This is an excerpt from “Muay Thai Boxing and Beer in a Bag at Bangkok’s Lumpini Stadium”, which I originally published at Empty the Bench on February 10, 2009, during the heart of my residency in Bangkok. To read this piece in its entirety, head on over to ETB.

Two personal firsts from a Friday night at Bangkok’s Lumpini Stadium for muay thai boxing. One, as you might imagine, was watching two wiry fighters without an ounce of body fat on their 102-pound frames pound away at each other’s midsections, calves, and faces in carefully delivered flurries of kicks, punches, and knees while I sat just a few feet away. The second was slightly less violent but no less jarring: sipping lukewarm Chang beer not from a cool, frosty mug, or even a thin plastic cup, but rather through a straw from a plastic bag with little handles.

Honestly, with the humidity rising with each successive bout and bloodthirsty mosquitos nipping at my ankles as we watched from our almost-ringside seats, that beer-in-a-bag couldn’t have been any more refreshing. Chang Draught is, actually, served at Lumpini in plastic cups, and you aren’t allowed to bring beer cans or bottles into the stadium. But beer in a plastic bag? Mai pen rai (“no problem”).

Lumpini Stadium is located in the Pathumwan section of Bangkok on busy Rama IV Road, where old, overheating buses dumping plumes of thick black smoke in their wake compete with taxis, tuk-tuks, and motorbikes for a prime spot in traffic gridlock hell. Though we could have walked to the stadium from our apartment on Petchaburi Road, that night we rode the BTS Skytrain from Siam Square to Sala Daeng station; from there it’s a brisk 30-minute or so trek down Rama IV, past the sidewalk restaurants-come-beer gardens bordering Lumpini Park and the sprawling, touristy Suan Lum Night Market.

As of January 2009, tickets for farang (a general Thai term for foreigners of Western descent) run 1,000 Baht for third-class, 1,500 for second, and 2,000 for ringside; Thais will pay significantly less. Most foreigners opt for the priciest tier, but we went with the second-class, where we enjoyed stellar vantage points from our seats on the long, rickety wooden benches that circle Lumpini Stadium.

Inside Lumpini Stadium

The three classes of seating are separated by see-thru fences and wrap around the entirety of the hexagonal-shaped stadium. A light-blue shirted “usher” sat us one row up from the front on one of the aforementioned benches, directly facing the center of the ring; picture 50-yard line seats at an American football game. Discarded peanut shells, candy wrappers, and empty beer cans (and beer bags) litter the cement floor a few feet below the thin wooden planks at foot level; the in-house family of cats slinking through the stands have no doubt had their share of battles with the in-house families of rats for the top pickings of leftovers down there.

Ceiling fans sufficiently diminish the heat trapped inside by the corrugated tin ceiling, though during the hot season I imagine most patrons leave drenched in sweat. Lumpini is one of a select few establishments where gambling is technically allowed; most every Thai in the mostly male audience seemed to be getting in on the action, which is spearheaded by guys running back and forth shouting out the odds and taking bets like stockbrokers on the Wall Street trading floor.

You probably imagine muay thai matches as bloody affairs which leave one or both combatants in a heap of sweat and broken bones. It does get brutal at times and the potential for serious injury lurks with every unblocked kick to the chest or jab to the nose, but the battles, at least on that night, were much more measured affairs that involved a lot more close-quarters fighting than twirling, Double Dragon-style kicks. That’s not to say the action was passive or that those blows didn’t look exceedingly painful to absorb; it is, indeed, by all means a vicious sport.

Looking back on the evening, it’s not the actual fighting that sticks out as much as the whole experience: the street vendors outside the stadium, the stadium itself, the pre-fight rituals, the bagged-beer runs, the roars of the crowd, the hypnotic trance of the ringside muay thai music. Inside, it felt like we could have been anywhere in Thailand, be it a heaving metropolis like Bangkok or a modest-sized city like Phitsanlouk.

For more on my evening at Bangkok’s Lumpini Stadium, check out the full article here. And don’t forget to keep up with Perceptive Travel’s latest blog posts by subscribing to our RSS feed too.

If you need an excuse to jump off of the Interstate 35 north-south grind, then I have a deal for you in the tiny town of Arcadia, near Oklahoma City.

In my Dad’s road trip travel vernacular, it’s an “easy-off, easy-on” stop.

Located about a mile from one another are the futuristic POPS soda shop, diner and gas station, and the historic red Round Barn.

POPS features hundreds of different kinds of soda, good burgers and diner food, shakes so thick you have to eat ‘em with a spoon and really colorful surroundings both inside and out.

Don’t miss the giant 66-foot-tall soda pop bottle out front that lights up at night.

A bit to the east is the unique Round Barn, built in 1898 and restored by a dedicated group of volunteers starting in the late 1980s.

It’s two stories tall and has been a landmark for Route 66 travelers for decades. Yes, you can tour around inside it and check out the interesting acoustics.

After visiting both on a perfect sunshine-filled day, I could hardly bear to reset cruise control on the Interstate.

Go get your kicks….

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Another month, another great issue of Perceptive Travel magazine to read. 

Amy Rosen forsakes regular meals for a weekend of carbo-loading in Paris in ‘Can a Croissant Change Your Life?’ Following the recommendations of food writer Alan Richman, Amy wanders through Paris in search of croissants and coffee and in the end discovers it’s really not about the food, it’s about a way of life.

In That First Night in Cairo, Jim Johnston writes about being enticed into an informal, whirlwind tour of Cairo by a stranger meet on a street corner. Taken through maze-like back alleys, fatheer makers’ kitchens, and local buses, Jim and his companion saw a side of the city that most travelers only dream of. But it came with a price…

Living in vagabond style existence, Luke Armstrong had little use for a suit until he had to step up and attend a function for respectable people. In Third World Tailors Make Suits, Third World Tailors Make Men,  Luke Armstrong discovers the art of buying a tailor made suit in Antigua, Guatemala.

And as usual, Tim Leffel reviews another great collection of world music albums and Gillain Kendall is back with three more book reviews

Plus there’s the monthly giveaway.

This month, there are three copies of USA’s Best TRIPS: 99 Themed Itineraries Across America from Lonely Planet. This is a 712-page book jammed full of road trip ideas from Alaska to Florida, a $25 value

Enter the giveaway via the Perceptive Travel newsletter that should be in your inbox (click here to subscribe) or you can find contest details on Facebook.

Happy reading!

Welcome to the November 3, 2010 edition of the Carnival of Cities, where we tour the world in a single blog post.

Thanks very much to the host of the previous edition, on Sheila’s Guide to the Good Stuff, and the next host is Byteful Travel on November 17.

If you’d like to host a future Carnival edition on your blog (December 1, 15 and 29 are open) please contact me at Sheila “at” sheilascarborough “dot” com. Thanks!

Off we go….

Cities in Europe

Oslo, Norway Anne-Sophie Redisch presents Oslo’s best inexpensive attraction: The Natural History Museum posted at NileGuide Oslo, saying, “Come meet our 47-million-year-old ancestor, Ida – the oldest fossil ever found.”

Hoorn, the Netherlands Monique Rubin presents The Netherlands City Spotlight – Hoorn – National Netherlands Travel and Lifestyle posted at Examiner, saying, “The harbor town of Hoorn in the province of Noord-Holland was once a major seaport and center of trade and commerce in the Netherlands.”

Leeds, West Yorkshire, England Darren Cronian presents Harewood house – Events at Harewood House posted at My Life in Leeds, saying, “Family fun at Harewood House and estate.”

Reykjavik, Iceland Kevin Daniel presents 10 things you need to know about Reykjavik, Iceland posted at Iceland Quest, saying, “Why Reykjavik Iceland is Better Than Where You Are.”

Amsterdam, the Netherlands leafskickw28 presents Red Light District posted at Around the World, saying, “This is a post about my time in the Red Light District in Amsterdam.”

Cities in Asia

Kamakura, Japan Tony Alexander presents Great Cafe’s and Eateries in Kamakura posted at The Soul of Japan.

Dehradun, India chicu presents Twenty-five months.. posted at Uttarakhand and I, saying, “the first in a series of posts detailing places to find good food in Dehradun, India”

Cities in the Americas

San Francisco, California, USA Colleen Boucher presents Celebration posted at Dinner Peace, saying, “A vegan’s perspective on dining in San Francisco, specifically the restaurant House of Nanking.”

Fort Myers, Florida, USA Kara Williams presents Three Top Restaurants in Fort Myers, Florida posted at The Vacation Gals.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Shelly Rivoli presents Vancouver Tips: Granville Island with Little Kids posted at Travels with Baby Tips, saying, “Tips and video previews to help plan a day’s outing on Vancouver’s Granville Island with wee travelers.”

Arcadia, Oklahoma, USA This is my submission from my BootsnAll Family Travel blog….A real sugar shack: POPS on Oklahoma’s Route 66

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA Nicole presents Canal Walk in downtown Indianapolis posted at Arrows Sent Forth.

Golden, Colorado, USA Byteful Travel presents Coors Brewery Tour: WAY More than Free Beer posted at Byteful Travel, saying, “Chemistry. Biology. Efficiency. While you may not associate these words with a brewery at first, you’ll come to see that these words truly sum up the Coors Brewery in Golden, Colorado — the largest single brewery facility on the planet! And while I was in Colorado, I explored this enormous facility firsthand on a walking tour that is unique in that it allows you to experience beer-making up close. It may not quite be Willy Wonka’s factory, but you can’t get much closer than this. (high resolution photos included)”

That concludes this edition, and thanks for visiting!

Please submit your one, non-spammy blog post about any aspect of ONE, single city (or fair-sized town) to the next edition of the Carnival of Cities using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

(If you like this post, please consider subscribing to the blog via RSS feed or by email – the email signup box is at the top of the right sidebar near the Search box. Thanks!)

During the four days that that the Titanic sailed the Atlantic Ocean in April 1912,  she was the largest passenger steamship in the world. From keel to funnel tip, she stood 175 feet tall.

After the iceberg collision, it happened that Halifax, Nova Scotia was the closest city with rail links to the rest of North America. The city became the center of the recovery effort.  Some 150 unclaimed bodies and various ship debris that came to Halifax remained  there — the bodies buried, the debris destined to become the most popular permanent exhibit in the city’s Maritime Museum  of the Atlantic.

The Halifax Public Gardens are somewhat inland from the harbor, but also boast a water feature, called Griffin’s Pond.  There, in the late afternoon sun, Titanic plies water once again.

She seems complete in every way — her four funnels proudly pointing towards the sky, tipped with a black stripe, and her gleaming white hull, reflected ripplingly down towards the depths.

Titanic shares the pond with about a dozen American Black Ducks. From bill to webbed foot, they typically stand about 20 inches tall. These particular ducks looked shorter than that, but next to the ship, their height was still impressive.

The ducks dipped their beaks into the water, preened, wiggled their tails and flapped their wings.

A breeze turned Titanic broadside. Reeds, dead ahead.

The ducks cackled, a boisterous barnyard quacking that sounded like laughter: ha ha ha.

Tourists approached the pond with digital cameras extended in front of them,  a gesture of offering.  A black-clad young French couple wandered over to the banks.  “Titanique! Ha ha ha.” Without another word, she posed, within view of the ducks and the ship. Her partner, bearing a large backpack, snapped her photo.

They ambled away towards the bandstand, erected in 1887 in honor of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.