The next day, having risen at the rear-crack of morning (also known as 11 am) we bounded out for something to eat before hitting up the beach. Now, again, we had been so very starved of food selection while living in Sangkhlaburi, so food or eating or snacking or anything to do with any food topic seriously took up most of our consideration! I also wanted some coffee, so we found a place down the street, on the way to the beach, called The Coffee Club. They also served food of course!
Now, another thing about me… I never, I mean NEVER take pictures of my food. I’ve never understood it before… I understand plating can be quite well done and very picturesque, but in general have never understood why people take pictures of their food. However, on this occasion, after having looked at their menu and seeing that they had a grilled chicken sandwich that included AVOCADO (I seriously almost fainted when I saw that and then nearly cried!!!) I couldn’t help but take a picture of both the menu AND the food once it arrived. I mean, come on! It was even served on ciabatta bread!!! I again almost cried at seeing REAL bread again!! So yes, I’m now a photographer of food…
In any event, we spent the rest of that day lounging on the beach with some beers and I proceeded to get one of the worst burns I’ve had in a long time! Not just along my shoulders, but my stomach and high up on my thighs as well. It’s now been almost a week since that burn, and though I’ve been slathering myself with coconut oil and pure aloe vera, I’m still red and a bit itchy, lol! The day basically just passed on the beach (rough life I know) then we went off for a few happy hour cocktails on one of the beach bars along the pier. We sipped on several cocktails, talking away the hours when we were suddenly visited by some interesting guests on the roof of the next bar over.
Yes, three macaques decided to see what all the happy hour fuss was about! I wasn’t sure what to expect from them because they can be quite violent at times, but these three just seemed to keep to themselves, accepting bits of food they wanted from sharing people. Once dinner time came around, we opted for the Spanish Tapas restaurant It did not disappoint!! We ordered a liter of homemade sangria and had about 6 different dishes between us! It was quite a treat that neither of us had had in a long time. We were supposed to have left the next day but Jo heard that there was a Muay Thai fight the next night, so we decided to extend our stay for a night in order to catch it.
When we rose that next day, it seemed to just be a comedy of errors. Of course, despite my burns we still had to go to the beach to hang out and swim for a bit. We didn’t last that long though as the heat of the day felt twice as hot on my skin and as there wasn’t any shade to sit under, I could only bear it so long. From the brief beach time, we went off to scout where the fighting was to take place but when we got there, we found out they only had fights 2 nights a week (Thursdays and Saturdays- and we were on a Friday). Dejected by that, our next thought was to go get some food (again with the food, I know!! ;)). Jo had seen something on TripAdvisor about a mexican food place that got great reviews along Dechanuchit Alley, near Prapokkiao (street?). So off we went in search of that…
Another brick wall was hit as even though we were using the GPS app on TripAdvisor to find the place, it seemingly didn’t exist. However, the street where it was supposed to exist on was an absolute bustle of energy! There were restaurants lined one after another along this strip of road and though they were each already quite spacious, the street was being turned into an extension of the restaurants so people could sit in the street and other general shop owners were setting up for a street market!
At this point I was seriously kicking myself for not bringing my camera because it seriously was a sight to see! Hundreds of people walked about busily setting up their shops. I mean not a single person was simply hanging about (except us). Everyone had a job to do and there were even people who set up a little lemonade stand and walked up and down the road selling cups of lemonade to the workers. Jo and I got a coffee from a shop nearby Ko’s restaurant and simply watched the life around us.
Interestingly for us, a bar was even being set up on the street just next to where we sat! So of course, even though at this point neither of us had had any breakfast or lunch, we just HAD to get some cocktails once the bar opened up! As we sat on the street downing some beverages, a banner caught my eye several food stalls down. I went to get a closer look and (suspenseful music here) lo and behold it was an advertisement for a Muay Thai fighting match TONIGHT!! Yay!!! So essentially, had it not been for us wandering to find the non-existent Mexican food place, and for us to decide to hang out with coffee to watch the street wake up for nighttime activities, and for us to decide on having a few cocktails at the street bar, then I never would have seen the advert for the Muay Thai!! We took this as a very good sign that we were supposed to see a fight on this night!
After our several cocktails (and a free whisky shot) we stumbled our way to the site of the fight (the name escapes me now, go figure!) bought our tickets (800 baht each!!) and finally had some food at the Italian place next door. Though all the events of the day seemed to just line up in random ways so that we could see a Muay Thai fight, after having seen the 7 fights, I still call the day a comedy of errors. I say that because only about 3 of the 7 fights were actually worth watching. It was a disappointment and honestly we saw better fights over New Year’s in Sangkhlaburi than what we watched there. Oh well! And we weren’t the only ones who felt cheated as there was another couple in 7-11 (where we went after for more booze) who were talking about how lack-luster the fights were and how disappointed they were. I mean, come on, for 800 baht we were expecting some really good fights! Not seemingly mismatched, gloves on, not highly ranked matches! Oh well. Just goes to show not everything turns out as you’d like. 🙂
Ramblintraveler 