What we did: Muay Thai
Budget: 1800B/$60; Spent: 2577B/$86
We had another breakfast down the street at the corner restaurant this morning. We ordered the usual and went back to the guesthouse and did some stuff on the internet, basically wasted time.
We sat around the lobby of our guesthouse and anxiously awaited our clean laundry containing our workout clothes for the day. If it didn't come on time we’d be stuck wearing street clothes to Muay Thai...not cool
The clothes arrived at 2:45pm, just 15 mins before our ride picked us up for Muay Thai. Lucky for us! When our ride arrived, it wasn't the truck but a tuk-tuk instead. We got a ride with 2 other guys we had never met before. One was English, the other German.
I sat in the front with the driver. Jeff sat in the back chatting with the English dude named Findlay. I wasn't really listening to their conversation, I was more focused on not falling out of the tuk-tuk, which I successfully managed to do. Yay!
We arrived and went straight into skipping and stretching. We're getting into the routine now which is kind of nice. Once warm up is done we go get our hands wrapped. This makes both of us feel really cool, but of course we act like it's no big deal.
Today, Long and Chelsea taught Jeff and I how to catch kicks and then come back with an attack. It was hard to get the form right at first but we got the hang of it. It's all very much like learning how to dance. Every part of your body has its correct position during the move. Coordinating it all is pretty tough. This makes it so different from soccer and I like that. It's really interesting trying to get your body to move in ways it's just not used to. Soccer is second nature now, I don't have to pay attention to my body, it just does things. Muay Thai is not only physically exhausting but mentally as well, because there is so much focus required to learn the move and then get your entire body to follow suit.
Jeff then got called into the ring and I did some shadow boxing with Long. Both of us had the pleasure of working with Samart in the ring today. He reminds us that we are pure novices and he makes us feel like we’re unathletic weaklings simply because he is so intense about getting the technique correct. It sounds like this would be upsetting but no, we love him! His attention to detail makes him an excellent teacher, probably the best at the gym. He must have been an amazing fighter. Even the really good fighters have said that Samart toys with them when they spar.
I felt myself improving and I felt good about my few rounds with Samart... well as good as I could feel after working with Samart! In between rounds and exercises they make us do push ups and sit ups. We’ll be dead by the end of the week for sure.
Jeff was a bit disappointed with his workout with Samart. But then again, I don't think fighters often walk away from Samart feeling too impressed with themselves.
After a few rounds with Samart we did some drills on the big punching bags and then called it a day. We both went to the back of the gym to the bathroom to wash our hands. On our way to the bathroom we said hello to one of the cutest Chihuahuas ever. He was just tied up near the ring with his tail wagging looking at us intently. The owners of the gym have a lot of pets. They keep these puppies locked up in a little room most of the time we’re there. I just hope they’re treated okay.
The bottoms of Jeff’s feet are getting worse. The blisters are huge and now completely open. We showed the two guys on the way back and they were disgusted, as are we.
We got back to the hotel feeling exhausted. We washed our hands which tend to smell like rotten cheese after wearing the gloves and I went to go buy the usual: 2 bottles of Gatorade, and 2 big bottles of water. We mix the two and drink them right after the workout. Instead of going up to shower though we were too lazy so we ate kebabs first and then went up for a shower.
That evening we just ate dinner at our guesthouse and did some blogging and trip planning. I have been doing lots of research on Spanish schools in Spain, but we have yet to find an affordable option that teaches both Spanish and salsa dance. The search continues. We bought yogurt later in the evening as a snack and sat outside and watched the many people heading into the stadium for that night’s fights. It's pretty cool the stadium is right next to our guesthouse. We saw the main event fighter from France hanging out outside the stadium waiting for his fight. The owner of the hotel is French and his family was visiting so they all spoke to the fighter for a while.
By the time 11:30pm rolled around we called it a night and went to bed.
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