301 Muay Thai Camp

Monday 11^th November 2013

I woke up on the bus in Bangkok to bright sunshine and the sounds of people getting off the bus the driving had been going slow and so we had arrived a few hours later than expected at 7am I got my bag said goodbye to the girls and go a rickshaw to the victory monument with a surly driver who seemed pissed off to have me a passenger he wouldn’t drop me off where I wanted to be instead just shunting me out onto the footpath in the general area. I walked about trying to find the booth I wanted and was soon in a minibus on the way to the middle of nowhere. 301 gym is located in Sam Roi Yot which is on the east coast of Thailand about four hours south of Bangkok. Everything was going peachy until the driver tried to turf me out in the middle of nowhere after speaking perfect English up until then he suddenly lost the ability to communicate from what I gathered he forgot to drop me off and then wanted rid of me I wouldn’t get out of his mini bus on the side of the road so he was forced to continue with me he got to the police station where he again tried to turf me out and continued with his charade of no English in the end he threw my bags out and drove off. The policeman was now left with the responsibility of driving me to camp, the turn off for which was about an hour back along the road. Eventually I arrived thankfully not that many people were about as it was more than a tad embarrassing. I was given a brief tour and then showered and fell into bed for a few hours. When my roomie Lene returned that afternoon she explained the drill for training at 4pm we headed out on a run just an easy 3km to get warmed up followed by 15mins on the ropes 3x 5min rounds of shadow boxing (which was the start of every afternoon session the mornings were the same but the run was 6km) the rest of training was a bit of pads, bag work and some sprint drills. Considering I had been on buses for about 24 hours, hadn’t eaten and had barely slept I think I did pretty well. After training we ate but I was feeling dizzy so headed to the room where I showered and had an early night.

Tuesday 12^th November 2013

Today was my first full day of training. I was up and ready to go for our 7am start. This morning’s session was heaps of cardio the highlight (note that’s sarcastic) was 15mins of high knees on the ropes. After breakfast I spent most of the day working on my tan and swimming when it got too hot by the pool. At 4pm we had another 3 hours of training. After dinner we sat watching hangover two.

Wednesday 13^th November 2013

Early morning again starting the day with a 6km run along the beach really gets you going! After training and breakfast we chilled by the pool a while before getting showered and heading in Tesco about 5km away in the closest town I picked up some snacks to supplement the food as I’m vegetarian there is no protein on offer for me. Afternoon training was tough today especially the sparring where I got smacked in the face more than once. Sat around chatting this evening then had the room to myself after we all fare welled Lene earlier today.

Thursday 14^th November 2013

I woke up feeling really tired and sore I only managed to run 3km this morning I had to turn back early as I couldn’t get my body to do what I wanted it to. We had an intense bag session this morning doing power rounds 3x rounds of 6mins 30 seconds on 30secs of, felt like as soon as I stopped hitting the bag I had to start again it was so exhausting.  We finished off in the pool doing technique training. We had breakfast and then chilled until the ice for the ice-bath arrived. We all took turns squeezing up in the tiny pool it was so cold but when you jumped in the pool afterwards it felt like you were swimming in a bath. I sat out by the pool reading for most of the day which seemed to recharge me. I had a really good run and made an awesome time so thought training was going to be good but we did sparring again and I was getting pissed off with being punched in the face constantly so I sacked it in an went and did yoga and meditated instead after which I felt so much better. During the night the weather was crazy there was so much wind and rain but by morning it seemed to have calmed down.

Friday 15^th November 2013

Woke up still feeling a bit shitty with life ran and trained but it felt half arsed. I was super hangry this morning so ate as soon as training was done then Emma and I headed to Dolphin bay for a massage and some lunch. The massage was just what I needed as she went in deep it was more painful than anything but I did feel looser afterwards. We ate at the posh hotel and then walked slowly back to camp. Wreaked all the good work at training getting super tight again. Chilled out all evening.

Saturday 16^th November 2013

Today we only trained in the morning as it’s just the way it goes it was a struggle but I pushed out a good session. In the afternoon the weather was shit so we couldn’t even chill by the pool. As there was nothing else on I took a nap and then got up in time to get myself organised for Hua Hin. About 7pm we got picked up in a mini bus which dropped us off in town. Hua Hin is about an hour from camp and seems to be a somewhat seedy town full of retired western folk (read sleazy old me on the hunt for Thai brides) supposedly it’s turning into a resort town but I didn’t see the beach so couldn’t comment on that. We had dinner complete with desert to really blow out and then headed to a bar I wasn’t drinking but had a good time anyway. We started in one bar and played pool and people watched before moving onto Karaoke which I always a laugh. We ended the night in one more bar which had some quite good tunes so we got our dance on and then found a taxi to take us back to camp.

Sunday 17^th November 2013

Thank goodness for rest days. I slept till about 8am which considering our late night wasn’t much sleep but stayed in bed and checked my emails not willing to let the world in yet. Eventually I got hungry so got ready for the day and went in search of food. Emma and I sat about chatting and since the weather still wasn’t great we went to her room and chilled there. We did manage to get moving a little bit and go for a walk and when we got back the sun was out a bit so we ;lounged by the pool. Late afternoon a new girl arrived and so I had a roomie once again. After dinner we went out to watch Mee (one of the Thai trainers) fight. The fight was on the same day as Loi Krathong which is the festival of lights. The fight was at a festival to celebrate we started off by getting “wishes” little woven baskets with flowers, a candle and incense which looked a bit like the Hindu offerings in India and Bali. We took the offering lit the incense  and candle then added some money and some of our hair made a wish or a prayer and set the basket on the water in a lake. There were hundreds of them floating out on the lake and as well as us many locals were waiting to set their wishes free. After that we walked into what can only be described as a fairground there was street food and stalls some games and a few rides. We saw the boxing ring and watched a few matches between children which at first was cute but quickly weirded us out as we were watched small children hit each other. We wandered about the fair and got way to much food and watched some more fights the wait just went on and on and as we were all tired from last night it was even worse there was nowhere to sit and the ground was muddy from all the rain. Eventually about 2am Mee's fight began his was the title fight and as soon as it was over everyone left. It was a good fight and Mee was the clear winner afterwards we took a few photos and then got in the taxi back to camp.

Monday 18^th November 2013

It was only the girl’s hat made it to training this morning which was quite cool as it was more individual. We did an intense technique session which was really helpful. By breakfast we were still the only ones up and some of the guys didn’t surface until after midday. We spent the day sunning by the pool and I was having a great sleep right on the edge until I got tsunami in my face by one of the boys. By afternoon training lack of sleep had caught up but I struggled through.

Tuesday 19^th November 2013

This morning I was feeling really down about only having such a short time in Asia left so found I couldn’t concentrate at all. After breakfast I went and sat on the beach for a few hours just watching the sea and making sandcastles. Afternoon training was better I smashed it on the pads which is my favourite so that got me in a better mood. Not feeling like camp food I went to a local place for eats and then watched fireworks form the dolphin bay staff party on the beach.

Wednesday 20^th November 2013

Today I thought it was my last day but actually I can’t count and I don’t leave until tomorrow which is good. After morning training us girls headed to Dolphin bay they got massages while I chilled on the beach and then we all went and got a drink at the hotel. Most people sacked off afternoon training which worked out well for me as we did more pads after dinner we sat about and watched Elysium possibly the worst movie I have ever watched and I felt sad to have wasted a portion of my life doing so.

Thursday 21^st November 2013

Woke up ready to give my last session everything I had. After an intense workout I rode bitch with Helio on the scooter into town so I could get a bus ticket to Phuket it wasn’t until late so I had the day to chill at camp. When afternoon training started I headed to the beach got some food. Back at camp I chilled with everyone until it was time to say goodbye. I got a taxi into Pranburi where I had an hour to wait for my bus which was late I felt really sad about leaving everyone. I turned on my music and slept my way to Phuket.