Four days of Gaelic Football, stifling humidity, and tropical monsoon downpours, and I could not have been happier with it. I was wholly unprepared for the professional atmosphere that the organizers set as well as the players from all over Asia, and the more than accommodating hotel staff.
We were greeted every morning with full breakfast, were transportation to and from the fields, and attended two banquet dinners. We only managed to play 4 games though as we were knocked out in the first round after an amazing first day that saw us advance to the finals winner's bracket for our division.
For those of you unfamiliar with the sport and unwilling to read the wiki-article I linked to, it is somewhere between rugby and soccer. For those with little rugby knowledge, I would say to imagine a soccer game where you play normally, but can also pick the ball up and punt it at people. Contact is allowed, though we were lucky to avoid any serious injuries on the weekend, save for plenty of blisters and bruises.
The rain, when it came down, was not gentle. It poured. Saturday had a 4 hour rain delay, and Sunday only slowed down for a couple hours, but in those two hours, I've never seen rain fall so hard or so fast. Below are some pictures of our men's team (having been defeated a few hours prior, and therefore a few drinks deep) clearing rain off the field for our women's team, who later won their division. It was a fun afternoon to say the least.
Unfortunately we didn't really get to see Thailand, aside from an evening jog through a local park, our trip was limited to hotel, a few pubs, and the football pitches. While it is dissapointing it is only motivation to get back there at some point in the future.
UPDATE: My browser is not allowing me to post pictures at the moment, I will have them up as soon as I can.
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