January 11, 2010 - Chiang Mai

We got up and out early (before 8:30am) to catch the bus to Chiang Mai. We caught it at the main inter-city bus terminal and it left before it was scheduled to, stopping several times in the city to pick up passengers on the way to Tak. I was glad we got on at the station, as some of the people picked up had to stand or sit in the aisle most of the way to Tak.

I had a window seat and watched the world wizz by. When we went by a military base I got to see a squad in formation in full uniform, and it returned me to memories of the cadet life I'd left behind so many years ago, chosing not to continue and pursue a career in the Forces. I also chanced to see two people riding a scooter, a long bamboo pole stretched before them, looking for all the world like they were lining up a lance to begin jousting.

Though we had entered the mountains, the road to Tak was relatively flat and did not appear to gain much altitude. The same could not be said for when we turned North towards Chiang Mai from Lampang. At this point, it began to resemble a true mountain road, but with no chance of snow.

Arriving in Chiang Mai, we found a place in the inner city, near the Tha Phae Gate, inside the moat. We did a little bit of exploring around, checking out a wat and arranging a cooking course for tomorrow, before grabbing some Vietnamese food for dinner.

On our way back we checked out the market around the corner from our guesthouse and then found out about a Muay Thai match happening around the next corner. I was somewhat curious to see this, as I had heard they can be quite entertaining, and a good display of athleticism. Anton and Vanessa were really into it, so, we each paid our 400 baht admission and went to see it.

I'll never do that again.

Many of the early bouts were in the 12 to 16 age groups, so I felt somewhat bad for the kids, and the rest, well, there were a couple that were reasonably about sportsmanship and technique, but the last one left a really bad taste in my mouth. A 200lb Australian who had been training at one of the local gyms was matched up against a much smaller Thai guy. Their weights, reach, and heights were not even close to being equal, although they may have been at similar skill levels. Needless to say, the Australian pummelled the Thai guy into submission, knocking him out in the first round before running around with pride. To his credit, he thanked the Thai guy and showed him a good deal of respect, helping him out of the ring after the bout, but it was just so uneven that it was not something that could be called sporting.