Toothache in Thailand

So I dutifully visit the dentist on Sydney before beginning my adventures. Along with a bill of hundreds of dollars she suggested I might need a tooth 'seen to' at some stage, but didn't have time to sort it. Assuming all would be ok after deciding the suggested removal of a wisdom tooth was unnecessary, I paid the bill, packed my bags and headed to Thailand.

Fast forward a few weeks .... tooth ache! And not the 'never caused a problem' wisdom tooth but the maybe some time get it 'seen to' tooth. I self diagnosed an infection and was taking a few antibiotics and a lot of nurofen but by this afternoon decided that dire action was required. Well, that and the thought of "better here than in India!"

So the appointment was made and the fear began. My friend P (not her real name but much easier to spell) drove me to Chalong Town. Upon arrival at said dentist the fear increased.

The exterior didn't exactly fill me with confidence.



And the bike seat shop next door didn't help!


But with thoughts of Indian dentists in my mind, I headed on in. I filled out a raft of paperwork for some bizarre reason and took my place in the chair. Note the hands gripping the arm of the chair - an indication of my state of relaxation.




A bit of poking, prodding and banging my teeth (and an xray) by the chick in the stained blue coat and my self diagnosis was confirmed.


I have an nasty infection in my gum caused by the tooth that needs to be 'seen to' at some stage. The quite sweet dentist suggested a root canal which I was happy to have, but then she told me I wasn't going to be here long enough to have it done.

So P and I headed back to Rawai happy that no drilling was required. I have a bag of strong antibiotics and a bag of ibuprofen and am only 250 baht out of pocket. Yes that's correct, about $8.50 for an examination and the bags of drugs.



I think I'll pop to the pharmacy and stock up on those drugs before heading to India. My first stop once I hit Japan will be a clean, well trained dentist!

Posted from somewhere round the world...

Location:Rawai

All work and no play..... makes for a dull adventure

Training over 4 hours a day leads to a fairly quiet existence from Monday to Friday, but weekends can be a whole different story!
Saturday morning is 7am beach training so it makes perfect sense to stay at the beach for the day and forget that a Saturday afternoon session even exists. We spent this Saturday at a small beach away from the tourist masses.

We had such a great day that we were at the beach til nearly 6pm. Tis made for a late dinner as a storm hit the island.

Sunday is a full day off from the gym. This week I had rounded up 10 or so of my new friends and had organized a long boat trip to Coral Island. But the planning was all in vain as I woke early to discover the storms of the previous night were still persisting. When it rains in Thailand it certainly rains.
So the boat trip was canned and a trip into Patong became the order of the day.
Nothing like the sun coming out as you wait for the taxi - after canceling the boat trip.

Now you may think that Patong is a tourist nightmare, and you may well be right. But there are some things in this town that are just brilliant. See exhibit A.

Then it was time for lunch. As it was our day off from training it was decided that it was time to let loose.

Then for some pampering. Andre, Jason and I had a facial while Annelie had her hair cut. Then the boys had massages while the girls opted for pedi's and a foot massage. Andre and I also saw a really cool 4D movie. I only screamed once!

The it was off to Nicky Handlebar - a bar full of Harley stuff owned by Andre's friends. It felt like Saturday night but unfortunately it was Sunday so with 7am training looming we went light on the beverage front ... making plans to return next Saturday night

As the rain was back no taxi driver wanted to make the late night run to Rawai, so tuktuk it was.

Now you may think that the weekend adventure was over, but we weedy bright and early for Monday training and to celebrate Andre's birthday. While he took himself off to get a birthday tatt we planned dinner.
We arrived at the most amazing place I have been to since I've been here - not hard as I've eaten nearly every meal at cashew nut!

So we got all dressed up (well as dressed up as you can be in havaianas) and took the crazy German chef out to celebrate.

The food and bubbles were amazing at it was smiles all round when the fab birthday pancake appeared.
Posted from somewhere round the world...

Location:Various locations around Phuket

Fights and frollics - week 2 at Rawai

Week 2 at Rawai Muay Thai camp held many adventures, the highlight was attending my first ever muay thai fight night. Three people from our camp were competing so we donned our camp shirts, piled into buses and headed to Patong.

Annelie and I waiting for the bus....



and modeling our new purchases.


Then it was the long trek into Patong on the mini bus ... (Andre, me, Jason, Katie & Annelie are featured)



Katie and Annelie, my camp buddies.


And finally all the buses arrived at the stadium and the Rawai camp made ourselves at home.






This is the closest I'll be getting to that ring!


There were about 8 fights all up, with three fighters from our camp. It was a great night, they all won. By the way, the dude who lost the last fight vomitted in the ring, promise there are no photos of that mess.

Doing the traditional dance type thingy at the start. We've been taught this at camp - I make it interesting by adding tunes (or noise for those of you who know that I don't do tune).





Then the amazing Ella was up. Ella's from the UK and has been training for a total of 7 or 8 weeks - less injury time. She is a great girl and we were in fine voice to cheer her on. It reminded me of the noise I make at a saints game.









Ella won in a knock out - surprising herself more than us.

Then today I invited the 6 young fighters from my camp over for a swim in the pool. It was so much fun despite the language barrier. All of these kids are training full time. But I decided that they needed to be naughty so gave them bags of chips and cans of coke. They loved it!








Posted from somewhere round the world...

Location:Rawai

Muay Thai week 2 - a pictorial

Rather than bore you with words, I thought you might like to see me in action - boxing shorts and all!

Entering the ring



A nice front kick


Just look at the focus...


















Knees are great fun but they kinda hurt like hell


Even in the ring you still have to do push ups at the end of each round











It was a tough day at the office, particularly as I'd just finished a 2k run before I got in the ring. And it was the 3pm session so it was slightly 'warm'.

Posted from somewhere round the world...

Location:Rawai Muay Thai Gym

Beach training ... Warning some images may disturb

After 10 sessions or 22.5 hours of training in the gym we get to go to the beach on Saturday mornings. The session started with a warm up run to the end of the beach and back. Trust me, I was well and truly warm at the end of that.

The whole session was cardio, so you may think that I've popped into the ocean for a little swim, but I can assure you it is all sweat. As I said in the heading, some images may disturb you.




I'm standing next to Sid, my fav trainer (he's much stronger than he looks) and some Aussie's who were training for a week. This is before training started.



Upper cuts ... 14 times zig zagging up the beach x 3 circuits.




If you don't bow at the start and end you have to do 20 push ups. Remembering to bow becomes pretty easy.



10 knees on each leg .. they are about as much fun as running on soft sand.



This is probably knees as well but looks like I've stopped for a breather. The shining sweat look is so not good.

After other sprints with punches x about 3 or 4 circuits we got to swim. A few of us stayed at the beach for the day as it was bloody hot. So hot in fact that I sat under an umbrella all day - and I never do that!

There will be some gym pics coming soon, but they are going to be even more unflattering so will come with a warning.

Surprising really how something so hard can be so much fun.

Posted from somewhere round the world...

Location:Nai Hahn beach (not correct spelling)

The good, the bad and the ugly...

So let's start with the good...
This morning at training we did the warm up then headed to the end of the gym where all the new people train. I was ready to get started when my friends Annalie, Sophia and I were pulled aside by the trainers. Next thing we are being taken to the main group. That's right, after only 3 days we have graduated from beginners muay Thai. Very impressive indeed, particularly as some of the guys that started with us are still in the beginners group.

The other good thing - the regular group get to go in the ring. We fight 4 rounds one-on-one with a trainer. He calls out the moves (often in Thai) and you need to follow. This is lots of fun but a bit interesting as I often get my left and right confused. My right elbow punch is getting really good, if i do say so myself.

The bad ...
Well this afternoon I was back in the ring sparring with this dude who really couldn't speak a lick of English. trying to explain that I can't kick with my injured right foot was a laugh. Anyway we're fighting away and next thing go for a big left kick. Now with Muay Thai kicks you need to swing your hips and leg up and across so you hit the pad with the front of your foot and shin. This is much harder than it sounds- particularly if you have short legs to start with, so struggle to get the height needed - and if you are particularly bad at twisting your leg at the same time. Anyway, I lost focus a little and went for the traditional Aussie rules drop punt. But I even got this wrong as I forgot to point my toes down. I'm fairly certain my second toe on my left foot is broken or at least severely disfigured. I now have my second toe taped to the third toe. Makes wearing my havaianas a challenge. I have now retired from the side kicks at waist height - probably should never have attempted them in the first place!

The ugly...
Well that would be my toes. Big toes taped up to stop the blisters from all the twisting and now two toes taped together. The other ugly thing is how everyone looks after about ten minutes of training. Think back to my description of the rivers of sweat. The afternoon sessions are particularly bad. It's quite warm at 3pm, the humidity is at it's peak and there's not a drop of wind. People were dropping like flies today. Along with the sweat soaked clothes, faces are red or purple - it's not a pretty site.I must take some photos to share with you.

Anyway, I've managed 8 sessions so far. There are only a few of us who train twice a day, but for now I'll keep it up - taped up and hobbling.

Oh my ... thai

Oh my - thai, what was I thinking. Training for 4 hours a day is in itself a challenge, but throw in the heat and humidity and it's a whole lot worse.

I survived a full day of training yesterday. I actually quite enjoyed it. Once you get past the fact that you (and everyone else) have become a river of sweat. Now I'm not talking a little shine here, I'm talking about rivers of the stuff running off you. Probably a good thing the gym is open air!

We do get lots of short water and wipe-the-sweat breaks, but each break starts with 10 push ups and 10 sit ups. That's a hell of a lot over a 2 hour session.

I had plans of having the sleep of my life last night. But although I was knackered, I hadn't factored in the sore body business. It hurt to lay down (beds in Asia are very hard), it hurt to roll over and I'm just lucky it didn't hurt to breathe.

But I got my sore self down to the gym this morning to do it all again. Things were going swimmingly (think sweat) when one of the trainers stepped forward just as I launched a big right kick. The top of my foot and his knee cap are never going to be the same again. After the VERY loud swearing (me) and yelps and giggles (him) we surveyed the damage. Ice was administered and I was able to finish the session - punches and elbows only, no god damned kicks.

I hobbled home feeling sore and sorry for myself and wondered if my career as a muay thai fighter had come to an end. I had a swim and a snooze (the fighters daily ritual) and headed back for the 3pm session. There were cheers from the trainers - I don't think they expected me back for a while. I swapped kicks for more punches but otherwise survived the session quite well.

Might hobble back again in the morning.


- Posted from somewhere round the world...

Location:Happy elephant resort