Time to relax

With my fight done and just over a week left till I return home, I decided that now was the time to ease back on the training a little bit, relax and enjoy myself. After all, this is the first holiday I have been on in a long time.
Immediately after the fight, buzzing on adrenaline, I was ready for a session. So we headed down to a reggae bar near Nai Harn beach, a really cool, chilled place with good music and great people. The place was pretty busy, particularly with the ever present Russians, but by 4am they had kicked everyone else out. Myself and Cameron were the last ones there, chilling out back with a couple of cool Thai lads who worked there, talking shit and well, you know, it was a reggae bar...
I took Saturday off training, spending most of the day sleeping and then hitting the beach for a while. Saturday night was time for the proper celebration- a much anticipated night out in Patong, the party centre of Phuket- with the lads: Cameron, Iggy, Ivan, Nicolai and Ben. We were quite a mixed bunch, with English, Russian, French, Serbian, New Zealand and Canadian amongst our number.
How can I describe Patong? The first word that comes to mind is "crazy." However, I don't think that quite does it justice. You have to experience it to truly understand what it is like. We started off with some awesome street food, then headed down to walking street- a long street that is blocked from traffic, filled with countless bars, stripclubs, nightclubs, ping-pong shows and whatever else. The place is heaving with people, with the locals offering everything from ping-pong shows to "special massages" to the "katoey (ladyboy) experience." It's hard not to just wander around the place with your mouth wide open, it is just that insane. There are dozens of outdoor bars, each with dancing poles where the countless, and more often than not stunning, Thai barmaids take turns to entertain and woo new customers. The first one we stopped at, someone bought a round of tequila. Well, that was it, we all had to buy a round each, so it didn't take too long before we all started to get a bit drunk. Much of the night is surrounded in haze for me, as is usually the way when I drink a lot, but I remember it being an absolutely incredible night. By around 5am we had split into a few small groups. I was with Nicolai, and we sensibly decided that as he was too drunk to even find his scooter, he was certainly too drunk to drive it and took a tuk-tuk home.
Sunday was spent doing very little, apart from a quick ride to the beach where we ran into a few of the trainers. On the way back we came across a local market. Buying a load of he awesome and unbelievably cheap food there, plus a couple beers from the shop, we ate dinner by Rawai beah as the sun went down. As it often does here, the rain came quickly and without warning, and came down hard. By the time we got back to the gym, we were utterly drenched. Come Monday, I knew it was time to get back to training- it felt like an age since I had last hit some pads.
Released from the strict routine of preparing for a fight, virtually every night since my fight I have been out partying. Combined with the fact that a night out here rarely ends before 4-5am, I have yet to make a morning training session since my fight. I have still been doing the afternoons though- I don't have long left here and I want to make the most of it. The worst example of this came on Wednesday- with nothing planned for the night and feeling restless, I went out around 10pm with the intention of taking a walk to clear my head. On the way back I ran into Nicolai and his friend at the Melon bar. Next thing I know, we are hitting the two main clubs around here- Laguna and Icon. Upon leaving Icon I was dazzled by the fully risen sun, and shocked to realise the time was almost 8pm!! One of the local bar girls offered to take me for some breakfast at a small, cheap local place, then drop me off at the gym. To my surprise, she then made to come with me into the gym, saying she wanted to sleep with me! It took me a good ten minutes to get rid of her, and she left with a scowl. Coming up into the gym, people were starting morning training. It felt kinda like a 'walk of shame' strolling in there having not even slept yet.
There's not long left here now, so I have to make the most of these last few days. It is a wierd feeling, kind of mixed emotions. I do miss a few things and people at home, and it will be good to see everyone again. However, I know I am going to miss this place badly. It has been the experience of a lifetime and one in which I have learned a great deal- about myself, people and the world. I will certainly be back.