New Adventures In Backpacking

The fish spa blog that I posted last December was very popular so when I returned back to Bangkok I was not surprised to see how many Fish Spa’s had popped up all over the Khao San Road area. I returned to my original spa for some foot fish therapy but this time I was armed with my camera.

Enjoy

With just 48 hours in Bangkok and a big trip to Myanmar ahead of me
I wasnt really in the mood for adventure in Bangkok. This was my sixth visit now I was happy to chill out and pamper myself silly. There
is not a better city in the world to treat yourself.

My self-service day started with a trip to the dentist for a check up. This is my first visit to the dentist since, well my last pamper day in Bangkok. People think I am joking when I insist I only ever go to the dentist in Bangkok but given how hard it is to get registered by a dentist in the UK and that I tend to move around a little too much to make it worth my while I always nip into to my regular dentist in Bangkok any time I am here just for a quick check up. The dentist surgeries in Bangkok are far cleaner and modern looking than anything I have seen in the UK. They even have TV screens for me to watch Thai soap operas on whilst the dentist poked around in my mouth before giving me a good boy sticker.

A former work college recently underwent 600 gbp worth of dental treatment back in Edinburgh. I bet I could get a flight to Bangkok, get the same surgery done and pay for a few days in hotel in Bangkok for the same money. If I could be guaranteed the same incredibly hot dental nurse I wouldn’t even think twice about it. A check up, cleaning and whitener (it’s probably industrial strength bleach!) cost 12 gbp. The hot incredibly dental nurse was free.

Next stop was the hairdresser at MBK, with the stylist giving me his opinions. He took the task of remodelling my dishevelled backpacker mop very seriously before settling on a first stage mohawk look (think a brunette Sonic the Hedgehog). Shampooed, conditioned and massaged, I looked a million bucks, and all for the cost of 8 pounds. On the way home a tuk tuk driver shouted ‘Hey sexy boy!’ Money well spent!

Then it was off for a facial. There are facial treatment places all over Bangkok, and to be honest with the amount of pollution there it’s no surprise. 30 minutes and 8 different types of facial treatments later, including having my face caved in by cucumbers (weird feeling!), I was only 4 gbp poorer.

Next up was the traditional Thai massage which is the staple of any visit to Thailand, and otherwise known as lazy man’s yoga. I must confess to enjoying having someone else pressing and bending my bones, whilst I just lay there. Whilst the word ‘massage’ usually triggers thoughts of relaxation and enjoyment, a proper Thai massage will leave you gasping for breath and gritting your teeth with pain, but you do feel much better after it. A Thai massage in the UK will set you back anything from 40 gbp upwards. It can cost as little as three pounds in Bangkok. On my first trip to Thailand I think I had one every day. A word of warning / advice depending on who’s reading this (I mean you Gavin), if the person giving you the massage looks like she may offer you a happy ending, she probably will.

So there you have it. Free of all the stresses and strains of backpacking, looking and feeling great, and all for a mere 27gbp.

I love Bangkok!

When I first saw a local walking down Khao San Road with a sandwich board advertising ‘His fish will eat your feet,’ I thought it was yet another of the many weird and tacky gimmicks that you find along the Khao San Road. So when I went north to Chiang Mai I was surprised not only to find numerous fish spas, but they were also full of local people(and not the Euro trash types you find in Bangkok). If it was good enough for the fair people of Chiang Mai then it was good enough for me.

However, I waited until I returned to Bangkok before getting my first ever fish spa. It really is catching on to the point where you don’t have to go to a specialist fish spa. Bars, restaurants, hairdressers, as well as random opportunists with a padding pool are getting in on the act. I chose a fish bar which was also showing Scottish football knowing that if I did not enjoy the fish action then I could still be reminded that worse things are happening in the world.

The spa cost 100 baht, which is roughly two pounds, for thirty minutes. Fish therapy originated from the fish called Gara Rufa in the river basins of Turkey. Gara Rufa are the original species used for fish spa skin pampering and nibbling treatments. The idea is that they work together as a team to improve foot skin condition through natural exfoliation by removing dead skin (nibbling it away). This also allows newer skin to regenerate by releasing the enzyme, diatanol.

You lower your legs into a large aquarium and the Gara Rufa start attacking your feet. At first it is excruciatingly ticklish and feels like you are having thousands of little electrodes poked at your feet. Watching hundreds of fish sucking at your feet whist they move in-between your toes is not for the squeamish, but after five minutes of the treatment I got used to it and enjoyed a coke and had some chat with curious passers-by.

Once my time was up and the fish returned to the bottom of the tank satisfied with their efforts I cannot say I was that impressed with the immediate results and my first thought was that I would have been much better served going for a pedicure. However, the following day I noticed my feet looked much healthier than normal, and since the fish spa have remained so, which given the wear and tear of donning flip flops everyday and walking on the beach for days on end I’m surprised how well they are holding up.

Whilst I’m 100% convinced by the powers of these fish, I wont be rushing to get my own little fish slaves in New Zealand, but it was quite good fun and made for an amusing tale. You should try everything at least once, and it is certainly much less painful than watching Scottish football!