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Published: April 12th 2006
It's New Year's in Thailand and everyone comes to Chiang Mai. The water festival (I think it's called Sokran) is a national holiday but Chiang Mai is the best place to get soaked. And man is it hot. So I gladly got sprayed down today. But it's kinda the first day and Thai people are still arriving to be with friends and family so it hasn't reached peak craziness yet. I guess tomorrow everyone will be soaked and partying all day. Canada day, eat your heart out. These people just stop everything for 3 or 4 days and party while throwing water around.
I rented a motorbike yesterday to visit a temple on top of a nearby mountain. Wow. the traffic was like nothing I would ever want to drive in...but I just kinda went for it. I was weaving in and out of lanes and squeezing between cars like a fool. I thought I was going to wreck the damn bike for sure. I went with a Belgian guy, a French Canadian girl and a couple guys from California that knew the way so I had to keep up and not get lost. The fear of getting lost in a sea of traffic was greater than the fear of having to pay for a wrecked bike or damaged car I guess. On the way up the mountain there were kids in the back of trucks spraying us with super soakers and people on the side of the road throwing buckets of water. My camera somehow survived, and it was great to cool down. The way down was the best ride I ever had. I think I'll do it again once the city calms down.
A couple nights ago I went to a Muay Thai Boxing event. The hits were brutal. I was about ten feet from the ring and I wondered how those guys took that punishment to the ribs...and basically the whole body. There were a couple good knockouts and Tko's. It's a really cool sport to watch, almost like it is a dance or something. Except one of the dancers is going down.
I went to a couple Muay Thai camps to check into doing some training. I think I will die. They start at 6:30 in the morning with a 10 km run and then train until 9:00 (I would be just finishing the run by then). Then they go again at 4:00 in the afternoon with another 4 km run and do training until 7:00. And this is every day. Crazy. I think I'll give it a try. The place is called Lanna Muay Thai Boxing and they set up a Lanna Gym in Toronto now too. So if I like it I can do it back in Canada too. They told me I might as well not start until after the water festival so I might even go to a village called Pai, northwest of here, to relax for a few days and then come back for training. Pai is supposed to be really cool and I don't wanna miss it.
Well man, I'm missing out on all the fun. I gotta go buy a super soaker and hose down some helpless school kids. Haha, actually traditionally they used to sprinkle water on the elders to show respect and the foreigners kinda came in a ruined that. Now it's a full out in your face water fight. We're pretty good at ruining traditon around here. So, like I said...I gotta go buy a super soaker!
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Aurora
non-member comment
WOW
Wow....Scott, i cant even express how excited i am for you. It is sooo cool that you are doing something like this. Things like this just dont happen to Weyburn people. wow...im just amazed and so happy and excited for you. Sounds like ur having a great time!!!