It's Doctor Fish time

I don't know about you, but a couple of the first things that came to my mind when thinking of Japan are spas...massages...thermal baths...hmmm. Sure enough, there is this amazing spa house down the way from our apartment, just a half hour walk along the beach to its spot on Sunset Beach.

There is a long, rectangular hot tub outside the baths where you can stop and rest your feet for a while. Day or night, there are always people sitting here and it's a really nice way to relax whether coming from the beach, market, or work.

Terme Villa Chula-U is a whole spa complex with indoor hot baths (male and female ones, since evidently they're strictly nudie places...haven't ventured into those ones, honestly), outdoor cold and hot pools, and this interesting type of 'massage' called Doctor Fish. I've never heard of this before, but for your entrance fee into Chula-U you also get 10 minutes with Doctor Fish. Their real scientific name is Garra Rufa, also commonly known as 'nibble fish,' and they hail originally from Kangal, Turkey, where locals have used them to treat numerous varieties of skin disorders (like psoriasis, eczema, acne, etc.) for centuries. It's also reported that Cleopatra frequently used these fish to enhance her legendary beauty. The Garra Rufa are unique in that they gently nibble away your outer layer of dead skin cells, leaving a fresh layer of new skin cells underneath. So NO, they don't have teeth, but rather little suckers for mouths to pull off the dead skin. While nibbling away, the fish produce an enzyme that aids new skin cell growth and also helps the skin feel softer and healthier.

Come 'n get it!
Now you know why it looks a little scary at first...they look like they're attacking my feet
Kinda cool, huh? It's actually a slightly scary first encounter. You sit down, place your feet into the Doctor Fish pond, and wait as the little guys swarm your feet and begin nibbling away. If I didn't know any better, I would swear they were going to attack my feet instead of help them...but everybody else seemed pretty calm so I figured nothing bad would happen. Sure enough, after 5 minutes my feet felt cleaner and better than before.

Beauty salons all over the world have started employing these fish as natural cosmetic and therapeutic procedures, although Turkey legally guards the commercial exploitation of the Garra Rufa. These spas are commonplace in Europe and Asia, and finally reached the US when the first doctor fish pedicure spa was opened in Virginia in 2008. A few states have banned the use of Doctor Fish treatments, claiming sanitation reasons (although there haven't been any reported health issues from their use). Just make sure you go to a reputable spa!