So it was the weekend (4th -6th October) and we were all geared up to visit the dam, we had been putting
it off as the weather had not been the best , but it hadn't rained in
a few days now and from the looks of it, it seemed like we were out of the
wet season and it was blue skies and an average of 32-35 degree's
ahead for the foreseeable future... it's a tough life I suppose.
We set off on the 50 km journey,
and along the way we inadvertently ended up riding in a bike gang of Thai teenagers. Once they seen us they decided it was time to show off,
with two of them on each bike they began to pop wheelies and drove
for easily 100 meters, still on one wheel.
At this
stage we have gotten use to seeing unusual sights on the roads in
Thailand most of all the things they stack up on each vehicle ranging
from 6 people on a moped to 10 large crates filled with pigs on a truck or
large amounts of chopped wood,one man and his dog :) We arrived at the dam which was a huge water duct surrounded by islands
covered in forest that forced me to hum the Jurassic park theme tune
every few minutes.
In the area we could see on top of
one of the mountains a large Buddha statue and decided to go explore.
We got to the entrance of the temple and were greeted by 1500 steps
leading up a mountain to the massive Buddha. Cue sighs of disbelief
and we stretched and joked about sprinting up the steps rocky style.
We prepared for the journey and i popped the music scene of rocky running
up the steps on you tube and surprised every one when the music started
but it set me and Aaron off sprinting.
We got 1/4 of the way and then
the 32 degree heat took its toll and we were out of breath and
covered in sweat, the two girls strolled up and caught up with us as
we wheezed out of breath, proper case of the tortoise and the hare. So
we agreed to walk the rest of the way.
When we got to the top we found a
car park beside the temple and realised we could have driven up “doh”
moment, but the view on the way up was amazing. Once at the peak we
were greeted by a huge Buddha statue on top of the temple and some
monks in full gear strolling around with i phones and tablets which was
a bit of a surprise to us but turns out they can have electronic devices
for studying on-line.. “go the future”.
Up there the view was serene and
the temple was filled with religious icons and areas were you could
bang gongs and hit symbols so we tried our hand at a few rock songs, future band in the making...
They had 3 smaller Buddha statues
which were possibly stone a piece and the idea is you kneel before
them and bow 3 times and then try to pick them, if you cant pick it
up on the first try then you bow 3 more times and Buddha himself
gives you the strength to lift it and good luck if you couldn't the
first time which is what happened to me.
The area surrounding the
temple was also beautiful and full of nice views of the ocean. There
we seen what we now learnt is Thai humor were large over hanging
rocks which look like they are close to falling are held up by
hundreds of small twigs holding it up.
We also got to make the cover for
our next album as below :)
On Friday we went to our first Muay Thai training session and loved it so much that we signed up for the whole month. Our trainer is a fun loving guy names Id and he has trained Muay Thai champions from the Issan region and Bangkok and people from around the world come to train with him to improve fighting style in the aptly named “Art of 8 Limbs”. Muay Thai is a combat sport from Muay Martial Arts from Thailand that uses stand up striking along with various clinching techniques. It's a physical and mental discipline which includes combat on foot. It is characterised by the combined use of fists, elbows, knees shins and feet. That makes a full contact fight very efficient and also very painful to learn.☺
Before each session
he plays the traditional Thai music which is always played before a
fight and we are asked to do the pre-fight ritual which is like a
dance which limbers up the whole body using stretches and bows to
each corner and the ring called Wai
Kru Muay Boran. Every one is slightly different and some fighters
will throw in funny moves such as shooting and opponent with a few
arrow, usually met by the opponent pretending to catch it and break
it over his knee. Here is one version of the dance. Wai Kru Muay Boran (click link)
We
have now gone to 5 sessions and its usually 2 hours at a time. We are
hoping to go 5-6 times a week so should be pretty proficient by the
end of the first month in kicking ass.. well at least a punching
bag!! After the first few sessions both of us have bruised ankles legs and elbows
but its an amazing experience.
On
our off day we found a swimming pool in town were you pay 50
baht (just over a euro) for the whole day and beside the stadium. We
said the next time Khon Kaen are playing football we will be going to watch a game.
On our third day training an older gentleman got in to
the ring, maybe in his 60's. He put on the pads and kept asking me to
hit them as he held them up in broken English A bit weary of hurting
him i agreed. He would shout 1-6 and ask for different moves (punches
and elbows) I had learned but on every six count he would pull away
and i would miss and lose balance and he would laugh his arse off
in my face which forced a smile to my face every time. After a while
i tried to stretch to hit it and keep my balance at the same time and
once i did he said in almost perfect English “very good”, "Better
better".
This
frail old man then walked over to the bag and unleashed a flurry of
punches the likes of which would have winded me 10 times over and
walked back and pointed to a poster on the wall from the 70's and
said i was the champion of Bangkok when i was younger. Once again I learnt “don't judge a book by its cover” that and be weary of old
men in Thailand as they may have been a Muay Thai champions :)
The trainer has been immensely
impressed with both of our progress in short space of time regarding
our stance and guard , Kristine took a sneaky video of me training
and has no made me put it in so you can see for yourself. -
