Fight Day
I left Pai yesterday at noon and got on the public bus crammed full of people in every possible space. I could have taken the mini van which is more comfortable in terms of seating but is much worse when it comes to motion sickness. The ride from Pai to Chiang Mai is not one that can be done regularly.
The ride down I gave much thought to this fight which I have a hunch is going to be against my toughest opponent yet. I took my focus off of winning which just makes me nervous and concentrated my thoughts onto doing the best I can and to putting my skills to the test and getting a chance to see where I have reached in my knowledge of Muay Thai.
Arriving in Chiang Mai, I started to get the nervousness that is natural before a competition. It was odd for me having to make a 4 hour trek from my small valley town of Pai into the big city of Chiang Mai. This fight experience is definitely going to a unique from my previous fights which were all within 15 minutes of where I trained.
I took a tuk–tuk from the Bus Station to Tha Phae Gate where Bee and Charlie (who is also fighting tonight) were staying. There was some sort of street festival going on with people selling random foods and sweets in street cards on the side and parents bringing their little kids dressed in traditional Thai clothes to dance for the tourists in the ancient style for money. I navigated my way through this with my back pack with my fight clothes, and bare essentials and my shaving kit stamped with U.S ARMY that I have had for 7 years swinging in my hand.
Since then I have been pretty much holed up in my hotel room enjoying my first hot shower in a month. I had gotten very accustomed to using the buckets of water in the gym toilet and so now this very plain hotel room is quite the luxury. I have about 7 more hours until I have to begin getting geared up for the fight. In the meantime I can only relax and eat and get ready for the encounter tonight.