This morning Allisha and I had planned a late start as Nat and Dom had booked to go on an ATV/quad bike tour. To make good use of our time we decided to start planing our trip through Laos and book flights to Vietnam. We discovered there was a river cruise that could take us from Huay Xai (the first town across the border from Thailand), to Luang Prabang.
However that would mean missing the over land journey and some potentially nice small towns along the way. With that in mind we decided that we would make a series of small trips and stop at intervals along the way. Beginning East to Nong Khiaw, and then South to the capital, Vientiane. We decided our main stops would be Luang Namtha, Kong Khiaw, Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng and Vientiane. With room for us to make detours if we wanted to.
We then set an exit flight, by finding the cheapest flights to Hanoi, resulting in us having 2.5 weeks in Laos. As always it never feels like enough time! Luckily it is easy to get around on mini bus, and everything is about 3-5 hours apart. So we will just have to make a jump every 2 days or so. Many of the towns we are to visit look like they can be explored in a day no problems. We dont necessarily have any ambition to do long jungle hikes, opting rather to take it easy, eat healthy, catch up on sleep and exercise, as well as avoiding alcohol. In essence just cruise along and conserve some cash. As it turned out, Laos was the perfect place to do just that.
Back to the present! Allisha and I decided to check out the night bazaar for the first time. Walking a short distance down the main street we came across the daily markets. We moved slowly through the crowd, looking at stalls. Eventually we ended up in a food arcade. After doing a lap and looking at all the inviting dishes we settled on a place that did a nice range of clearly labled vegetarian dishes. I can never seem to get over how fresh and delicious the Asian cuisine is. I can't recommend highly enough for everyone to come here for the food! After we had finished our meal and shared a beer we grabbed some ice cream for desert, and headed back to the guesthouse/hotel.
However that would mean missing the over land journey and some potentially nice small towns along the way. With that in mind we decided that we would make a series of small trips and stop at intervals along the way. Beginning East to Nong Khiaw, and then South to the capital, Vientiane. We decided our main stops would be Luang Namtha, Kong Khiaw, Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng and Vientiane. With room for us to make detours if we wanted to.
We then set an exit flight, by finding the cheapest flights to Hanoi, resulting in us having 2.5 weeks in Laos. As always it never feels like enough time! Luckily it is easy to get around on mini bus, and everything is about 3-5 hours apart. So we will just have to make a jump every 2 days or so. Many of the towns we are to visit look like they can be explored in a day no problems. We dont necessarily have any ambition to do long jungle hikes, opting rather to take it easy, eat healthy, catch up on sleep and exercise, as well as avoiding alcohol. In essence just cruise along and conserve some cash. As it turned out, Laos was the perfect place to do just that.
Back to the present! Allisha and I decided to check out the night bazaar for the first time. Walking a short distance down the main street we came across the daily markets. We moved slowly through the crowd, looking at stalls. Eventually we ended up in a food arcade. After doing a lap and looking at all the inviting dishes we settled on a place that did a nice range of clearly labled vegetarian dishes. I can never seem to get over how fresh and delicious the Asian cuisine is. I can't recommend highly enough for everyone to come here for the food! After we had finished our meal and shared a beer we grabbed some ice cream for desert, and headed back to the guesthouse/hotel.
Once Nat and Dom had arrived back from their adventure activities, and we had exchanged stories of the days activities, we decided that we had better go and see a Muay Thai Fight! The booking desk at our accomodation informed us that there was a fight held every night in the near by bar precinct. Allisha and I went for GA tickets which were around 900 baht and Nat and Dom opted for ring side seats for 1100 baht.
Ticket prices included a local taxi to the arena, however it was only about 2 blocks away, so the taxi was a little redundant for us! Never the less, a good price for an evenings activities. Once we arrived, and our tickets had been inspected, we were shown to our seats. A large elevated boxing ring was positioned in an open central space within an arcade of bars and fast food restaurants. We were sat in long rows of benches with a matching table in front of each bench.
To pass the time we purchased slightly expensive Chang beer and made conversation with the other foreigners seated around us. To our left we had a young Canadian couple (Jacob and Candice) who were doing their first big over seas travel together, and on our right we had a Frenchman (Red) who is in hotel management/investment. Before the fight started there was an informational video that played on a projector screen. The video covered the different aspects of Muay Thai fighting, from the historical and spiritual, to the practical movements of the fighting style. This was pretty interesting as it gave you a good insight to the culture you were about to experience. After the video had finished they started with the heaviest weight class. It was pretty hard to understand what was happening. But the format was pretty much the same as a conventional boxing match. For the average size of Thai men, these guys were pretty huge.
Ticket prices included a local taxi to the arena, however it was only about 2 blocks away, so the taxi was a little redundant for us! Never the less, a good price for an evenings activities. Once we arrived, and our tickets had been inspected, we were shown to our seats. A large elevated boxing ring was positioned in an open central space within an arcade of bars and fast food restaurants. We were sat in long rows of benches with a matching table in front of each bench.
To pass the time we purchased slightly expensive Chang beer and made conversation with the other foreigners seated around us. To our left we had a young Canadian couple (Jacob and Candice) who were doing their first big over seas travel together, and on our right we had a Frenchman (Red) who is in hotel management/investment. Before the fight started there was an informational video that played on a projector screen. The video covered the different aspects of Muay Thai fighting, from the historical and spiritual, to the practical movements of the fighting style. This was pretty interesting as it gave you a good insight to the culture you were about to experience. After the video had finished they started with the heaviest weight class. It was pretty hard to understand what was happening. But the format was pretty much the same as a conventional boxing match. For the average size of Thai men, these guys were pretty huge.
After a few rounds of trading punches, but mostly dancing around conserving energy, they let loose in the last 2 rounds. The slightly larger of the two eventually taking victory. This was followed by the next weight class, alternating male and female matches, and descending in weight class. Of the 7 fights there were 4 male and 3 female rounds. At the half way point there was a display of weapon fighting, this was more a stylised exhibition of the martial art, rather than an actual competition. It was great to watch, but difficult to photograph!
Following the half way point we were into the lightweight classes. I couldn't believe the ferocity of these tiny 18 year olds, especially the female fights! It was great to see them getting an equal respect in the sport. Too many contact sports these days seem to still have stigma around including women. It was also great to see the respect that was shown at the end of each fight, regardless of gender. You could see there was no resent to the opponent or the decisions of the referee.
Before we knew it the final fight was done! Well plied with beer and cocktails we decided to continue on with our new Canadian and French friends to some of the near by bars. We wandered down the street and had a few drinks here and there until finally it was time for us to call it a night. We walked home having made some great new friends, and sharing a memorable experience. Stopping only to indulge in some take away toasted cheese sandwiches from 7/11.
-Tom
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