“Here’s your room, see you at 4 for training. Go running before.” And just like that, I was dropped in the middle of bloody nowhere in the outskirts of Chiang Mai. What have I signed myself up to for the next week? I began to have serious doubts. Nothing was accessible by foot, not a street food stall in sight, not even a 7/11 and I began to worry how I was going to find food and WiFi around here.
“Wait – can I have a bicycle? Where can I get a bicycle???” I yelled out before Teng, the boy that trains at my gym drove off. He looked at me and gave me a very confused look. He had kindly picked me up from the airport, and the whole ride we communicated in hand gestures, due to his limited English and my piss-poor Thai. I gave him a boom-boom-bicycle kind of gesture (if ya know what I mean) and he finally understood me. “You cannot get bicycle. Boss said you have to run to gym.” Oh dear. Oh no no no.
I tried to explain to him it wasn’t to get to the gym, and I promise I’ll run to the gym, but I just needed something to get into the city! I repeated city like 10 times, and got my Thai dictionary out on my Iphone. “Oh ok, I have bike ready for you at gym. Bye bye.”
I lay in my room for 30 minutes, processing where I was and what awaited me for the next week or so. Okay, I’m in a very remote village, and I have an excruciating amount of training coming up (8 – 10 in morning, then 4 – 6 at night). So is it a good thing that there’s nothing around me? Should I just stay here and start a new book? I unpacked my stuff, and decided (despite being told nothing is accessible by foot) to walk until I saw at least a corner store. It was nearly 12 by the time I found a 7/11 and a few food stalls, but nothing appealed to me.
Thank god for it being a small neighbourhood. Chelsea, who used to be a trainer at my gym Jai Thai Boxing in Wellington, and now is hosting me at his gym Chay Yay Muay Thai, found me helplessly wandering through the area. He rolled down his window and gave me a cheeky grin. “You hungry, huh?” How’d ya know!? (Well, most Muay Thai fighters are hungry all the time, so it’s not a hard guess. I also happened to be frowning in front of a restaurant menu when he found me.) He told me to hop into the car, and just like that his family adopted me for the next few days.
I was astonished when Chelsea insisted I eat Khao Soi for my first lunch: a Chiang Mai famous curry noodle dish, which looks like something on the top 10 do-not-eat-before-a-fight list. I pointed at my belly to indicate to him I still had a wee bit more weight to shed, and fight day was in exactly a weeks time! He smiled and said “no problem! Extra kicks tonight, don’t worry it’s yummy.” So would you say no if your trainer said you could eat something you’ve been craving for weeks? No, of course not. So I demolished this local delicacy and was the happiest I’ve been in a while. Egg noodles with crispy pork in a thick, creamy and spicy curry just happens to be a heavenly combination.
After that, I tagged along to a local supermarket and a food market. When Chelsea grabbed a ridiculous amount of chilli, I thought he was fooling around. Turns out that’s how much they go through in a week, yikes. At the food market, he gave me a quick lesson on all the Thai spices and herbs imaginable, which left my nose tingly. I told him I was keen to do a Thai cooking class while I was here. He just looked at me like I was stupid and said “just learn from my mum between trainings.” Well that makes things easier!
I was excited for training, but equally dreading it: I didn’t think I could last 2hrs, and was super scared I would disappoint the trainers. Much to my surprise, I enjoyed the full two hours, and despite the several bruises, I found myself itching for the next training. Rather than pointlessly hitting pads and bags and trying to do repetitive kicks to get myself fit, I was taught that ‘thinking and being able to use your brain’ is your strongest weapon. “Think, think! Look, and watch” Chelsea repeated to me numerous times. It’s amazing how much you can communicate with body language and hand gestures despite a minor language barrier. And in one training session, my technique had improved more than it had in the last year, and I was reminded how much of a beautiful sport Muay Thai really is.
It turns out when a Thai family says “they will take care of you” they don’t take care of you half-heartedly. (Which I already knew from my weekend away to the floating markets in Amphawa!) Chelsea invited me to his for dinner, and drove off in a mad rush because he had to make a hot-pot for around 20 guests. I went home, showered, and realised I knew which street his house was on, but didn’t know where his house was. Idiot. I Facebooked him but he must have been too busy cooking.
So I decided to stroll through the neighbourhood, and somehow ended up at a festival in a small local shrine. Once again, I was reminded being lost is actually fun: you stumble upon things you wouldn’t have been looking for. Finding something magical when you thought you were aimlessly wandering through a boring suburb gives you this buzz like you’re taking part in an involuntary treasure hunt, and you’ve just unexpectedly discovered a pot of gold. And my pot of gold was a massive grilled chicken thigh for 50c NZ.
Just when I thought that would be the end of my night, Chelsea found me on the streets (yet again, perks of a super small neighbourhood!) I went back to his, where expats, trainers, students and other local friends of Chelsea were demolishing a delicious hotpot he had cooked for everyone. I watched what I ate because two of my trainers were there, but surprisingly they told me to eat more and even gave me cake (!!!!!) “You look good weight, fight okay! Eat more, train better!” So OBVIOUSLY I didn’t say no. Just like the climate and the vibe of the city, the people of Chiang Mai compared to Bangkok are way more relaxed too, I thought. One of the guys from the gym told me I looked like a starving child and my stomach must be a bottomless pit. Damn right it is. And it turns out reaching over for the whisky was pushing the boundaries a wee bit too far. “You win, we drink a lot” the trainers smiled at me, but in all seriousness. I’m starting to crave that post-fight beer.
The following morning, I thought I could afford to make my obligatory 10km run a bit less tedious by adding in some exploring. My legs were aching from last night’s training so I ran super slow, doing 6min/km. Even at the 4km mark, not an ‘attraction’ in sight and I was starting to get annoyed I was in the middle of nowhere – it wasn’t the ‘greenery nowhere’ either. Rather, it was a long concrete road with nothing but old car garages. Damnit, should have booked accommodation close to the city myself. Then, as if it was some sort of “chill the frick out and be happy” message, my happy buddha attached to my keys dropped from my pocket to the ground. Sounds super silly but it reminded me to just smile. It’s not too bad, not bad at all. You’re in Chiang Mai, the weather is nice, you don’t have to work anymore and you can have breakfast after a few more kms!! I picked up the pace, and just as I thought I was getting lost and should turn back soon, I found a river and a super quirky and stylish coffee shop on the riverbank. Quick coffee break and I turned around, feeling replenished. And to make things even better, on the way back I found a yoga studio. Since I was wearing yoga pants, the lady inside mistook me for a yogi and came rushing outside. “You do yoga? We do yoga together. Come and enjoy!” She smiled and gave me a class timetable, and I promised her I’ll be back tomorrow (I’m not kidding, I love yoga!) Note to myself: go running more in unknown areas. Sure to find things more effectively than Google!
Anyways. The point of this whole saga is that in hindsight, I’m pissed at myself for being disappointed upon arrival that I was in the middle of nowhere. I was so used to having excitement right near me, living in the centre of city in Bangkok. What I had experienced was a truly local Chiang Mai: not a foreigner or English signs in sight, and I’m starting to see that I’m blessed I get the opportunity to be taken care by a Thai family, and be treated like a local. There’s a small community vibe here, and everyone is looking out for me which is super sweet. (The shopkeepers call me Muay Thai girl!) You can be angry all you want that you’re not in the ideal situation, but at the end of the day, it’s what you make of it. I’ve been here for 3 days now and I’m starting to love my neighbourhood, and I’m becoming familiar faces with the locals already! I’m starting to appreciate the peace and quiet, and the cleaner air of Chiang Mai is so much better for my stupid asthma, making it 1000 times easier to run. I have 5 days until fight day now. WOOHOO!
xx
Lost in Gustation 
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