Last full day in Thailand! Since Sarah had her manicure and pedicure session yesterday, I decided to treat myself to a two hour Thai massage at the popular health and spa chain Healthland. We chose the Asoke branch near the city centre because it is close to a Skytrain station and there are lots of malls nearby. We arrived at Healthland at ten o’clock and I managed to get an appointment straight away. Sarah went off to explore Terminal 21, a themed mall where each level was dedicated to a world city, and I was led to the massage room. The masseuse lady had massive forearms which I took to be a good sign, as soft beauty spa-style massages are a complete waste of time. I wasn’t disappointed. For the next two hours, she took me apart with her knees and elbows and I was given a hiding by this 5 foot nothing forty year old woman. To be fair, I actually enjoyed the beach massage we had on Koh Chang more, but who am I to complain?
It was midday and I met Sarah at Terminal 21 for our lunch date. For lunch, we chose that well known South East Asian cuisine, Mexican. Oh how the mighty have fallen! Back in the early days of Malaysia we had seen Mexican restaurants around and laughed at the idea, “who would eat Mexican in South East Asia?” we asked… Well, it seems not two months later the answer is us, and it was delicious. Burrito and quesadea were a welcome change to having noodles again and we were so full afterwards that we couldn’t even manage dinner that night.
In the evening, we did our most adventurous thing yet in Thailand. No, it wasn’t a ping pong show, I am referring to watching Muay Thai at the famous Lumpinee Stadium. Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand and there are fights scheduled six nights a week in Bangkok. There are three classes of tickets and outrageously, foreigners have to pay a four-fold premium for them. Still, it’s a one-off and we decided to splash out on two second class tickets for USD 50 each. We entered the stadium to find ourselves standing on concrete steps and surrounded by middle age Thai men. The stadium itself was relatively run down and was mostly concrete and wire mesh. There were Military Policemen to keep the peace and altogether these added to a very surreal experience. The Thais were very punctual and the night started right on time at 6.30pm, beginning with the national anthem. I had read that our section was where the bookies hang out and it didn’t take long to see them in action. Unlike other sporting events, the bookies took bets continuously during each fight and the changing odds were shouted out to the crowd as the fighters pummelled each other with punches, kicks, knees and elbows. There also seemed to be a complex system of hand signals which conveyed the odds, size and direction of each bet over the noise. So there we were, right in the thick of the gambling action with hundreds of Thai men waving their hands and shouting numbers at each other, and runners darting around collecting money. It was completely mental. Meanwhile, next to the ring were musicians playing traditional music really loudly to the tempo of the fight and the whole experience was a barrage of noise and sight. There were nine fights that night and they were all action packed. The fighters ranged in age from around 15 to mid-20s and none were above 60kg, pretty much all sinewy muscle and bones. There was one knockout and some clear winners but we were impressed by all the fighters.
The next day, we spent a lazy morning packing and had a last pad thai before catching the train to the airport. The journey and the check-in with Air Asia were hassle-free and we felt like it was a perfect ending to our South East Asian adventure. Next stop: Hong Kong.
Here is the link to our Thailand photos.
We only managed to learn 7 things in Thailand, because lying on the beach doesn’t count.
1. Thai massage is absolutely the most phemnonmenal school of massage we have experienced.
2. The absence of tuk tuks and mopeds on Koh Chang was a dream. These pushy drivers were a real blight on the Phnom Penh and Siem Reap experience.
3. Thai food is amazing, but then most people know that already. A new discovery was the Thai meatballs, a combination of pork, potatoes, coriander root, coriander seeds and fish sauce. Fantastic. Also, we find that authentic Thai curries have much less coconut cream than Western versions.
4. Thais like their sugar and put it in everything.
5. The floods were pretty devastating and we kept seeing sandbags that homes and shops still have around their entrance.
6. Thai people LOVE their king.
7. Buddhism is the state religion and man, are they a religious lot. Every home and business has an altar and at the Muay Thai fight, we noticed that most of the crowd were wearing protective amulets which the Thais believe will enhance their fortune.