Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand

I asked Garrett what he really wanted to do for his last morning and the answer was perfect: Pad Thai, a massage, and cards. We found a cute little 2 chair massage place to settle into, with a Pomeranian puppy we got to cuddle with during our foot massages (I’ve been really missing Winnie but I’m not about to pet strange dogs on the street so this was a welcome floofy cuddle). Turns out the puppy’s name is Nail (yes you read that correctly) because the first shop they opened was a mani-pedi studio.

It was hard to keep a straight face after finding that out but he was so cute that I didn’t really care anyway.

We found a quiet café serving classic Thai dishes and ordered up the requested Pad Thai for Garrett, and spicy coconut milk soup for myself. I don’t know if I can go back to regular breakfasts of eggs and bacon or like… god forbid… cereal. Who wants to eat cereal instead of coconut soup?! A few rounds of crib over breakfast and coffee and it was time for the dreaded departure.

I tearily put Garrett in a cab to the airport, and set off on my own into the city. I started walking, wanting to see one of the temples we hadn’t had time for with every intention of hailing a tuk tuk or a taxi or something, but I walked for 45 minutes and didn’t see even one! Is Monday some kind of weekend?? It started to rain when I was on the opposite side of the city (of course). I did make it to Wat Chiang Man, which was closed but I really only wanted to see the outside anyway. Bigger than life-size black stone elephants surrounded some of the structures, against the backdrop of gold and white. I found it strange to be looking at something alone without someone to ohh and ahh with! I know I’ll settle into the solo travel beat soon but it might take a minute or two.

It really started to pour down rain at this point so I found an open restaurant playing, of all things, Taylor Swifts entire discography. Perfect. I sat down for a little break from the rain, some spicy cashew chicken stir fry, and writing. I booked myself in to the hostel group activity for tonight to stave off a little of my melancholia about Garrett leaving: another Muay Thai fight! A perfect activity with a bunch of party people. I did finally find a tuk tuk to get back home just in time to set off for the fight.

It was interesting to see a fight in a smaller city. The Loikroh ring was right in the middle of a market square, cordoned off, with plastic chairs in rows on all sides… definitely not quite the dedicated stadium we went to in Bangkok! The fighters were a lower rank than those fighting at the Rajadamnern stadium, and would fight five rounds instead of three. I was happy to see two different levels of fighting because I think it gave me more of a measuring stick to understand a bit more of what I was seeing. We sat ringside and there were no straight knockouts, a lot less punches to the face/head and a lot more leg work. A few guys forfeited pretty early in their fights, and there was even a ‘lady fight’ where two female fighters went at it. I never would have guessed they were Muay Thai fighters – they were so little!

And then of course they started punching the crap out of each other and I immediately retracted that thought.

All in all about 10 of us went from the hostel and it was a welcome distraction – but one that didn’t end until midnight and I have an early adventure tomorrow so it’s off to bed quick quick for me!

Sav