Feet Eating Fish

Now, let me get this straight...we are climbing
up there so we can get our feet eaten by fish?

Everyone I had spoken to had told me that Ewawan National Park, and particularly Ewawan Falls that flow within the park, were ‘must sees’ while in Thailand. Admittedly, I had a rather unrealistic vision of Erawan National Park where I imagined Me-Tarzan, Madeleine-Jane prancing all day in the lush jungle foliage, surrounded by a secluded series of pools, climbing an undeveloped rugged trail winding through the deep forested mountain side, and occasionally, to take respite from the hot and humid jungle air, I would strip off my leopard skinned loin cloth and dive from the heights of the many rock ledges into the inviting aqua turquoise crystal pools below, while Madeleine, taking in the gorgeously serene scene in her itsy bitsy teenie weenie leopard skinned bikini (matches my loin cloth), perched on a warm smooth white rock underneath one of the many gentle waterfalls, totally enthralled by the tawny and pumped glistening abs of her man of 35 years, the poor woman, totally aroused by the sight of the spectacular finesse of my diving abilities, shrieks out a sensual oooouh, that’s my man!  Yup, that's what I imagined. 
  

Jane and her Tarzan

I was picturing tranquil and peaceful. It was really not like that. Maybe it is like I had imagined if you go on a weekday, or just some day other than when we were there, the Sunday of the Makka Bucha long weekend, a Thai national holiday when all of Thailand mobilizes and migrates to where it is cool and green. Or maybe it was those 5000 Chinese tourists with those funny sun visor hats and their flip flops. There were a lot of people.

Luckily, one of our travelling companions, Lucie, of the famed Lucie and Bern duo, had read up on visiting the Ewewan Falls in one of her 32 tourist guides that she had borrowed from the municipal library back home. She advised us to get there early as to beat the crowds, and so we did. During the journey to the falls from our hotel, our well documented everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-thailand-because-I-have-read-all-thai-travel-guides-known-to-man savante, Lucie, briefed us on the fall's name, Erawan. The falls are named after the erawan, the three-headed white elephant of Hindu mythology. The seven-tiered falls are said to resemble the erawan, though in the end I didn't see it. Either my imagination was lacking, or it was still stuck with the image of Madeleine sitting on that rock in her itsy bitsy teenie weenie leopard skinned bikini.

Level 5 Falls

We got to the park around 9:00 am and sure enough, the parking lot was scant with a few other early birds like ourselves. We made our way to the trail that would lead us to the first of 7 waterfalls. Most of our fellow hikers, who seemed to be Thai, appeared to be content to hang out around the first two waterfalls. Many had either brought picnics, or purchased food from the various vendors at the entrance, and as you aren’t allowed to bring food past the second waterfall to ensure that the path and waterfall remain clean, the crowd thinned out past the second falls. As for us, we were aiming for the top, so after a pee break at the second waterfall, we pursued our climb along a well-marked and fairly easy trail. We were expecting the Grouse Grind; we were getting a walk in Stanley Park. The whole area seemed to move at a pretty languid pace. At times, we felt like we were climbing a km up stairs, and then a km down. We rested at level 5, a beautifully shaded area with many little miniature falls and a gorgeous environment. Then as we continued our trek to the top level, our walk in the park turned into a surprisingly demanding hike.  In some places we had to scramble over rocks and tree roots as well, which was okay on the way up, but a little treacherous on the way down.  

Hiking along the trail we’d occasionally come across some interesting things in the trees, such as a number of shrines and trees wrapped in colourful cloth for the spirits. Luckily, we had Lucie Lonely Planet with us who could enlighten us again, in great detail I must add, about the significance of the ‘dressed-up trees”. Something about Thai people believing that spirits live in these Spirit Trees and that these trees with spirits are usually old and big. So, Thai people mark trees with spirits (Ton Mai) by colourful fabric stripes and moreover they leave offerings (drinks and flowers) in the roots or lower branches. All that, is to keep spirits in a nice and peaceful mood. Now if the Thai could only find a way to repel those 5000 Chinese tourists in flip flops and funny visor hats. 

In my opinion, the last and 7th level was the best level, the aqua turquoise water backed by white rocks and a gentle waterfall made for perfect scenery. After climbing all the way to the top without taking a swim, we were hot and sweaty and were welcomed in cool and refreshing natural pools. Problem is if you relax without moving in the water for too long, these feet-fetished fish will begin to attack your feet, nibbling on your toes and heels and eating your dead skin. We had been warned about these natural fish spas by some of Lucie's anthology of travel books.  All over Thailand people go to spas and pay to put their feet in fish tanks where little pedicure fish nibble dead skin off your feet. These fish are found naturally in Erawan.
It was kind of weird, a cross between a pinch and a tickle. Supposedly, the fish only eat your dead skin cells and feed on them, nothing else. However, I guess my comfort level with carnivorous marine life is well below the 'come and get it little fellows, latch on to my feet buffet and eat away all you want' level. One bite by one of those fishies and my feet were outta there, especially given the size of one of those suckers. Not that I can think of better things to do with the dead skin cells of my feet, but hey, they're my dead skin cells, and I'll do what I want with them.