Travel

New Start in Chiang Mai

wildboom

After busing a crossed three countries I decided on a plane for my journey away from island paradise to northern Tha city life. The flight only cost about $60 and saved me probably 30 hours of busing. Seemed worth it!

I arrived at night and made my way to a hostel I had booked. The next morning I got up with a specific mission. This was my day to scout out potential Muay Thai gyms to train at. So I rented a bicycle and began my rounds. I stopped at 4 gyms and likely recorded over 20 miles while riding precariously on the major high ways, through traffic. Shout out to my guardian angels!

There were two gyms that really seemed like a good fit for me. The other gyms we’re either too touristy or pricey. I wanted to be at a gym that had the level of trainers and also other students that would help me become better. Iron sharpens iron, and that is what I was going for. Between the two that interested me I chose the one that was closer to the WELS started congregation in the city. That way I could make it a priority to get involved in the church there. The other gym did have an incredible level of talent with fighters contending for world titles. However, I had to keep my priorities in the right places.

I settled at Team Quest. It’s near the airport there and has a massive 5 story shopping mall near it. That gives me options for entertainment and shopping in between training. Also it’s free AC!
I am currently living in an apartment and I’m going to do a post exaining how I got it and giving a little tour soon. In the meantime I wanted to fill everyone in on what I’ve been exploring in the city so far!

I don’t have any training pictures or videos, and might not for a while. No body wants to be the new guy at the gym who looks like he’s just training so he can get some cool Instagram pictures. There was a photographer going around the other day so we’ll see when I come up with some photos of the gym and training.

In my spare time I managed to make it out to a Chiang Mai FC game. It was the last of the season! If you look in the picture below you can see me on the far right sneaking into a photo that appeared on their Facebook page. Next to me is a friend I met at the game. He had decent English and he and his friends offered me snacks while we watched together. He was from the hill tribes further north he told me and the snack he shared was what looked like acorns, but were some type of delicious nut. I had to crack them open with my teeth to get the tasty innards out. I have found Thais are some of the nicest people on the planet. Most will do anything to help you out, especially if you look lost or confused!

The niceness continued as I felt welcomed into the church service this Sunday. I had stopped by earlier when I was on my bike tour, but no one with passable English was there. I had a funny conversation with one of the guys there none the less! For my WELS readers the church services actually take place in the same building as the Thai Village. For those that don’t know Thai Village is a program that helps get local Thai people into a job making craft jewelry and knick knacks to sell for income. I toured around and I was impressed by the products! 

You can take a look at their products and help support the people here with a purchase at https://thaivillage.org.

The time leading up to finding a gym and apartment had been pretty stressful and I was starting to feel a little homesick. It’s pretty easy to feel lonely when all your friends and family are halfway a crossed the world. I had this on my heart heading to church and it never ceases to blow my mind how a church service and hearing God’s word can change everything.

We were singing a hymn, well I was trying to humm along since it was in Thai, but it sounded so beautiful. I was caught thinking about home. They had the English lyrics under the Thai lyrics and the one line said something along the lines of “wherever you go God has journeyed with you.” I had tears welling up in my eyes. Even though everything was going on in another language that is all I needed to hear. That alone reminded me that God is always with me and always will be. That comfort reminded me of the things I had learned growing up from my parents, from church, and from going to a Lutheran high school. Because of that comfort, home suddenly didn’t seem so far.

That is a service I will never forget. I got to meet some incredible people and I was lucky to have the retired missionary next to me to help translate and get the main message a crossed during the service. Just another instance of Thais being friendly, but more importantly of the power of Christian fellowship. My friends and family may be on the other side of the globe, but I now have my own friends and family right here.

New Start in Chiang Mai

Island Life and Bar Fights

wildboom

After enjoying the beach I decided I wanted to take it further out to one of the islands to really immerse myself in island life. While there are many island in southern Thailand all offering something a little unique I decided to go to Phi Phi island. I chose this island because it is known as one of the mostly naturelt beautiful islands. Coincidentally, it also has a decent night life!

I arrived on the island midday and didn’t really have any plans, but a New Zealander at my hostel happened to invite me on a hike to a viewpoint for sunset. He told me there was a 30 baht ($1) fee to get there, but he saw some trails on his map that lead around the backside so you wouldn’t have to pay. I am always up for some impromptu hiking, so we headed out.

It turned out to be a roughly 2 hour hike. There were nice parts walking along secluded beaches, but mostly it was a trek through an unkept path where sharp leaves would cut you and weird 6 inch centipedes would startle you. Cervantes did say, “The road is better than the in.” With that sentiment in mind we both felt a good amount of accomplishment when we reached the viewpoint with plenty of time before sundown.

There the New Zealander and I made friends with two British fellows and we made a plan to meet at the bar later that night. The New Zealander and I returned to our rooms and got ready to go out. First, we went to a bar that showed a free movie every night. We got a free showing of The Hitman’s Bodyguard. It was a funny film and some much needed relaxation from the hike earlier.

Then we made our way to a bar that featured Muay Thai fights. That definitely excited me, and this is also where we met up with the Brits. Evidentially at this bar if you golenteer to get in the ring against another person you both her a free bucket of alcohol. Thrilled by the idea of free alcohol, but mostly by having a Muay Thai fight I signed up. No waiver no nothing. After putting on some sweaty used shorts, next thing you know I’m in the ring!

There’s the footage of the fight! You can hear my New Zealander mate narrating.

Next day I took a hike to some other beaches and to the grand daddy viewpoint of the island. Honestly, I got lucky with the viewpoint because I didn’t know it was there until I saw the signs. I never pass up an opportunity for a viewpoint and I’m sure glad I didn’t this time!

After that I relaxed and ate a good lunch and got on my feery back to the mainland! It was a quick but absolutely beautiful island trip!

Next up, my journey to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand where I start my true Muay Thai career!

Island Life and Bar Fights

Daily Budget and Beach Days!

wildboom

I’m going to start this post by giving a breakdown of costs for a single day. People see the pictures and assume I’m rich for traveling so much, but I just know how to do it cheap! My one way plane ticket here was about $330 so even air fare isn’t to terribly bad. Once you get past that, you get to enjoy the power of the conversion rate! The daily budget is for a day out enjoying the beaches in AO Nang near Krabi, Thailand.

First thing is waking up in a hostel. I spent the US equivalent of $3.36 on a night there. I know what you’re thinkjng, “Only $3!!” That’s the beauty of hostels and luckily in South East Asia hostels are cheaper than anywhere else in the world! I haven’t spent over $6 a night yet, and probably never will.

Next, I raid 7/11. For whatever reason 7/11s are everywhere in Thailand and they have some really great deals! I stopped here to buy snacks and water since I was going to be taking a boat to some more remote beaches we’re I assumed the prices would be higher. This is another important aspect of travel cheap: plan ahead! So for 81 baht which is the equivalent of $2.45 USD I got everything in the picture below. Two tuna sandwiches, two dessert cakes, two bottles of water, a banana, and a package of crackers.

Next thing was spending 50 baht ($1.51) on a meal for breakfast while I was still on the mainland. I forgot to take a picture, but you can see the empty plate below. It was a full portion and delicious!

Next was 200 baht for my boat shuttle to the secluded beaches. It was 100 baht there, so $3.02 for my ride there!

While there I got to sit and relax and enjoy the beautiful clear waters and surrounding cliffs. I also got to wander off and get lost in the jungle! I was walking to another beach in the area when I saw a sign for a hike up to a viewpoint. I saw a couple tourist attempting it in flip-flops and me being in sandals I figured if they could do it so could I!


It ended up being a pretty easy hike to the viewpoint, but unbeknownst to me there was also a lagoon hidden down in the jungle there. So a German traveler I met and I decided to conquer that as well. That was not nearly as easy. There was water dripping everywhere and the mud made every super slippery. We got to a point where we had to decend three tall bamboo latter’s to lower ourselves closer to the entrance of the lagoon. The ladders were caked with mud from the previous hikers and oh so slick!
Luckily, we made it down and as soon as we got there I was in awe! I just wanted to explore and see all what all there was to this hidden gem. Immediately as I began walking around the edge of the lagoon past the major rocks I snuck knee deep into mud. I lost my sandals pulling my feet out and had to retrieve them by hand. After getting my hands clean I had my German traveling companion take a photo. Close to everyone who sees this picture draws a resemblance to Tarzan. Which I kind of like! It’s the wild nature in me!

After that excursion I went and swam in the ocean on another beach and enjoyed the summer set before catching the last boat back to the mainland. That boat was the other half of the 200 baht so another $3.02. all in all I spent about from 9am to 5pm on the beach.

On my boat back I randomly met up with my Danish friends I had met on the bus the day before. We decided to get some dinner together and we enjoyed some delicious Phad Thai for 50 baht ($1.51). After that I grabbed another 5 baht snack more 7/11 and enjoyed a banana spring roll from a street vendor for 10 baht (15 baht = 45ยข).

For a grand total of $15.32 I had a day of beach fun and jungle trekking that I will never forget!

Stay tuned for my island adventures! 

Daily Budget and Beach Days!