Muay Thai in Bangkok - Day 14

Colorful tuk tuks outside the Chatuchak Market

The first place we went to was the Chatuchak Weekend Market. It is HUGE. There's a map for it, that's how big it is. I bought gold jelly shoes with the tiniest peep-toe after seeing lots stylish girls on the subway were wearing them. Shoes = 199 Bht. I also bought a bunch of silk scarves = 400 Bht. I'm not the best haggler.

Also, there were lots of puppies for sale at the market. I can't imagine bringing a child to this market and leaving without a puppy.

On the way back from the market we stopped at Siam Paragon, one of the huge shopping centers in Bangkok, to have lunch at their giant food court. In Asia, food courts are a place you actually want to eat, unlike the place you try your hardest to avoid like in the U.S.

The restaurant we ate at was called Ging Prakakang (that might not be exact). I had pork with sticky rice. Yum.

Hubs had Indian duck curry with roti.

It was fun eating at the food court, a uniquely Asian experience. It was sparkling clean and had so many options. We could have spent a good chunk of change bringing desserts back to the hotel from all the amazing pastry/dessert shops, but we resisted.

We went back to the hotel and chilled out for a little while and then headed out for dinner near our hotel. We went to a cute restaurant, Tapas Cafe on Soi 7. We arrived during happy hour so we had a litre of sangria for 1/2 off.  It tasted good, but I didn't get a buzz. Hmm. The food was solid, though. We had a plate of charcuterie.

A roasted apple and goat cheese salad.

Grilled asparagus.

And calamari.

We were stuffed but we couldn't resist the flourless chocolate cake, and it was worth the stuffage.

This was an expensive meal for our trip at 1400 Bht, but it was New Year's Eve so we splurged.

After dinner we took the BTS to the MRT and walked to the Lumphini Boxing Stadium to see some Muay Thai. We splurged, you know, because it was New Year's, on ringside tickets at 2000 Bht per person. And it turned out to be the best extra money spent on the trip.

We were so close to the ring, could easily see all the action. Muay Thai is awesome. Sure, there's the kickboxing type fighting that happens, but what struck me most was the ceremony of it all.

The fighters enter the ring while live musicians play instruments. It's the same music each entrance, and each fighter has a set of motions that they perform to "bless" the ring. They move to all sides and four corners of the ring and kneel on the ground. It's really beautiful.

And then they fight, musicians playing the whole time.

There were 8 matches, the 7th being the main event.

The fighters were always red or blue. Each fight lasted five rounds.

The blue fighter's camp was right next to us, coaching throughout the fight.

At the end of five rounds, three scorecards are quickly collected  and the referee points at the winning corner. The victorious fighter raises his arms and leaves the ring. That's it. There's no celebration, no rejoicing after the win. The celebration was all done before the fight. Winning isn't the most important aspect, the ritual is the focus.

I think everyone who goes to Bangkok should see Muay Thai. It's such an amazing cultural experience.

To ring in the New Year, we headed to Central World, a shopping center that's the Times Square of Bangkok on New Year's. People people everywhere.

It was a mob scene, but we made it through and watched a good fireworks show. Rather than waiting for and squeezing onto public transportation, we took a long stroll back to the hotel, the crowd of people gradually thinning out the further we went.