Thomas has booked himself into another day of mountain biking, so Mrs. Columbus and I are going to spend the day getting some other things taken care of.  We desperately need a massage 🙂 and we are also going to meet our friend Riam this morning to plan a few things for this week.

Thomas will be leaving Chiang Mai tomorrow but we are able to fit in a trip to the elephant park before he leaves.  Riam is going to pick us all up early and we will head off to Mae Tang for the morning. After our visit with Riam we stop for lunch (yes, at the usual spot) and then some pool time at the hotel before going out for a late afternoon massage.  Just after we sat down for our massage the skies opened up and the rain beat down, but it was quite peaceful to sit in our massage chairs and watch it come down.

The rain has stopped before the massage ends, and from there we walk over to Ginny Cafe to meet up with Tee, Ian and Thomas.  For Thomas’ last dinner in Chiang Mai we are all going out for Mu Kratha (Thai BBQ).  It is a fun experience to cook your own foods at the table over while socializing with your friends – sort of like we would do with fondue back home.

After a leisurely dinner, we decide that walk back will do us some good and we walk off alongside the moat that surrounds the old city.  As fate would have it our journey takes us past the Crazy German Bar that we were at a few nights ago, and we decide that Mrs. Columbus needs to meet the crazy german.   The intent is to just pop in for a quick beer and say hello, and that mostly goes according to plan, but at some point Kevin (the crazy german) pops out his supply of over-proof schnapps for everyone to have a shot.

Fortunately we only have the one shot (except for Thomas and I who somehow get tricked into finishing Mrs. Columbus’ for her), and Tee and Mrs. Columbus are there to keep things from going off the rails. We have a bit of a busy day tomorrow and we all decide that moving on and getting a good night’s sleep is the right thing to do.

It is Sunday here in Chiang Mai and that can mean only one thing – the Sunday night market.  Our plan for the day is mostly oriented around this, and we have nothing strenuous planned as one would not want to tire themselves out before a grand night of shopping!

Thomas is also a bit tired after his late night out, so it is another late start for everyone and some pool time in the morning while relaxing.

After lunch (or again late breakfast for some) we decide to hire one of the red songtheaws to take us up to Wat Pharthat Doi Suthep for the afternoon. It is the most famous temple in the Chiang Mai area with some great views of the area, so something we think Thomas should see, and of course an opportunity for us to get our yearly blessing from the monks there.  The temple is quite busy, more than we have seen in previous years here, and clearly tourism has picked up a bit – perhaps I need to stop telling people what a great place it is to visit!! 😉

At the end of the day it is back to the city and get ready for tonight’s main event – the Sunday night market. Mrs. Columbus looks forward to this every year and wandering through the blocks and blocks of vendors selling their mostly hand made crafts.  Just as traditional as our return to the market is my getting tired of it after about the first hour!

We have stopped for some street food, walked by a number of stalls, sat under a pagoda for a 15 minute rain storm, and I am about done for the night.  I like to see the market as it is quite a spectacle, and if I had things to buy I’m sure I could find them here, but the shopping is as we say a ‘pink job’ and I have had my fill for this trip.  Mrs. Columbus is happy to help Thomas navigate the chaos though to get the souvenirs that he needs so we part ways and I head towards home as they go deeper into the market.

Fortunately I have a backup plan, and as I walk back towards the hotel I coincidentally have to walk by Ginny Cafe and Ian is around so I pop in for a visit and a beer.  This is where Mrs. Columbus, several packages in tow, finds me a couple hours later still chatting away with Ian and Tee, so I guess the night has been a success for everyone 🙂

After the hijinx of last night I needed a bit of extra sleep this morning, which thankfully worked out well because we did not have any real plans for the day.  Thomas had arranged to go mountain biking for the day so Mrs. Columbus and I walked around the city a bit and then stopped at Ginny Cafe for some lunch (or late breakfast in my case).  After lunch we walked back to the hotel for some time at the pool and a bit of catch up at work and so went the afternoon.

The night before we had agreed with Ian, Richard, and Landon to meet up and go to the Muay Thai boxing match this evening – there is a match every Saturday and usually at least one foreigner is featured in the final pairing.  I am not a huge boxing fan, but I have never seen a live Muay Thai fight so this seems like a good time to go.  Landon is training with a local gym and knows all the fighters so he is a great resource to ask questions to for those of us that seem like newbies. Mrs. Columbus is not at all interested in fights of any sort, and conveniently it is Saturday night so she has once again decided head off on her own and tackle the Saturday night market and let the boys head off to the boxing stadium.

A night of Thai Boxing consists of usually 7 or 8 matches, each match is up to 5 rounds, and each round is 3 minutes with a 2 minute break between rounds.  Some fights can be quite quick if there is a knockout, and in theory if every fight ended in a 1st round knockout, the whole thing could be over in about a hour, but we see a variety of different levels of matches with some ending in knockouts in various rounds, and some going all five rounds and ending with a judges decision.  Unlike American sports there is no TV contract to sell advertising for, so once a bout is complete the next one is already getting ready to go so the action is mostly non-stop.

There is a sort of ‘half-time’ show before the last two bouts where they get 4 boxers into the ring and blindfold them and then they go for 3 minutes of flailing around throwing punches at anything they come into contact with.  Even the referee gets caught up in the melee a few times, but it is mostly for show so no-one is taking any serious hits.

The final match features a guy from England vs a Thai fighter and after a fairly even first round, the Thai fighter starts to get the upper hand and it looks like the fight may be over quickly, but in the 3rd round the Thai guy has run out of his burst, and now the English guy comes out from behind and towards the end of the 3rd round scores a victory with a knockout.

Most of the fighters train a lot, and they are in very good physical condition (much like myself of course so I can relate) and overall the fight is quite a bit more entertaining to watch than I initially expected it to be.  I am really glad I went, and while I may not seek them out specifically, I am sure I will go to one again on a future visit.

The fight ends at around midnight and after a nightcap it is time to head home for the night.  Well except for Thomas who I think maybe feels challenged by my late night last night, and in a bit of one-upsmanship stays out with Richard until almost dawn the next morning!!