challeneges

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One thing about travelling that really make things worth while is all the challenges along the way and the little victories that come with them. I've had many hard days, of being lost and sweaty only to find what i was looking for, and better sometimes too. Though travel is the very lonely I find company in my surroundings and purpose in the trials that each day brings. Travel is not easy not easy at all, I find it is far more effort than I any job I ever had was.

One of my first big challenges was trying to find Scorpion Muay Thai, when you don't know any land marks understand the street signs or like asking for directions finding anythings can be a real challenge. My first effort was to simply ask a baht bus driver, baht buses are pickup trucks with benches in the back, they work like buses but can also be hired as taxis. So I asked nearly 10 of these guys if they had know or heard of this goddam place, no luck dunno if they understood me at all, as Thais don't often hear a north American accent and few know much English at all, so that was a bust, no biggy got on with my day. Next day I had a moped rented, and had the genius idea of trying to google map this place, but Thai and English don't translate well, the community I stayed at for a week was some times called jomtien beach and sometimes called chom tian beach, so the address was never accepted by google, I tried using the postal code and found somewhere. I took off down the sukhumviet highway, think dearfoot trail on a moped that shakes ferociously at 80km/hr, then found what I thought was the right area and was sorely mistaken I also dropped my moped in the process and broke a heat shield off the exhaust, my camera and well the headlight was already shot. As is standard in places so close to the equator the sun sets fast and at 6pm. So here i am lost and no headlights about to head back. I stopped at a moped shop and for 120 baht they fixed the light and exhaust thats about 4 dollars. I headed home to email the camp for directions.

I finally sent an email to Rosalie the camps owner got back to me quickly and gave a basic description of the location, and I decided to stop in after a brief trip to koh larn an island which is a short 40 minute feiry ride away. I returned my moped and hoped on a motorcycle taxi to go off on my way eager to see some sites swim and hopefully find my camp. As were going through a construction zone we hit some loose gravel and lost control, and slid with my leg under the bike, I got road rash about the size of the palm of my hand. I was pissed and through 50 bht to the driver and walked off to 7-11 to sanitize my would, it strung like a mother fucker! I looked for rubbing alcohol, iodine, aftershave or anything that would clean it I had to choose between bleach and mouthwash. Mouthwash was cheaper, some may wonder why I didn't walk another 20 minutes to find something better, but in a tropical environment cleaning wounds as quickly as possible is critical to prevent infection. So I got it cleaned and walked an hour to the pier and went to the island. The beach was topless and the water was warm, though it was 3:30 when I arrived and the last ferry was at 5 so it was a really quick trip, the salt water stung my injury but it still felt good. Should of packed a change of clothes I felt kinda sticky on the way back. I had a bht bus take me to sio15 norway, I walked down this road almost expecting to find a dead end, but instead I found the camp, I was exhausted sore sticky from the ocean, but I grabbed a set of hand wraps and jumped into the ring. It felt soo good to start training again, I sweated till I was empty and had my form tore apart left and right, but it didn't matter I had started what I came here for and I grow faster stronger and more technical with every ounce of sweat.

I have had 2 bouts of intestinal trouble thus far, and I hope I don't have another, traveling alone has an amazing freedom, but it comes at the cost of getting help sometimes. On a couple occasions I have been too sick to leave the bathroom for 6 hr stretches, though I have unlimited water I can't get food or more medicine. Which can slow the healing process, I am thankful for bit torrents and movies to keep me sane. I finally bought a cell phone, so that I can get food maybe even medicine when i am ill. As I am sure it won't be my last time under the weather, shame though my cell didn't work in Malaysia, skype got me through a few days. I am soooo glad I packed as much medicine as I did though it has saved me a couple times. One thing about being sick though is you get to really appreciate the nice weather and the freedom of moving around again. I remember the spending the whole night on a the toilet thinking I almost needed an ambulance and then dragging my ass to training the next morning after a bowl of rice and some Gatorade.

I just returned from my first visa run, you can stay in Thailand 30 days at a time and then you have to leave and re-enter. I can do this 3 times in 6 months. hopefully I can find a better long term option as I need a ton more training before i can reach my goal of competing. So my adventure started with returning my moped, I twas interesting to drive with my 60lb backpack in the back on my 15lb backpack on in front, not as wobbly as I had thought though, then a trip to bus terminal and a bus trip to Bangkok, it was hot and crowded, i then tried to use public transit to get closer to the airport but the transit maps don't have the airport. So i wondered for like and hour wondered if I should just sleep on my bag in the airport and then I found the coolest little hotel with a pool and this like taj mahal decor, cheap and beautiful it was like an oasis. I was so hot I went to room stripped to boxers and went swimming, classy i know. It's hard to express how happy I was to have found this place that night I was scared I'd never find somewhere to stay or collapse from exhaustion it was like 32 degrees and I was carrying 60lbs beside a busy highway I had walked for sooo long it literally saved me from hopping in a cab and sleeping in the airport terminal which is what I had expected to do. Which would of involved washing clothes in the bathroom and everything lol, guess I am not that badass of a traveller yet.**

I have looked around me a little and though I face challenges traveling is nothing like the plight of the bar girls everywhere I go. A bar girl is a prostitute they work in bars and have a very hard life. They have to buy their days off and are only allowed 2 per month, they have strict quotos usually 200 lady drinks, a drink the patron buys for double the cost of a highball that is only coke or oj about 3 dollars . They must also have the bar fine paid 4-10 times a month, that's the fee a customer pays to leave the bar with the girl usually 20 dollars. The work is nasty and competitive as 40 women work in a gogo that rarely has more than 10 customers. For the cost of a few lady drinks I have gotten information that has saved me hundreds of dollars, where to stay, where to eat, where to drink, where to buy a helmet, yesterday I bought a girl a drink and she has helped me find a locksmith to put a deadbolt in my new apartment. I have never paid a bar fine but I am happy to buy a drink for information as their english is much better than the average Thai and they probably really need money as tourism is down 70% here. Amazing though they and the other Thai's keep their chins up though the hard times and make.

I have learned to keep my chin up and be open to whatever happens, tis easy to live life through expectations, plans, and obligations. I hope I can keep traveling for a long time to come, maybe work half a year travel half a year I won't ever be rich but hey money comes and goes, time only goes. Life is tricky here and honestly lonely I can always find people to party with, but few to chill with. I think it's all a price to be paid for an experience like this and this time wouldn't be as valuable if it was easy.



**If your curious about my ground transport costs I ended up spending 63cad on ground transport going to KL:
$5 baht bus taxi hotel to bus terminal 20 minutes
$4 goverment bus pattaya 2hours
$0.80 sky train
$24 hotel for the night
$10 taxi to airpot
flight
$12 airport train to downtown
$7 to golden triangle (though the meter said 40 dollars buddy took me to a hotel where he makes commision)

and 30cad returning
$0.80 mono rail to central terminal
$12 train to aiport
flight
free shuttle to airport bus terminal
$1.20 bus fair to sky train
$0.70 sky train to bus terminal
$8 goverment bus to pattaya (always crowded and I wanted space so I bought 2 seats)
$6.50 baht bus to hotel

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Comments

[Aunty Ceile]

What a Life!
Hey Jim, your life is sounding facinating. We are so proud of you for taking on this challenge. I am sure your experiences will make you stronger and definitely more worldly. Really enjoyed reading about your trip thus far. I agree that there is nothing worse than being sick in a foreign country and unable to get help. Brings back alot of memories for us. Take care of yourself, love all the photos and essays you are doing a great job with the blog. Love you very much and miss you! aunty ceile