My time in Bangkok

Hello hello,  Im currently travelling through a bit of Thailand and making my way into Cambodia in the next couple days. I arrived in Bangkok and headed straight for Muay Thai camp last Friday. I figured what better thing to do in Thailand than learn the country's sport right? Plus, a little physical activity after 3 weeks of eating and drinking my way through Japan,I kinda needed it.

So quick rundown of the post. Muay Thai camp is a live in gym. You basically dive into the Thai Culture, live,eat and breath Muay Thai. It was FANTASTIC. Bangkok....EPIC. Busy, busy, busy.Never stops,always eating,and one thing to purchase before you come...A shirt that reads, "No Tuk Tuk,No Suit, No Ping Pong." Trust me, it will save you A TON of hassle.

From the second I got through customs at the airport I knew Thailand was gonna be a trip. My camp sent a guy to pick me up that HONESTLY sounded like Mr. Chow from the Hangover. Not only sounded like him,but his mannerisms were down to a T. He told me anything and everything about every where on the 90 min ride to the camp. All while we rocked out to the Backstreet Boys CD. Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely is his favorite song, just so you know. The gym I chose to go to was Sor. Vorpain Gym 2 a HUGE outdoor camp. They have a massive front yard with Coconut, Banana, Mango, and Pappaya trees all over. The ring and bag area is all outdoor under a covering. It was incredible. I was excited to train here, all outside, fresh air. I soon learned that all outside training meant was training in the 90 degree and what felt like 90% humidity. Screw fresh air haha. But just walking into the camp was incredible. It was off the main roads a bit, through a small junglely area. The "roads" to camp were basicially sidewalks on stilts over the swamp that are constantly busy with people, motorcycles and dogs. LOTS OF DOGS.

Pups at camp

Once I made my way through the jungle, I was met by the lady that takes care of the place. She handled it all, food, Laundry, cleaning, taxis, beers, EVERYTHING. Her name was Ma, how perfect right? She had dinner and my single room waiting for me. This was my first taste of real Thai food and it was delicious. Every meal I had there was too good. The one
thing that stands out though and what I will always remember is Ma's fried chicken. Incredible. When I got to camp there was only one other guy there training, Marcus, a German guy who just spent time living in Australia and was now making Thailand his new home. Just though he'd give camp a try and now is talking of staying till the end of the year...awesome right? After dinner a quick email check I headed to bed. I found out training starts early...6:30 run. Needed some rest.


So let me quickly sum up the rest of my week, Ill add a few details in after:

6 am wake up
630 am: Anywhere from a 5 to 10km run. 15 minutes of skipping to follow, then 2 hours of pad work.
930-10, EAT

My Nap Spot

REST/NAP




Repeat at 3 pm.
9pm..BED

Some "Vacation" right? Sounds shitty for some, but honestly one of the best experiences of my life. Besides the HUGE improvement in my Muay Thai skills, my mental game drastically improved. Just to wake up everyday knowing what Id be going through and the focus it took to do it all was awesome. Now, only if jobs back home would take that on a resume....

The morning run alone was incredilbe. 630 in the morning and Im running through the crowded streets of Bangkok, down highways and sketchy jungle sidewalks following my trainer who speaks lil to no english. All while DRENCHED in sweat from the beginning, but somehow with the biggest and goofiest grin on my face.All I could think about while I was doing all this was, WOW Im in Thailand right now and this is really happening. 10Km seemed EASY when I had that in my mind. How many people even think to do that. Probably not many, most of you are smarter than that...Pad work was tough though, soooo fast and intense. The trainers never really pushed you though, well not to the point that you didnt want to be pushed. They could read each person very well, if you wanted to go all out. They took you there. You wanted a rest, you had one. Of course I never said no, never said too much, so they pushed and I pushed back, loved it. 3 rounds of kicking practice, then bag work, then 3 rounds of boxing followed by situps, pushups, pullups, and neck strengthening. This might be the one picture I regret not getting....you bite a rope tied to a block of concrete and do neck raises. Awesome. A couple days sparring after that and within a week my technique and conditioning SKY ROCKETED.

 

Boxing work

 

Pad work

Na, the main trainer, was a champion in his prime,and known and the best clinch fighter. Hes a quite guy at first, lil intimidating, but after a day or two we hit it off. Hes got one of the funniest laughs Ive ever heard and laughs A LOT. Great fun, but hard to spare with a guy like that.On more than one occasion it would end up with both of just laughing at each other, nothing else. The one on one work is great there. Living in the camp you get to know the trainers well, and fast. You train with them, eat with them, hang out with them, everything. Like I said,you Live Muay Thai. One of the best and worst parts of the training was the Thai boxing oil...before the afternoon training session, Na would give me a massage with this oil to warm the body up and loosen the muscles. Imagine Icy Hot or BenGay,menthol basically,but TIMES 10000000. This was some weird mix of herbs with coconut oil. And massage...no physical assault was more like it. The man dug elbows into calves and hamstrings, thumbs between abs, it HURT. But 10 minutes later, after the fire on my body stopped I felt GREAT. So day after day I let the assault go on, but it was probably the reason I could train 7 2adays in a row. Pulled biceps were healed, stiff hamis and calves gone. Unreal. Fresh coconuts after training were common and delicious.

Alec and I, again sorry for the head turn.

Alec the other trainer, is a World Boxing Champion,and a HILARIOUS guy. Tiny man, but I thought he could kill with me one punch,well after sparring with him, maybe 1/2 a punch. But he acted like a 12 year old, practical jokes, laughing at anything, yes for you smart-asses out there, we did get along well thank you. Its funny how a childlike sense of humor can completely knock out a language barrier.Training was fantastic though and Id do it all over again if I had the opportunity, truth be told I may be back before I end this trip..but who knows.

Along with the training, my entire stay was fantastic. My roommate was great, yes I did say single rooms earlier...My roommate was named George. George the Gecko. I sadly do not have any photos of George( its funny how training to the point of exhaustation day after day will make you forget some things) but he was great. About the size of my hand, never moved during day, but thats what freaked me out. I always wondered what he was doing at night, while I was sleeping in the room. So after a bit I learned to sleep with the sheets over my face. I mean George seemed cool, but not that cool. I wasn't taking any chances.

George's and My Room

The Germans and I

Another German guy came to camp while I was there and we all got along great. The camp also has many locals that come and train at the gym,which is how I met Dac. Hes been going to gym the for years, and would end up being one of my sparring partners. Of course, sparring leads to drinking, and Dac was kind of enough to show me around town after camp was finished for me. So 7 days of training twice a day and I was done. Finished. I was in need of a celebration, luckily I was in Bangkok. The night to follow was incredible....

I left the camp on Saturday morning with a lil tear in my eye...whether it was from sadness or both blackeyes I later found out I had( no mom, not bad, just looked like I had on eye shadow) SIDENOTE: Ladyboys....Not cool. I moved to a hostel on Khoa San Rd,the epic backpacker road in Bangkok. TONS of hostels, street vendors, and a million hassling Tuk Tuk drivers and suit sellers.

Khoa San Road

I wandered around for the morning then met up with Dac for dinner and what lead into one hell of a night. So my one night out in Bangkok started at a Japanese restaurant...figures right? Decent food, I mean I consider myself well versed in Japanese cuisine now.. From there we went to a bar with Joe, Dacs buddy from the gym, where we proceeded to polish off a bottle of Whiskey. Otter, Yosh, youd be proud. Basically the best deal is bottle service, and I did more than my share of work on the bottle. I guess all of our hardwork and training back in school was good for something. After the bottle though, we headed to one of their favorite spots in the city, a Jazz bar that Dac played at.

At the jazz bar called Jazz Happens

Dac and Joe knew everyone at this place, patrons, bartenders, owners and all.  The live band playing was made up of music University students that Dac taught, SOOOO good. We ended up closing up the bar and finished with Dac rocking out on the piano. I love how music and alcohol can bring anyone together. Most of the kids I met spoke English, but even the ones that I had ZERO communication with I was rocking out with and swapping stories...which I now realize I didnt understand a word they were saying, just laughing, by the end of the night.
After the jazz bar, the night gets a lil hazy but I know this much... Japanese food, whiskey, a live jazz bar, and I eneded up some how getting scammed by a lil girl into buying a rose....but all in all a goodnight. I mean, I made it back to my hostel just in time to book another night, yes I stumbled home the next day at 1145 am, made the call home to my parents to wish my dad a Happy Birthday( Miss you Dad!! Wish i could have been in Vegas with you guys! I bet the John Dalys just werent the same!) but the main thing...I made it through a night in Bangkok with both pinkies, no ladyboys, and alive. Success.

The next day was recovery, I stumbled out into the day and managed to get some street food then crawl back into bed and proceeded to watch Avatar, Knight and Day( not good), The Expendables, and Anaconda 2. Big day.

First Tuk Tuk

I met up with Mica this morning, funny story about my meeting Mica...Mica and I are friends from UBC. Havent talked to Mica in a while, last memory I have of seeing Mica is a drunk night at the Gallery at UBC doing karaoke, but a couple months ago Mica posted on FB asking if anyone is going to SE Asia soon. I happened to be online at this time and a legendary "comment conversation" followed. We made plans to meet in Asia at some point and see how it goes. We've had one day together in Bangkok and we've made travel "plans", saw 3 Buddas( Big, Lucky, and Laying), got ditched by our Tuk Tuk driver( free ride), and Mica bought a suit. Id say were off to a pretty good start.The Temples here are incredible. We were lucky enough to see the Reclining Budda at night and the artwork and grandeur of these temples really shows then. O and the Tuk Tuks....INSANE.

Outside the Reclining Budda

HUGE

 Were off to Kanachuburi tomorrow afternoon. Tiger Temple, bridge over the river Kwai, and a 7 tier waterfall await...

Hope all is well back home for you guys, miss you lots and I will update again soon! I have a feeling some great stories are coming our way:)

Tyler