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Published: March 19th 2006
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Well we made it to Thailand after a 15 hour train journey from Kuala Lumpur Central. We chose to travel on the night train which contained rows and rows of bunk beds. I slept for most of the journey, but Gemma's sleep was interrupted by the cock roaches that were crawling around. The night train was a cool experience.
We arrived at Hat Yai (just off the Thailand/Malaysia border), and stayed in a fabulous hotel there for the night. We had a good look around the area, it is very strange to be in a place where nobody at all spoke English and there were no Farangs (Foreigners).
From Hat Yai we took a 9 hour bus journey to Phuket (yes we had dead arse's by the end of it). We arrived in Phuket and took a Tuk Tuk to the Rawai Muay Thai camp. Unfortunately there was no room at the inn, and the accommodation they offered as an alternative had all kinds of insect infestations (it was the worse place i have ever seen, and Gemma was petrified). So we traveled back into Phuket town and stayed in a very posh hotel for the night, it was
called the Phuket Royal Hotel. The next day we booked ourselves into an YHA hostel in a place called Chalong, which we stayed at for the week. And because there was still no room at the Thai Boxing camp we rented an apartment for 2 months in Chalong. The apartment is really nice by anyone's standards and it has a Spa pool on the roof. It is also ideally situated near to everything.
We started our Muay Thai training shortly after arriving. You have the opportunity to train out here for 6 hours a day with every Sunday off. It is a total new experience training in Thailand, it is so hot here and the Thai's do things the hard way. Training here is exceptional, you get to learn from the people who have practiced Muay Thai all of there live's. One guy we met, called Egg, is a Thai Boxing master. On Sunday 05/03/2006 he had his 106th fight in Patong; he subsequently won this fight which made him the Southern Muay Thai champion. He is also a Bamboo tattooist, which he has been undertaking for 8 years now (he trained as a monk for a few years).
I had the pleasure of receiving a tattoo from him; i got the Muay Thai writing on my upper left leg in the Thai language. Egg is very friendly and is one hell of a cool guy, if you get to visit the Chalong area you must seek him out.
We have met many people whilst in Thailand from all over the world, and all sorts of people train at the camp from total novices to hardcore martial art fans. We have got friendly with a guy called Bryan who is from the states, he is in Thailand for 2 months, and is staying in a Buddhist monastery for 2 weeks of his trip. Bryan came to Thailand with no previous martial art experience, and has picked up the skills quickly. I have been asked if i would like to fight for the Rawai gym whilst here, i am thinking about it at the moment.
During our trip we aimed to do as much charity work as possible. We are currently working as volunteers at the Soi Dog Foundation. The centre is in Phuket town and is currently home to over 90 dogs. The centre only has room
for 35, so you can imagine what that is like. There is also a little boy who hangs out there, his parents don't take care of him and he is in the same clothes everyday! It can be a sad place to visit, but we try and make it not so. The dog's at the centre just need a little love and care, as most of them have been mistreated in some way. We help out walking the dog's, bathing them, clipping there nails and giving medication etc. There is also one cat at the centre (very brave with all those dogs) and nine 6 week old puppies. So far it has been a real experience that we will always remember. The lady who runs the place is called Ina; she is from Germany and has invited us to stay with her for a couple of days and to take us to see her side of the island (she lives out here with her husband). There is also a Thai task force at the centre who looks after the animals daily and lives there (very lovely people).
Well, i could go on for ever about this place, and that
is why i will be doing three blog's on Thailand.
Everyone take care for now.
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