Recently, I traveled around the world to study Muay Thai in Thailand. There were many reasons for this trip. What had initially been a quest to increase my Muay Thai knowledge in order to improve my curriculum at my Muay Thai gym in Salt Lake City quickly turned into much more than that.

In preparation for my trip, I began obsessively studying everything there was to know about Thailand. I haven’t traveled abroad much so I didn’t really know what I was looking for. I learned that Thailand is 95% Buddhist. Rather, I come from the state of Utah, where it often feels like I’m surrounded. My Mormons, members of the Mormon faith make up less than 50% of the local population. This intrigued me. I’m not exactly a religious man, but religion has always fascinated me. Much of our history is filled with conflicts, wars, assassinations, terrorist attacks, and other absolutely despicable acts of violence, all in the name of religion.

I began to read as much as I could about Buddhism, as it seemed logical to me that familiarity with the religion that is so prominent in an area would help me better prepare myself to visit their country.

In my studies, I learned about the amazing Buddhist temples that are present in Thailand. One, in particular, caught my attention. It was the Big Buddha statue that sits on top of a mountain, overlooking Phuket Town.

I also found out that Tiger Muay Thai, the gym I used to travel to for training, runs a run up to this monument once a week. A recent Facebook post about the race reads as follows;

The Big Buddha Race in Phuket, Thailand; Either you love it or you hate it, it’s your best friend or your enemy, regardless of how you feel about it, it’s a workout like no other.

Tiger Muay Thai offers the Big Buddha run every Tuesday as part of their daily fitness classes. The guests meet in front of Tiger’s office and are transported to the base of the Big Buddha to begin the journey. The Big Buddha is one of the most important and revered monuments in Phuket. It is a large marble statue of Buddha that stands at the highest point in Phuket. It is a steep 4 km (2.5 mi) climb from the base of the hill, where we start our Buddha run.

Every time you do it you will see new things. Elephants, monkeys, butterflies, birds, lizards and more.

Along the way there are also spectacular viewpoints overlooking Phuket. It is mentally and physically challenging. Come join us to run/walk the Big Buddha here at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, Thailand.

I came to the conclusion that I Dyed cross that mountain and see the Great Buddha up close.

I found some pictures online showing the climb up that mountain. It seemed treacherous!

After much internal debate, I decided that I would do this climb, but I would do it on my own. I experienced my first Muay Thai class at Tiger Muay Thai. That was on a Friday. I decided that I would do this hike on my own on Saturday. Much of this journey has become more of a personal discovery than it initially set out to be. I wanted to know if I could do it, and I wanted to do it on my own. I didn’t need anyone to yell at me or push me…it was time for ME to push myself.

I got up early and started to climb. I asked the lady at the reception what would be the best route to walk to the Big Buddha. She laughed at me and said, ‘It may seem very close, because it’s so big.’ It’s actually quite far, so let me call you a taxi.

In retrospect, I am very glad I followed that advice. The base of the mountain was 10 miles from my hotel. My personal challenge was to climb that mountain, not do a 10-mile hike and then climb that mountain.

However, immediately after reaching the base, I was surprised at how steep the terrain was. There were places that were close to vertical climbs.

My taxi driver estimated that it would take me an hour to get to the top and said he would pick me up at that time. In fact, I did it in 35 minutes. A time of which I am quite proud, given my age and condition. I would like to do that climb again after this training camp to see how much better I would do, but my knees were swollen for weeks after this climb. On my next visit I would take the taxi to the top.

As described in the Facebook post above, there were beautiful things to see, from lush green scenery to elephants, monkeys, and other indigenous wildlife. It was indeed an amazing experience, but all of that was overshadowed by the beauty of the sanctuary itself. It is an amazing spectacle. Inside, there are many smaller Buddhas and a temple, with dwellings for Buddhist monks. The view from the top of the mountain offers the opportunity to see the ocean on both sides of the island, as well as the city of Patong. This is a must see for anyone visiting Phuket.

My legs were pretty stiff when the taxi returned me to my hotel. I flopped onto the couch with an ice pack on each knee and began mentally preparing myself for the rigors of the coming week. Two daily workouts were on my agenda, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. My whole body was sore from last week’s training session, and now my legs were shattered from walking… what have I gotten myself into?