138 sleeps

Travel Experience: Thailand 2007

I went to Thailand in November 2007 with the South African Amateur Muay Thai Team for the IFMA World Champs held in Bangkok. I wasn't on the team itself but I went to support them in their quest for gold. My instructor, whom I respect and fear in equal doses, gave me the opportunity to have a match in Koh Samui; I had to decline the offer due to a knee ligament injury I was suffering... thanks, Little Mouse.

It was great being back in Asia after close to a decade haitus from the region. There is something about Asia that grabs me, particularly the big cities. Maybe its the confusing maze of streets, or my complete lack of ability to understand any signs, or that I am never exactly sure which way the traffic is going, or that I can point to something at a food stall and eat it while not having the faintest idea what I am eating....I think being alone in a big city where you don't understand the language and are forced to sort yourself out is a good internal character test.

I arrived in Bangkok before the team so had to get myself to the hotel. For me, the first step upon arriving in an exotic locale is fighting off the various taxi drivers while choosing one that won't rip you off and you don't think is psychotic. (Kiki had a psycho driver experience in New Delhi but that, alas, is another story) The second step is communicating where you are going with the Chosen Driver.

Thankfully, I had the presence of mind and organisational skills (rare these days) to print off a picture of the hotel along with the address. I gave my Chosen Driver the photo, he nodded enthusiastically, we lurched forth into the bowels of Bangkok. After 15 minutes of driving back and forth and up and down and back and forth and up and down through two streets (I watch these things closely), my Chosen Driver pulled the car over and said to me "Where hotel?"

I beg your pardon?

I was incredulous. Clearly, my suitcases, lack of Thai language skills and stunned facial expression since meeting my Chosen Driver were no indication to him that I had absolutely no clue where I was. We finally found the place, 45 minutes and about 8 billion Bhat later.

In sum, my trip was excellent. I cried when my knee packed up on the plane, watched about 400 fights, had my laptop stolen by the Swedish team and stole it back, spent a night ducking ping pong balls (which shall psychologically scar me forever), danced around a pole at a bar called Big Willy, lost a down-down drinking contest 3 hours prior to boarding a flight from Bangkok to Koh Samui (completely unrelated to the Big Willy incident), got stripped naked and touched inappropriately by my (female) masseuse on a beach (along with Queenie - we both squealed like chickens after the incident yet went back the next day for a foot massage), discovered that drinking buckets - buckets - of vodka / red bull lead to falling over on a dance floor and losing bikini top simultaneously and finally realised that I was feeling "tired and emotional" on the plane back to SA when I cried (twice) during the film "Transformers" which I in turn blamed on my existential pre-mid-life crisis arising from my fear of growing old(er) without ever ever ever finishing my bloody thesis for my LLM.

I also got to drink a shake from a coconut. That makes it 5! Trinidad, Barbados, Philippines, France and Thailand. Brilliant! *high fives* [misses]