i used to be a very irritable traveler. when i had a trip coming up or a place that i was going to, i made lists of places i wanted to go, activities i wanted to do, and things i wanted to eat and would do hours and hours of research to map out an itinerary that allowed me to fulfill whatever checklist i compiled. then, i would stress myself out when i wasn't able to complete the entirety of said list.
some things haven't changed - i still did a lot of research before my trip to thailand about how to get from place to place easily and read up on travel blogs different experiences that would be available to us. the only difference is (and this is going to sound prophetic but i have to say it) i've learned to let go a little bit and let the itinerary turn into more of a wish list. and as it seems, i generally get pretty lucky and get to experience most everything on my travel to-do list. this was definitely the case with thailand.
after phuket, we headed over to koh phi phi. googling around for different things to do on the islands we were going to led me to a camping trip on koh phi phi which looked way too good to pass up, so we booked in advance (shock!) and decided no matter what we would make it over for this trip. so so worth it, but this post is actually about another list item we got to accomplish with some extra time we had before the camping trip.
i'm not sure where i read it, but one of the things on my thailand bucket list was the "fish pedicure." if you haven't been googling strange things to do in asia like i have, i can explain. it's pretty simple really - there are spas in thailand that have pools of fish that feed on dead skin. so you pay a certain amount for a time period/body part (there was a full body option - i know, ick!), and then stick your legs/body into a pool with these fish and let them go to work.
this took a little work on my part. i think i was a little more excited about it than alex was, but i also didn't really want to be in this ordeal on my own. luckily, she's really adventurous, easily persuaded, or a little of both, as next thing she knew and a woman was washing her feet to prep for the tank.
feeding frenzy.
just doing something completely natural with my arms.
the sell-in
it was a really crazy feeling and pretty hard to get used to. we did a lot of screaming when we first put our feet in, but the fish won't stand for the noise and the thai women running the shop kept shushing us, so eventually we laid back and let the little guys go to work. after 15 minutes i was pretty ready to take my feet out, but it was definitely an interesting experience i won't forget. too bad we later heard a rumor that these pedicures may or may not give you hepatitis c - but hey, my legs have never felt softer. hepatitis schmepatitis.
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