Foot Comfot is Colombo’s most visible massage parlour, with branches all around town. The High Level Foot Comfot does a functional massage, albeit in a dark and slightly dodgy environment.
At the High Level branch the experience begins with being buzzed in through a dark locked door. Inside there are about eight seats in a row with people watching TV and getting foot massages. There are two TVs, tuned to pro wrestling when we came in but they give you the remote. We switched to Mad Men, playing on what seemed to be an Indian satellite connection.
There are male and female masseuses and we got two men who were workmanlike if not especially competent. For Rs. 1,000 you get a half hour foot massage and for Rs. 1,250 you get a full hour including head and shoulders. Once you get over the general fear of dodginess it’s actually quite relaxing.