I always wanted to go watch the Olympics.

Today, I actually got my shot.

It’s not the Olympics per-se, but for the athletes involved, it is. The story starts at Patong Beach, down a long, very steep, semi-paved path. At the end was a private beach, on the edge of Patong Bay. Pay 100 baht (~3 USD) to get in, and you’d have a beach recliner, free massage, showers, the lot. Drinks with little umbrellas or in coconuts, of course, readily available.

I paid the 100 baht, and went in - it’d been a hell of a ride, and I was at a dead-end. Might as well see what the fuss was about.

What I found inside was lots of folks, well, on vacation. Bodies strewn in chairs, sun-glazed, coconuts with straws in tow. I walked through the main beach area, then politely ditched the nice attendee who was trying to find me my own empty beach chair among the packed rows. There was a second, smaller beach to the north, connected by a steep narrow trail. Probably more my scene.

I walked over, found another beautiful beach with a half-bay, some awesome rocks, and many fewer people. More my scene. I sat down on a rock, stared out, and realized that a) I need to buy board shorts, and b) I should really just take a day off and go enjoy something like this someday.

But today isn’t that day, and truth told, it’s not really me. I’m no good at vacations. I don’t want to be a part of the tour industry. I want to live a place. Get to know real people. Explore. Leave things better. There’s a funny thing happening to me here, in the absence of everyone I know, that I’ll save for another post. Suffice to say it’s a good thing.

So, I left. Made a polite exit, got back on my scooter, and headed South down the coast. I rolled up and down the hills, bike and I - land and I - establishing trust in each other. That it would all be ok. I rolled into Karon, stopped at the restaurant that felt right (turns out no vegetarian options), then turned around and headed into a big gazebo /sports area thing that looked to be temporarily occupying half the city.

What is was - was the Annual Asian Beach Games. 45 countries are participating. There are 30+ sports, all beach and ocean-based. What I’d just walked into was the Beach Handball venue, and a match was about to start.

It was the home team. Thailand’s men’s team against Bahrain’s - and all I had to do was walk into the stands, sit down, and cheer. This was the everyday folks who weren’t at Patong. Moms with a couple kids running loose in the stands. Guys with their buddies. Everyone knew the game, everyone was into it, and we all cheered them on. The atmosphere was surreal. For a little while, I was crammed in with Oman’s entire beach handball team in the stands. Then they left and were replaced by Bangladesh’s team.

Handball’s an awesome sport. You can think of it as a cross between water polo and sort of soccer, with a lot more jumping, 360s, and sprinting. (There’s a video on my blog you can check out later.) When I first saw it at a bar in Barcelona, I knew that, if life had played out differently and handball was a thing in the U.S., I’d be playing professionally. It requires a weird skillset - long, gangly people who can contort themselves, and throw a ball with ungodly speed into really precise places. For those who know me well, you know that’s my secret talent that I’ve found no practical use for. Coulda been a handballer. ’S ok.

The Thai guys fought hard, but they were thoroughly outclassed by Bahrain. The matches weren’t super close, and they went down 2-0. They shook hands, and then they announced the next match - the Thai women’s team vs. China. This was worth staying for. I grabbed a water to cool the sweltering heat (in Thai, woo!) and settled in.

In warm-ups, China looked like they’ve looked in pretty much every competitive international sport for the past 15 years - exactly like you’d want a handball team to look on paper. They were all tall, fast, with long arms and lean builds. They were serious, mechanical, precise. The Thai team was shorter to a person, with a mix of body types. Their warmups were more loose. They were smiling.

The match began, and it was nothing like Bahrain and the men. Thanks to some brilliant goal-keeping, the Thai women were keeping pace. The Chinese women played really, really physical handball. Almost every Thai shot ended up with someone on the ground. About half were called for fouls, and by the end of the match, two Chinese players had been ejected.

The Thai women took the first period, 14-12. This was huge! Beach handball has two periods, then a shootout if it’s tied, so starting with a win changes everything.

Both teams came out frantic for the second period. The Thai goalkeeping had gone missing with the side change, and China was able to score at will. The Thai coaches called a time-out midway through the period, and whatever they said worked. The women stormed back, and the period ended with a flurry of diving saves and ridiculous twisting throws. It wasn’t enough. China won the second period 22-20. All tied up. Time for overtime.

In the overtime period, each team gets five shots. Both teams put their best goalkeeper in. Soccer and hockey fans, it’s exactly like you think. The goalkeeper isn’t expected to make any saves. If they save one, that’s a big deal.

The Thai goalkeeper saved four. Four.

Thailand won the shootout 7-1, and the crowd was nutso.

The Thai team, just as they’d been at the start, was smiling.