Sunday, June 28, 2015

Panchor Hot Spring, Kuching - A dip in health-giving water


The Panchor Hot Spring can be likened to a place out of time where visitors can try something close to home that is affordable and benefical to health.

NO distraction. No urgent issue. There is nothing to worry about while you are there.

It is a place to relax in the simple earth pond for a warm bath, and enjoy the beauty of the natural setting.

The natural environment adds a relaxed charm to your feet or body soaking session.

It seems to be a place out of time where you try something close to home as well as to be easy on the wallet.

The Panchor Hot Spring may give you all of those and more.

As you arrive, right away you will notice there is a very serene and peaceful calm about the place – no loud noise, no cars or highways, no planes overhead, no modern life.

Many of the first timers may naturally start speaking in whispered tones out of reverence for the environment they are in.

While there, they may be connected to a new level, being removed from the distractions that might have been built around them.

From observations, many enjoy just sitting, closing their eyes and meditating in the hot baths.

It may look very simple, yet the place is truly an awesome site, having a hot water pool for relaxing.

A regular visitor

Bong Yew Foh simply loves relaxing in the spring of Panchor.

He is one of those who has been visiting the place almost everyday.

“Sometimes, I come with other family members. If none of them is free, I will go alone even on school days.

“I will come before or after class. I have been doing this for a few years already,” the 51-year-old teacher said.

While there, you may immerse your tired feet in the natural hot spring water, discharged from 1,000 to 3,000 metres underground, to recuperate from fatigue.

For those who want more than just a footbath, they can dip in their whole body. A wooden platform has been laid in the water for people to sit and relax.

As long as there have been people and hot springs, there have been claims of beneficial healing powers associated with libations and soaking in the hot springs.

In the modern world, many believe these properties are real and the benefits are easily explained.

Many also claim the body-mind mechanism reacts positively to the combination of the heat and minerals found in these waters.

Not so mysterious

Since the human body is made up of these same minerals and is 60 per cent  water, it is not too far a logical stretch that the benefits of soaking in a hot spring are not mysterious at all.

Geothermal waters normally come from as far underground as 3,000 feet. These waters are heated by the Earth’s natural core temperature.

The waters seep back up above ground through various cracks and splits it makes in the rocks.

One of the typical tell-tale signs of a hot spring is the unmistakable smell of sulphur.

Unlike some people who come to Panchor Hot Spring because of health problems, Bong comes for a different reason.

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