. Nowadays, this precious island, Kingdom since the 60s, is a place to be discovered, for the collection of exclusive pearls, with a perfect sphericity, the richness of dates of superior quality to others, the extraction and the refining of oil and natural gas, elite tourism, with Formula 1 events, shopping, coral beaches in the Indian Ocean and offshore financial activities in its modern and cosmopolitan business center. I’ve been to Bahrain several times and it’s a place very warm to me, also because I discovered, besides the world of millennial techniques and oriental therapies, the fascinating culture of incense, whose trade, for centuries, has been a source of great Islamic riches, until the Boswellia trees have also become acclimatized in India and China. But the Arabs still know today how to appreciate the exclusivity and refinement of their rare species of Boswellia Carterii, which is the most valuable and due to a too small production, is no longer exported, but used only for solemn or regal moments. The incense in antiquity had been one of the most coveted and expensive luxuries, reserved for both the cult of the Divinities and the pleasure of the rich, until Christianity rejected it, in exchange for charitable works and tributes. In this pearl of land, there are wonderful Spas, even isolated in the desert, built on the architectures of ancient inviolable fortresses, which are now real “Harem of Wellness.”

As the Resort Al Areen Palace & Spa, where water is the common denominator, whose center consists of a huge tank, which in the past served as a water catchment basin for irrigation purposes and now is inspired by a whole path of elegant revitalizing pools, with grottos, ice igloos, emotional showers, between a hydrothermal garden of lush palm trees and the sumptuous five-star complex, very refined, in a former Sultan’s residence style. The pride of the wellness center is the covered garden with the pharaonic sauna and hammam area. Services include different types of massages and rituals, combined with Western and Oriental therapies, performed by a highly qualified staff of therapists and certified professionals; there are also programs for purification, detoxification, weight optimization, as well as relaxation paths. It is the ideal place to keep fit! Thanks to the Spa Marketing Manager, Gabrielle Angeli Sol, I experienced a rejuvenating rapture in the harem, of a day in the Spa, trying all the paths Hydro Vitality Pool & Water Therapy, to end then with a 3-hour Rejuvenation Ritual, with the english products Elemis, consisting of a Pro-Collagene Quartz lifting face treatment, a milk Cleopatra bath and rose petals and a relaxing aromatic massage with hot stones. The most international and requested Spa in Downtown, in the capital of Manama, is The Spa, at the futuristic Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, on a private island, with an iconic 201 meter tower, which has 4 outdoor pools , an indoor, beautiful, with a super equipped fitness center, open 24 hours a day.

Pride of place is the private hammam with heated marble beds for purification treatments. All rituals use ethically natural and native ingredients, like the one I tried, the “Sea of QI Ritual“, based on Bulgarian Rose, Cardamom and Patchouli, which help to open the energy centers lovingly and are inspired by the healing methods of the Middle East and Asia. At the Sofitel Bahrain Zallaq Thalassa Sea & Spa, directly on the Indian Ocean, I experienced the benefits of Thalassotherapy, the treatment through sea water, which offers natural detox benefits, due to the combined effect of sea water, iodine, algae , mud, sand and sun. Since life was born right from the sea, there’s an ancestral and biochemical link between this primordial element and the human organism, composed of 70% of water, because the composition of the blood is similar to that of the sea. At 400 m. below sea level there’s a salt bank, in the entire Dead Sea area, extremely abundant of mineral salts, with which the menu-card treatments are studied, even at the authoritative Rits Carlton Bahrain Spa, which leaves the skin, mind and body remineralized, revitalized and relaxed. Along the Incense’s Path, where the history of man has passed through caravans of perfumed trades, distant worlds have come into contact, which even today, like Bahrain, keep secrets to be discovered and a form of hidden and mysterious feelgood. Raphaella Dallarda (INSPATIMEBLOG)